This was a really good restaurant. It is not the same as the many low cost Mexican restaurants in town. Those restaurants are good too, but at times the food can be somewhat greasy and have a sense of being microwaved. This food was fresh, nicely prepared and even well presented on the plate. The portions were very good. The prices were on par with the other places in town and the lunch specials include a drink with free refills. This restaurant takes more of the Panchero's or Qdoba model and charges for chips and salsa. The quantity of chips was a little skimpy and would not have been enough for a family of 4. I'd like to see them change the pricing on chips and salsa to be unlimited with the purchase of an entree. I will return to this restaurant.
(4)
Pinaki S.
Authentic Mexican in the west Des Moines suburbs!?? No way!! Yes,way. The food is excellent here. Lengua??! Really? Tacos with cilantro and onions? Tortas??? You can also get your mexican-american favorites (cheezy chimichangas etc). Very family run.
(4)
Anu M.
I ordered delivery from Agave and the food was great, the portion sizes were good (not small by any means but definitely not large). But overall I really enjoyed the food, it wasn't incredibly greasy and cheesy like many Mexican-American places around here.
(4)
Michael G.
Agave grill had good mexican food at a decent price. The food selection is head and shoulders above a "normal" Mexican restaurant. The staff was efficient, the atmosphere clean and food was tasty. Worth a try!
(4)
Jennifer H.
Agave Grill is close to my work, so I like to go there every few weeks. I almost always get the "Mexican style tacos" which are very reminiscent of taco truck tacos. I always get steak. They are so simple - corn tortilla, steak, chopped onion and cilantro. So fresh. The complimentary chips and salsa are always good. Sometimes the TV's are loud. Would like just music (which has been on some of the times I have been there). The wait staff is attentive. There are never many people in there when I go at 11:30. I hope they are getting business at other times because I think the food is very tasty! I have not gone in the evening, but please note - they do not serve alcohol.
(4)
Emilie B.
Went to Agave Grill after buying a gift certificate on Restaurant.com . The restaurant is tucked away off of the main road on University Ave, and when my husband and I went at 6:30 on a Thursday night, there were only 2 other tables of customers there, which I thought was kind of odd. (Usually every restaurant I go to around dinner time in West Des Moines is insanely crowded! The complementary chips and salsa were good (could have been spicier, but they have to appeal to all taste buds I suppose), and the waitress was really wonderful about constantly refilling the chips and salsa whenever we ran low. I love waitresses like that! I ordered the shrimp tacos and they were extremely flavorful and well prepared. My husband got enchiladas and they looked delicious as well. This is by far by favorite "authentic Mexican" restaurant in the WDM/Clive area. I hope they are able to get more business- they don't deserve to only have a few customers during dinner time- the food is delicious and the service is excellent! I will definitely be back!
(4)
Mike D.
This place is a pretty solid 3 stars. Its nothing special but at the same time its not bad. I just happened to see the sign on the way out town while trying to find something to eat. They have kind of odd hours and we came in an hour before close on Saturday. We were the only two in here. The free chips and salsa are good. I like salsas with lots of cilantro. I ordered the enchiladas Rojas, one beef, one chicken, rice and beans. The beans were completely flavorless, tasted like canned refried beans. Rice was pretty much just that....Rice. Been enchilada the neat had great flavor but I couldn't taste any cheese or even the red sauce that they poured over it. Completely bland. Chicken enchilada tasted like chicken but was pretty weak as well in terms of flavor. The redeeming factor was that our food was out in 5 minutes and our waitress was very attentive. And my horchata was very good. I hope they can continue to improve, and maybe we needed to come when they are busy. When we left there was maybe 6 or 7 others who came in to eat 20 minutes before close.
(3)
B W.
A friend and I tried Agave Grill for lunch last week. Prices are a bit higher than average for similar places and the portions are smaller. Presentation of the food was nice and not at all spicy. No chips were included with lunch. Staff was friendly.
(3)
Gerald Z.
this is a family owned joint and I hope they stay in business although I worry because their location is a bit tough. As a mentioned last time, their chips and salsa are great (probably some of the best i have had). didn't add the cheese dip this time but probably should have. As a family of 8 we probably overwhelm any restaurant, but we really overwhelmed Agave this visit. They need more wait staff as the poor teenager working was swamped, she was so nice and we all felt bad for her. Food was good, but wait was really long. We saw a couple leave after ten minutes of waiting when they had not received a menu or water. I ordered the pork carnitas, they were amaze balls, tender and juicy on the inside and crisped up on the outside. Almost like mexican burnt ends. My daughter had the burrito fronterizo. Which was a burrito filled with season ground beef and chorizo, deep fat fried and covered in white cheese sauce. I was jealous, next time we go i will have that. the wait though really was bad. I am rounding up because this is a family joint and we really like the family that owns it. We came here with a restaurant.com coupon, i would suggest you take advantage of that and try the place out. Don't come at dinner on the weekend if you are in a rush though as you will not be happy...
