Restaurant Review: Mr. Mesero

Wouldn't the best job ever be to go to a restaurant, be served the food, and get paid to say whatever you think about it? Yeah, I think that would be pretty awesome. Well, unfortunately I'm not getting paid for this post - but maybe one day! It's been a long time since I've been to a restaurant that I actually haven't read a review on - whether on Yelp or the local magazine blogs. I just like to know what I'm getting myself into beforehand. So here is my review of Mr. Mesero, in case any of you were planning on checking it out.

Mr. Mesero

Opened by Mico Rodriguez at the end of 2011, Mr. Mesero has been a regular on my rotation of restaurants for happy hour with my bff Jamie. It's located in what has been a revolving door of restaurants - you may remember La Cubanita, which I always wanted to try but it closed before I was able to go, and then it was Burger Girl, which I never went to since a burger might be the last thing on my "what sounds good to eat" list. Everyone in Dallas is a fan of Mi Cocina, so knowing that Mr. Mesero was another Mico creation, I had high hopes. Luckily, it did not disappoint!

Atmosphere

I feel like atmosphere is so important at a restaurant. The atmosphere sets the tone for how your experience is going to be, and if the decor is lame, the a/c is subpar, and you're super close to your neighbor, your whole dining experience will most likely suck. Now, Mr. Mesero is small. If you have to wait, you're going to get a bad impression, because there really is nowhere to wait. You'll constantly be dancing around waiters and other patrons so you're not in the way. The look of the space is clean, colorful, and modern - just how I'd like my house! There's a huge abstract piece of art that I was a big fan of, but Tyler declared that he could have painted it himself. He's obviously not an admirer of great art. The temperature was a bit off when we walked in, but I think they were trying to figure out what to set the thermostat to since it was just beginning to rain and the cold front was coming through. However, by the end of the night, even Tyler was cold. Losing a star for the coldness, atmosphere gets 4 stars.

Service

These people know what they're doing. Jamie and I have been there three or four times and we have a waitress that knew us by name the 2nd time we went. Her name is Marisol, and she's featured on the Mr. Mesero website. We loved her so much we became Facebook friends with her. Well, she was there when Tyler and I went and she was great. I couldn't decide between two entrees, so she made a custom entree for me. Our water glasses were never empty. Our chip plate was always replenished. Five stars for service. Marisol rocks.

Food

We started off with the Queso Mesero. Yum. This is a white cheese queso with spinach and artichoke. It's smooth and gooey and Tyler basically licked the bowl. I forget what Tyler ordered as his entree, he ate it so fast I didn't really get a good look at it before it was gone. Like I said earlier, I was torn between two items, so Marisol made a combo plate for me - a carnitas taco and a brisket taco, which came with red rice and sautéed onions. The carnitas taco was great - the pork had a perfect crisp to it, just like it should have. The brisket taco was also good - not as good as Mia's brisket tacos, but that's to be expected. I added the sautéed onions and that made it pretty yummy. I told Tyler the red rice was the best rice I'd ever eaten. Seriously, it was THAT good.

Tyler had already cleaned his plate before I got a picture.

Tacos

Lastly, Tyler ordered the Five Leches cake for dessert before I had a chance to veto. Holy cow, it was delicious. The five milks were condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk, cream, and a caramel sauce made out of goat's milk. And we ate it in five bites. And I spent the whole next day at the gym to work it off. It was moist and delish.

Five stars for food. Yumm.

I almost forgot to mention the margaritas. They are about as deadly as the margaritas at Gloria's. I implemented a one margarita rule for the evening so I could drive us home. Tyler had two, and he was asleep on the couch by 10pm. Four stars for the margs, only because you can get the same thing at Gloria's for $3 cheaper.

I think that equals four and a half stars. Tyler and I will be back. You should go too and ask for Marisol!