Agave, an upscale Mexican restaurant opened by Alexandro and Susan Garcia, the same owners as the two Fiesta del Mars also located in Mt. View, is at least the 5th Mexican restaurant within a 2.5 mile (4 km) radius of each other. With 3 of them owned by the Garcias, and Vive Sol and nearby La Fiesta owned by different members of the same family, Mt. View seems to be the capital of non-taqueria based Mexican eateries in the Bay Area.
Agave, a derivative of the successful Blue Agave Club in Pleasanton, is located less than a block away from Fiesta del Mar Too. It should be challenging for the owners to differentiate the 2 restaurants, but somehow they manage. The food is very different between the 2 restaurants: where chips and salsa are not free at Agave, but they are house-made for example.
We stopped in at Agave to check out their happy hour and ordered a Paloma which is made with Tequila and Squirt soda. When we asked the bartender to make the second round less sweet, it seemed like he doubled the Tequila while cutting down the soda (a move which was just fine by us):
A server also brought by a complimentary bowl of house pickled potatoes and carrots:
We ordered the happy hour nachos featuring their house-made chips topped with cheese, guacamole and black beans. This was a perfect snack to pair with the drinks:
With happy hour long over, it was time to try their fish tacos for dinner. The platter came with 2 breaded Baja-style fish tacos dressed with a garlic-jalapeño aioli and cabbage slaw. The refried black beans and rice side dishes completed the tasty plate:
The food at Agave is very different than that of Fiesta del Mar. The restaurant space is quite large and it seems like the crowds haven’t found its way to Agave quite yet. With a similar bar program that offers 100% agave-based tequilas and fresh squeezed lime juice in their margaritas, the crowds will likely find its way here.
On another evening we ate at Agave’s perenially-packed big sister restaurant, Fiesta del Mar Too. The classic Mexican menu has remained essentially the same for the past decade or two offering burritos, enchiladas and tacos made with a choice of proteins.
They used to serve a trio of salsas, but now it looks like they now only serve a slightly spicy pico de gallo with the chips. We also ordered a Diablo Canyon Pilsner and Negra Modelo draft beers:
We come here regularly for one dish that is not really on the menu. Like La Fiesta, they have Grandmother’s almond and sour cream based Enjococado sauce generally served with chicken. We always order the fish burrito, but ask them to substitute the sauce with the rich Enjococado sauce. The rice here is classic, made with tomatoes. We always get the refried beans, served in its own crock with melted cheese. It makes a great dip for the chips, but other bean choices include whole black or pinto beans:
A view inside the fish burrito shows that it is chock full of fish bites. The creamy sauce is excellent with the perfectly cooked fish:
Fiesta del Mar Too is our go-to Mexican restaurant in the South Bay since it is consistently good. It can get very crowded, so it’s nice to have an option to just walk down the street to Agave in downtown Mt. View as an alternative.
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