(3)
Chad W.
My wife and I have been searching for a good Mexican place in Des Moines-West Des Moines area since we moved here and have tried several, but this place has by far been the best! It was a very clean and nicely decorated place with Mexican music playing in the background ( a good clue you are in a good place). We got seated and ordered our drinks and they were brought promptly along with chips and salsa. The salsa was very delicious and flavorful, maybe a tad watery but delicious either way! When looking at the menu I new this place was the real deal when I saw meat choices such as Pastor and Lengua. I ordered the Pastor Fajita Burrito along with a steak Mexican style taco, my wife had the supreme nachos (why you'd order nachos at a Mexican place is beyond me). My Pastor burrito was so delicious and packed with flavor. The Mexican style steak taco was probably the best thing we had, the steak was seasoned and topped with cilantro and onions resting on a corn tortilla, on the side with the taco was a delicious red hot sauce! The rice was seasoned and about the same as most Mexican places, the refried beans were nothing to brag about but they did come in a cute edible corn tortilla bowl. My wife's Nachos were nothing special, but again you should never get Nachos at a Mexican place (at least if it is a real Mexican place). The service was great and overall this place seemed to be a very nice family owned business. Bottom line if you are looking for some great food come here, this is by far the best Mexican place in Des Moines I have encountered and it's not even close!
(5)
Yunnis S.
Was visiting Iowa for the Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, and Dana Carvey show at the State Fair. It was about 11:15pm and we decided to check out GrubHub to order food. Agave Grill was open until 12am and so we ordered food. About 45 minutes later, we were wondering where our food was and so I decided to check the status of it. I received an email from GrubHub saying that our food order was cancelled. There was no explanation why and although we thought that since it was a small town, things like this could happen, we were still upset that Agave Grill didn't call us or anything to let us know we would starve for the night.
(1)
Darien G.
Had lunch here last week and it was the first time I'd ever been to Agave Grill. I was impressed and the food hit the mark for being authentic. I had the steak taquitos, which are basically just a classic REAL Mexican taco on a small corn tortilla. The steak was generous and just the right amount of "greasy", the onion & cilantro as expected, and a wedge of lime was present just as I'd think it should be... I used liberal amounts of their red salsa to make things a bit spicier than most would care for, but the salsa was excellent. This platter of taquitos comes with a small fried corn tortilla shell that is full of liquidity refried beans (the menu says it is some sort of bean soup and I'd guess it is comparable to a cup of soup in a normal restaurant). I liked the beans / bean soup a lot and of course I broke the "bowl" up and ate it too! I'm being a bit picky by omitting one star from this rating, but there are a few reasons why: 1) Atmosphere feels a bit strange, like it used to be a sushi bar or something? 2) I don't believe there is any beer / wine / liquor available? I want to be clear that I didn't feel like I needed any of that for lunch, but it definitely would be a problem if you went there for dinner and ended up drinking sodas and water... much further down the list of issues 3) The chips and salsa that greet you were just ok. I particularly felt like the salsa was more of a sweet tomato sauce than one would anticipate. I had to mix the bottle of salsa picante with mine to make it more to my liking. This is admittedly really far down the list, but if you are going to be authentic in many ways, get this part right too! All in all, I will look forward to going again and I'll probably order the same thing.
(4)
Ron T.
Stopped in and thought we would give ita try. We ordered the carne asada and carnitas platters as these are two of my favorites to testto see if the chef knows what he or she is doing and also it gives me an idea of the quality of the meat served. That being said I was very disappointed with the carne asada as it was thin, tough, and contained a lot of grisle. The Carnitas had good flavor but was cut up in tiny chunks so many were over cooked. The pico was ok but the guacamole was sour tasting.. The refried beans were excellent, great flavor. Certainly would have eaten more but the servong wad miniscule. Overall mediocre at best. May return and try something chicken but the pork and beef are a NO for us.
(2)
Jaimee J.
Ordered some Mexican style tacos and the Agave dip. The tacos were not double wrapped, but were soft corn. There was no pico de gallo, just a load of cilantro (enough to have a handful left over). I did like that they served with grilled sweet onion and raw white onion. The tacos overall were very sweet, and the limes were not fully ripe. I've yet to try anything else, but I will not get the tacos there again. I was hoping for Los Laureles quality and did not get that here. The 'hot sauce' that you get with the tacos is not spicy at all, which is a disappointment for those who are expecting authentic style. It seems to be made with orange tomatoes, which gives an awesome flavor.. but it's very sweet and is missing a huge spice element like habanero, which would pair wonderfully. The 'Agave Dip' (just egg-less chorizo in queso blanco) was very good. Would definitely get this again! They give you more chips than you'd ever need! Was very satisfied with this, bringing to a 3. Will order again, because they deliver. HUGE plus! Friendly staff, beautifully clean joint but a little dim after sunset.
