Restaurant: Amaya’s Taco Village
Location: North Central, 5405 North I-35 Austin, TX 78723 Map
Phone: (512) 458-2531
Price: $6 – $10
Hours: Mon-Sat 7am – 10pm, Sun 7am – 3pm
Food (7/10)
(8/10) Pollo A La Parrilla
Grilled boneless chicken breast with ranchero or queso sauce served with rice, beans and flour tortillas. The chicken is pretty tender and tasty. It was not dry, which is always a risk when ordering a boneless breast. Try putting the chicken, rice, beans and lettuce in the tortilla and drizzle on one of the sauces – yummy! The waitress offered to give us both sauces on the side – the queso was thick and delicious and the ranchero had a kick to it.
(5/10) Village Tacos
Corn tortillas fried fresh, filled with seasoned boneless chicken or beef, topped with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. This description sounds tantalizing, but the end result was not! The fried corn tortilla was greasy and overpowered everything else – we couldn’t taste any of the insides! Also, we tried a bite of the chicken and the beef separately and they were both bland. On the plus side, the fixings tasted fresh. If you want tacos from Amaya’s stick to the not-fried variety such as their delectable breakfast tacos.
Service (7/10)
The service here is notable, considering it is packed during breakfast and lunch hours. We had a 5 min wait and then seated at a clean table. They give complimentary baskets of warm, fresh chips and fiery salsa. The waitress was friendly and our food came out lightning fast. She did not check up on us during our quick meal, but there were several waiters walking around, had we needed something. She took care of our bill in a quick manner as well, but we didn’t feel rushed.
Ambiance (6/10)
Amaya’s Taco Village is a cozy, reasonably priced neighborhood joint. It resembles a brightly lit cafeteria, with plenty of seating. It is located in a strip mall so parking is not a problem. Parking is also available in the back of the building. Amaya’s is minimally decorated but clean and tidy. The lunch patrons are diverse, with all ethnicities and age groups represented. Basically, this place is an affordable Tex-Mex restaurant with solid food and good service.
Mr. Amaya, What happened? I’ve been dining with you and your families since you were on Berkman Drive. I patronized your Bastrop location while it was open, as well as your Oak Hill location while it was open. After dining with you 3 or 4 times a month, many times more than that, my love affair with Amaya’s has come to an end. I visited your new location on Reinli and I35 this morning. Turns out it was only a visit as we left without ever being seated. We were offered seats at the bar, but a big guy like me doesn’t perch like a tweety bird. We agreed to wait for a table and were given a pager. After 3 (THREE) parties who entered and were seated, 2 without even signing in, just greeted and walked to a table we left. Your hostess is not very hospitable. Instead we went and spent our $$$ with a competitor. I called from the car to speak to a manager. After holding for 12+ minutes I finally spoke to a girl who said she was in charge today. From her attitude and condescending tone of voice I can understand why the help is acting the way they do to your customers. They have a lousy example to follow. So this afternoon I’m spending my time posting this review on as many sites as I can find. If you don’t want your customers, I will do all in my power to save them a bad experience and send them to your competitors. Too bad, you’ve always had the best food and good help. I guess you just let it get away from you. Hope you find the resources to address and correct the problems that are destroying your good name.
Wow – one bad experience in decades of visits and James S decides that “this afternoon I’m spending my time posting this (negative) review on as many sites as I can find”. Seems to say less about the food than the reviewer – next time, take the chip off your shoulder and try the ones on the table instead.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had wonderful meals at Amaya’s recently. I venture to say it’s one of the best, if not the very best, old school Tex-Mex places in town.