Have you Hurd... No TV's = Reasonable Crowd During March Madness...

If I haven't mentioned before, I am a Purdue alumni.  Since my team was eliminated earlier in the tournament weekend, I had no particular interest in watching the latest tournament action over dinner on Saturday night.  Neither of us is particularly fond of the usual Saturday night crush of people either.  Thankfully, we landed a dinner invite with a small group of good friends to visit a local Mexican restaurant that didn't list sports TV viewing as one of it's central features.  Aside from that, I expect the Saturday night crowd would have been a bit crazier at 6:00 pm, given the Blue Agave's proximity to the Polaris Fashion Place.




We were the last to join the party, so the table was already secured and chips and salsa were all around.  The waiter immediately appeared and took everyone's drink order.  The margarita prices were reasonable for the weekend, so I had to sample a jumbo house margarita on the rocks.  They had a wide variety of flavors and others at our table were more daring and opted for a pitcher of frozen mango and a pitcher of watermelon on the rocks.    Judging by the others pleasant responses, the other flavors were a hit.  If I visit again, I may sample another flavor, but since this was my first time...  I had to go with the standard for comparison.The house margarita was good, but not great.  Certainly as good as most any I have had recently, but I miss the Meltdown Margaritas from Don Pablo's.  I know some people consider it sacrilege to mention a chain restaurant, but I have to give them chops for the margaritas.  The only other place I can think of where I have had one that good since Don Pablo's left town are Senor Antonio's in Lewis Center.

(Clockwise from top left) Mild,
Hot, and Salsa Verde.  Salsa
Verde Remains a mystery
as the Scout passed on it.

Enough about the drinks...  Back to the food...  The chips and salsa take a more colorful turn at Blue Agave with a trio of choices accompanying the chips- mild, hot, and salsa verde.  The waiter also offered queso.  We followed the lead of others in our party and set up some queso in addition to the salsa trio.  It was a good call.  Queso was excellent.  Not sure whether it was me or someone else that licked the bowl clean, but it was all gone.  I am sure the dishwasher made light work of it. Probably even wondered if it had really been used for anything.  -smirk-  I sort of dipped my toe in the waters with the hot salsa.  Thankfully, it wasn't super hot and the mild had good flavor too.  Is there such a thing as fashionably hot salsa?  I skipped the salsa verde.  Green salsa just isn't my bag, baby.  -smile-  The chips were plentiful, light and crunchy.  Only suggestion would be to hit them with some salt.  That didn't seem to hold back any others at the table, so maybe I am the only one that likes a salty chip.



I expected with the size of our party (8 plus a child), the speed of service might be a little slower than usual.  I was off-base on that.  Our waiter and the rest of his supporting cast kept things moving all night.  Drinks and food arrived at the table at breakneck speed.  It seemed like someone was always checking with us to see if we needed anything.  Made me wonder if somehow we ended up at the VIP table or something?  Not too likely they have heard I am a food blogger yet, so it couldn't be that they were trying to impress me to ensure a good write up...  Have I mentioned that I am a sucker for that?  -smile-  Hats off to the staff for first class service.

Why didn't I remember to substitute something
else for the rice?  It's not what you are thinking.
I only had one margarita.  And I let my sweetest
have a sip or two as well.  OR were you thinking

old age?  hmmmmm...

My wife and I don't normally order the same thing, but tonight we were in total sync.  We both enjoyed the Chimichangas Supremas.  You get a choice of chicken or beef tips. She elected one of each.  After she finished ordering, I told him I would have exactly the same thing.  I paused and looked skyward for a moment.  Whew!  No lightning bolt.  Life is good.  -smile-  When it arrived at the table, I mixed it all together and I tossed the last of the salsa in the mix too just for kicks.  That's just how I roll.  The tortillas were crisp and filled with a generous amount of meat (and other fillings) and blanketed with queso.  The beans and the mixed salad were a bright spot as they had more flavor and texture than many other places I have visited.  At some other Tex-Mex establishments (you know who you are), it feels like the beans are from a can and the lettuce is from a bag.  I don't think that is the case at the Blue Agave.  If I had thought about it, I would have skipped the rice.  Even still, we both enjoyed the food.  Much like the margaritas though... We found it was good, but not great.  If we received an invite to return in the future, we certainly wouldn't pass it up.  If we are choosing the location though, it's more likely we would go somewhere closer to home like Rancho Alegre.




So if you find yourself at the Polaris Fashion Place mall and hankering for Tex-Mex, head east on the Parkway to Blue Agave.  The folks there will take good care of you.  If you should happen to be in some other part of town, my bet is that you already have another favorite place that is closer.  No reason to drive out of your way to throw yourself headlong into the craziness that is Polaris unless it far exceeds your favorite neighborhood Tex-Mex.  Anything short of that will cause you to hate yourself in the morning.  Save the Blue Agave for when you are already sucked into Polaris' vortex of rampant consumerism or you get a chance invite from some good friends to join their already rockin' party.  Blue Agave is just far enough away from the throngs of shoppers to provide a welcome oasis and help you take the edge off before heading home.

www.blueagaveohio.com

Your Dining Scout and Shade Tree Chef,
Michael Hurd, aka Big Mike