LEO/LHB: Tequila Factory manufactures fine Mexican chow

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com
(By Guest Critic Kevin Gibson)

Thank goodness it’s not another faux Irish pub.

Tequila Factory Bar and Grill is the latest tenant in the revolving-door location at 917 Baxter Ave., the former home of @tmosphere, Bazo’s and two or three iterations of Nio’s, among other short-lived concepts.

It’s all but surrounded by Irish-style pubs, where you’ll pay $6 for a pint of Guinness and enjoy such dubiously “Irish” staples as Jamaican jerk chicken and shrimp Alfredo pizza. This concept seems to be springing up everywhere in the Highlands and other neighborhoods around town (I’m looking at you, Fourth Street Live). But there’s been an unfortunate lack of new and interesting Mexican concepts.

Enter the Tequila Factory. A member of the Aztecas family of Mexican restaurants, this cousin is different: An upscale version of the traditional Americanized Mexican “ristorante,” it adds a fun selection of tapas to the menu, and a tequila selection that goes well beyond the trendy Patron Silver.

There have been some growing pains — LEO’s Bar Belle had service issues when she stopped in — but the place has been hopping on weekends, when live music adds to the attraction. After a couple visits, I’d rate it as a destination that could and should stick. —Kevin Gibson

Read the complete report in LEO, and on LouisvilleHotBytes.com.

Tequila Factory
917 Baxter Ave.
459-9191
Rating: 86

Nice, and fair review I think. We've been twice now, once as a late/drinking dinner, and once as a quick Thursday bite. We were very pleased both times, and there seems to be a good crowd going.

They retained the old Nio's bar, which is a huge plus. It has a pretty neat feel for a Mexican place. The fish tacos are outstanding.

My only gripe is that their margaritas are ridiculously overpriced - $9.00 and up. Their tequila selection is impressive, and maybe one of the best in the city, and they use top shelf in most of their margs, but $9 is a bit much around here.

Awesome review!

Although clearly biased, I've enjoyed every meal I've had there. Especially love the mussels!

The 'service hiccups' I feel can be attributed to being new, but my wife (GM) seems to think they are finally hitting their stride, and I know she appreciates any/all feedback!

They expect to constantly add new & exciting items, to keep things interesing. So far, I think they've accomplished their goal of being NOT just "another mexican place" w/ the same feel & menu.

I know she's excited with how things are going (and busy), so check it out if you haven't already!

I hate to do this and have never posted anything about a negative experience but my family and I went to the Tequila Factory a few weeks ago and it was really bad. After reading about it and following the thread here prior to the opening I was really excited. I LOVE Mexican food and when the terms upscale, small plates, and "more than your standard menu" are mentioned my ears prick up and I think "please be a little bit like Frontera Grill!" The food was the same food as the other Aztecas ventures. There were a few (6-7?) items that were not "standard" items but for the most part it was the same as the other Aztecas except it was more expensive and there were a lot fewer choices.

It bothers me when people post a negative and don't have any particular reasons listed so I will try to explain.

First the positives they have a good tequila selection and the drink menu seemed pretty impressive. The place looks fantastic. I have always loved the atmosphere there and it looks like they really did a good job with the interior. The server was really nice and complaints were handled in a professional way.

The negatives... As previously mentioned the "standard" menu offerings were a disappointment. We all drank water and were never offered refills we were flagging people down the entire night to refill our water glasses. The server, although very nice, was overwhelmed with a huge party and did not have anytime to check on us. My wife, sister in law, and I ordered one of the small plates both my wife and my sister in law ordered pinchos and I ordered the empanadas. The pinchos were 5-6 salad shrimp with no seasoning and the "steak" was an indistinguishable cut of gray shoe leather. Both women sent their shrimp back as it was also overly fishy. After they were sent back the server asked the kitchen staff to taste the shrimp to see if they thought it was off and they told her they though it was ok. My wife then let us all know "if they think that is ok, no one order a shrimp dish." As for my dish the empanadas were edible, room temperature, but edible. The entrees were a mixed bag I had a taco which I enjoyed because I have eaten it at the other Azteca restaurants many times. My mother had a dish with 5 small enchiladas with 5 different sauces and she loved it. My wife ordered chicken enchiladas with mole but was given ground beef enchiladas mole. The mole had no depth of flavor, no richness from the chocolate, and no discernable spice. My father and brother both ordered a dish that was supposed to have shredded beef (according to the menu) but came with ground beef. All of these issues were mentioned to the server who as previously mentioned was really nice about it and apologized profusely.

Then we tried to pay the bill and the computers went on the fritz this was obviously not the restaurants fault but with all of the other issues it was just another frustration.
As we finished paying the server mentioned "I am so sorry for all the problems, you guys are never going to want to come back."

Sorry for the length of the post I am trying to be as thorough as I can!