Update: Tres Agaves – SoMa
130 Townsend St
San Francisco , CA 94107
(415) 227-0500
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VdV Rating: 2.5
Food: Mexican
Ambiance: Casual
Yeah that’s right! We have not been kind to Tres Agaves. Not body-slamming it to the (low) level of K&L Wines, but generally not very complimentary, if ya get my drift. If you don’t, read here. We had high hopes for a great Mexican joint in our SoMa ‘hood, and these guys simply took a big crap right on our noggins. Like a pigeon the size of a 777. Plop. Anyhoo, we’ve basically blacklisted this place from way back after experiencing:
- Shitty, overpriced and weak margys. I mean, we had a pitcher and got brain freezes from all the ice way before we caught any type of happy buzz.
- Workers with bad ‘tudes that would play with their greasy hair then touch the food and make you drinks without washing their hands. Ewe.
- Marina crowd. ‘Nuff said
- Eric the Owner. He screamed at me one time. Me?! I’m lovable!
- And their whole: ‘Tres Agaves … Rocks, No Salt’ line. Don’t you dare tell me how to drink my tequila, d-bag!! That said, this is still their tag line and they need to replace it. Call us for brand consulting;)
But the other day, what do they say, Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder? or one of those gay sayings, and after a disappointing experience at the recently opened Iron Cactus on 4th& Townsend, we wandered past TA and figured we’d roll the dice and after a few years see if the situation had improved. I mean, we’d had some friends from area restaurants go there to work, so who knows. Plus, I gotta give them props since our dear, deceased Bassett Hound Stanley liked this place better than anywhere ‘cuz the two cool hosts/hostesses with the mostesses would pet him and give him snacks every time we walked by.
And, grudgingly, we also dug their Carne Asada ($19.95), we would cheat occasionally and order that to go. Basically so Stanley could get some pets and treats. But that steak is damn tasty, made to order (i.e. RARE) and still on the menu.
So how is this post Sammy Hagar and Tommy Tres Agaves? Well, apart from the fact Eric Ruben still runs it, (we hear he mostly pushed out Sammy & Tommy), here goes:
So, the usual d-bags behind the bar were absent. We actually had a very nice guy (spaced his name) that was friendly and not tequila-snobbish.
The Chips were the same, which is fine. They are good chips, a little thick but fresh and good taste. The Salsa improved! How? Just better flavor, maybe better ingredients, a little better texture and spices. Not too hot, not too wimpy. Plus as opposed to some spots in NYC, these puppies remain free. Bravo!
The tacos – hey remember, we just waddled over from Iron Cactus so didn’t go whole hog. We ordered the Tacos al 
Pastor ($13.50), which is (or is it ‘are’?) not one, not two, but count ‘em four tacos, two each of adobo marinated pork and chicken from their wood burning oven. These are served on corn tortillas, soft not crunchy. And they are served with rice and ‘beans of the day’ whatever that means. I prefer black beans but these were some type of Kidney bean, and they were meaty and good. The tacos were pretty good too. Big step up from Iron Cactus, who looked like some blind spastic put the tacos together. And y’know what, haters? They’re about the same price as Iron Cactus
too. Since you get 4, that’s only $3.38 per taco, mathematicians.
The tacos here are well made and well presented. The bird taco was very good, well spiced, a generous portion of it and
all in all tasty. The blend of meat, onions, spices and, with a little salsa on top, was very tasty. The pork though was somewhat bland. Dunno what
happened but it was disappointing. It was slightly over cooked,
and like I said, pretty much void of taste. So it’s not all horny love here for Tres, but they do seem to have kicked it up a notch. Keep it up, suckas, and maybe we’ll come back!
VdV Rating: 2.5 (reserving higher points until we go back again)
Hours:
Sun-Thu 11:30a-10p
Fri-Sat: 11:30a-11p
Tres Agaves
130 Townsend St
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 227-0500
