Upon entering the brightly lit and decorated cubicle that is Tequila Revolucion, I was immediately drawn to the outdoor seating, as the clamor of cooking, drink making and conversation crammed into such a small setting was overwhelming.
Tequila Revolucion opened earlier this year under the guise of Ryan Gillespie and Mauricio Guevara, and boasts a menu of traditional Mexican eats. Located on Post Road in Fairfield, the restaurant is livened by the buzz of the street, but the laid back atmosphere couldn’t make up for the slow service and mediocre food. There appeared to be only two waiters doing their best to reach an almost packed restaurant. The entire dinner stretched on for a little over two hours.
A hallmark of any Mexican restaurant is the guacamole, and Tequila Revolucion fell short on this dish. The guacamole yearned for a dosage of onions, a much needed crunch and salt and more flavor. Although the texture was creamy, their guacamole lacked the usual bite and tanginess that I look for in a good guacamole. The salsa and green sauce that came with the chips were preferred.
Unlike the guacamole, the tortilla soup was over salted and lacked flavor. There was an overwhelming amount of broth and a shortage of the fresh tomatoes, chiles and chorizo that the dish called for. I would recommend skipping this appetizer and simply pairing the guacamole with any of the entrees.
I recommend sampling from a variety of the dishes, as they are easy to share among groups. I went in a group of four and we ordered the tortilla soup, baja fish tacos, pechugo de pollo con mole poblano, taco platter and mojo de ajo camarones. The portions of all the dishes were incredibly large and most came with rice, beans, and a side salad. However, I found the prices to be relatively expensive for the rather uninspiring meal. Most of the entrees ranged in the low twenties and a few of the larger dishes ventured into the upper twenties and low thirties.
Served on a huge platter with three bursting tacos, the baja fish were crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. The Mexican crema sauce tasted like a somewhat of a chipotle sauce and it boded well with the cabbage and baja fish.
The creamy mole sauce covering the grilled chicken makes this dish taste almost like a dessert. This dish was on the specials for the day, but it's definitely worth a try if it moves to the main menu. The mole sauce has a lasting spice to it, which made up for the poorly cooked chicken, which had a stringy texture to it.
The variety of tacos served in this dish (skirt steak, chorizo, pork and grilled chicken) is certainly a bonus, but only the chorizo and grilled chicken tacos were particularly noteworthy. The chorizo was flavorful and the grilled chicken was cooked excellently. Both the skirt steak and the pork felt a little overcooked and overall the tacos could have benefited from a sauce like the one on the baja fish tacos.
By far the best dish ordered, the Mojo de Ajo camarones were cooked perfectly and had a delicious tang from the lime juice and garlic they were sautéed with. The shrimp also came with rice and a side salad that complemented the main dish nicely.
Despite the slow service and slightly above average food, Tequila Revolucion can be a great stop for some outdoor eating on a nice summer night as long as you can plan to be there for a few hours.
