08/26/09

I crave this food every week.

by lizlan

First of all I MUST reply to the last review of this so called "FOODIE ". It sounds to me like you're a complainer, and would like to get your food for free.

Try writing a more constructive review next time, if you are a self proclaimed "foodie" and really know something about the food you're tasting.

The tortilla soup has a very distinct flavor from the Crab soup. Yes, they are both salty, and spicy, but with totally different complexities.

I have not yet found a better crab soup in the triangle than the Chilpachole de Jaiba. I have to have it every week. Everytime I go I try a different entree after the soup. I have not yet been disappointed. It only gets better. The Cabrito (Goat) is exceptional.

I have to say this place really should make Mexicans proud!

• Pros: Unique Mexican Menu

04/12/09

This is the worst excuse for mexican food

by pamelac

We are self proclaimed FOODIES, eat out often and love to try new places and love GOOD FOOD. Stumbled on Jibarra, looked inside, thought it looked like a great place. Not very many people in there at all, but put it on our list of places to try. Just this week, Friday, we decided to go on a date night with another couple and went to Jibarra. The menu was certainly different and we were excited to try this modern mexican. We ordered chips and salsa to begin with, the salsa was excellent, but very sparce and the chips, well, let's just say the bowl that they came in was about the size of a toddlers cereal bowl for $2.50 each time you asked for a refill. There was barely enough for 1 person to enjoy. We also ordered the guacamole which was very bland, we added some lime and salt and "doctored" it up and it was a little better. Again, very small portions. We went on to the next course...My husband and bff ordered the blue crab soup and I ordered the tortilla soup. The presentation was awesome....it should have stopped there. The broth that was poured over the base ingredients that were in the bowl was all the same....once poured in, the blue crab soup and the tortilla soup tasted almost the same...the only difference is that you could taste a slight seafood flavor in the crab soup. It was awful...we sent them all back. Next course, my husband and his friend ordered the special of ravioli with scallops and gorgonzola....tasted like they dumped the entire container of sea salt in the dish. They couldn't finish their entrees as noone bothered to refill their waters and they were dying from the salt intake. I ordered a skewered chicken with traditional fajita veggies and tortillas. The chicken was moderately warm, the "traditional fajita veggies" were ice cold and when asked, we were told that was the appropriate way to be served. If you can wrap around this, moderately warm chicken, ice cold veggies and hot flour tortillas. By the time you wrapped the tortillas around the chicken and veggies you ended up with a slightly cold version of a very dull and forgettable entree. We were so very dissapointed as we loved the location and were really hoping for so much more....we asked to speak to someone in management just so that we could express our thoughts. Again, we dine out several times a week and most of the time together, we love different types of food ranging from the awesome Chinese food at 5 star to the sushi at Sushi Blues. We loved Prime Only's steak and sushi bar, etc. When Hector Jibarra came to our table and explained to us that the flavors that we were experiencing were the way they were intended. The overly salty "special" was most likely that way because it had gorgonzola in it and the cold veggies were intended to be that way, the base or broth used for all the soups and sauces was their signature sauce or sorts. Everything tasted very redundant as if they has one sauce in the kitchen and they made the soup out of it, the sauce for the ribs out of it and they are extremely heavy handed on the salt. This time, there were about 3 tables occupied when we got there and only one more joined us as we had this experience. Doubtful that this restaurant will be around for a very long time. With the lack of care exhibited by the "family" management. They were not in any way customer service friendly as even though we had sent items back and sent the chicken and veggies back and they merely microwaved them and sent them back out, there was no mention of compensation, took nothing off of our bill.....we figured with 4 or 5 tables on a Friday night, they needed every dime that they were billing, regardless of satisfaction. Overall the experience was horrible and these Foodies WILL NOT WASTE our time or money again. With 4 people, we left there with $120 less in our pocket, still hungry with an awful taste in our mouth....don't bother.

• Pros: None worth mentioning.
• Cons: food quality, pricey, small portions, cold, poorly managed

04/01/09

Terrible experience

by clarkm

Went to Jibarra for the $5 dollar lunch special they were running last week. Great concept, but it seems they may have not been ready for the crowd.

There was a little bit of a wait and the bad experience started when the manager was telling everyone to move away from the front door in a very impatient and rude way.

The food I ordered ( beef tacos) took nearly 45 minutes to get to my table and the waitress only checked on me once during the entire time I was there.

When I asked to speak with the manager, it took her another 15 minutes to get to my table, and she had such chip on her shoulder acting like I was doing her a big favor for coming in to the restaurant to eat.

The food was good, but there are plenty of other great restaurant choices around downtown if you're looking to eat within your lunch hour, and expect to be treated with courtesy.

• Pros: Good food
• Cons: Slow and Rude service