(3)
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Address :12931 University Ave,Ste 102
Clive, IA, 50325
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : Yes Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Private Lot Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : Yes Dogs Allowed : No Waiter Service : Yes
If you enjoy Taco Tuesday, then you have officially fallen in love with the Mexican Food. The main grain of Mexican cuisine is maize. Also known as corn, maize is grown for the past 9000 years after the crop was discovered by the people in Mayan civilization. Mexican empire flourished when they started growing beans, tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet potato and cactus. Till this date these ingredients are used in cooking authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.
Great use of spices, fresh chili pepper dishes like fajitas, tortilla chips, corn chips, salsa, chimichangas, burritos, nachos and quesadillas are invented in America. But when you are looking for authentic Mexican food then you must find a restaurant in the city that serves Rajas con Queso, Garbanzo in a Guajillo Chile Sauce, Pork Filled Chiles Rellenos, Chiles en Nogada, Molcajete Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Frijoles de la Olla. An eye-opening fact – Mexican don't like their food hot. They use fresh chili and other spices to create a flavor that lingers in your mouth.
Mexican food is great for those who are Gluten Intolerant as they use Corn instead of wheat in most of their dishes. Also, you can easily find many beans based Mexican dishes. Another dish which didn't get similar glory as tacos or nachos is the Mexican hot chocolate. If you love something hot on a chilly day, then go for Mexican Hot Chocolate. On merry days, you can enjoy the authentic Mexican Drinks like Tequila, Mezcal, Tecuí, Sotol, Bacanora, Charanda, Posh O Pox, Puebla and Pulque. Mexican Cuisine is for people who enjoy strong drinks and hearty meals.
Jeff C.
This was a really good restaurant. It is not the same as the many low cost Mexican restaurants in town. Those restaurants are good too, but at times the food can be somewhat greasy and have a sense of being microwaved. This food was fresh, nicely prepared and even well presented on the plate. The portions were very good. The prices were on par with the other places in town and the lunch specials include a drink with free refills. This restaurant takes more of the Panchero's or Qdoba model and charges for chips and salsa. The quantity of chips was a little skimpy and would not have been enough for a family of 4. I'd like to see them change the pricing on chips and salsa to be unlimited with the purchase of an entree. I will return to this restaurant.
(4)Pinaki S.
Authentic Mexican in the west Des Moines suburbs!?? No way!! Yes,way. The food is excellent here. Lengua??! Really? Tacos with cilantro and onions? Tortas??? You can also get your mexican-american favorites (cheezy chimichangas etc). Very family run.
(4)Anu M.
I ordered delivery from Agave and the food was great, the portion sizes were good (not small by any means but definitely not large). But overall I really enjoyed the food, it wasn't incredibly greasy and cheesy like many Mexican-American places around here.
(4)Michael G.
Agave grill had good mexican food at a decent price. The food selection is head and shoulders above a "normal" Mexican restaurant. The staff was efficient, the atmosphere clean and food was tasty. Worth a try!
(4)Jennifer H.
Agave Grill is close to my work, so I like to go there every few weeks. I almost always get the "Mexican style tacos" which are very reminiscent of taco truck tacos. I always get steak. They are so simple - corn tortilla, steak, chopped onion and cilantro. So fresh. The complimentary chips and salsa are always good. Sometimes the TV's are loud. Would like just music (which has been on some of the times I have been there). The wait staff is attentive. There are never many people in there when I go at 11:30. I hope they are getting business at other times because I think the food is very tasty! I have not gone in the evening, but please note - they do not serve alcohol.
(4)Emilie B.
Went to Agave Grill after buying a gift certificate on Restaurant.com . The restaurant is tucked away off of the main road on University Ave, and when my husband and I went at 6:30 on a Thursday night, there were only 2 other tables of customers there, which I thought was kind of odd. (Usually every restaurant I go to around dinner time in West Des Moines is insanely crowded! The complementary chips and salsa were good (could have been spicier, but they have to appeal to all taste buds I suppose), and the waitress was really wonderful about constantly refilling the chips and salsa whenever we ran low. I love waitresses like that! I ordered the shrimp tacos and they were extremely flavorful and well prepared. My husband got enchiladas and they looked delicious as well. This is by far by favorite "authentic Mexican" restaurant in the WDM/Clive area. I hope they are able to get more business- they don't deserve to only have a few customers during dinner time- the food is delicious and the service is excellent! I will definitely be back!
(4)Mike D.
This place is a pretty solid 3 stars. Its nothing special but at the same time its not bad. I just happened to see the sign on the way out town while trying to find something to eat. They have kind of odd hours and we came in an hour before close on Saturday. We were the only two in here. The free chips and salsa are good. I like salsas with lots of cilantro. I ordered the enchiladas Rojas, one beef, one chicken, rice and beans. The beans were completely flavorless, tasted like canned refried beans. Rice was pretty much just that....Rice. Been enchilada the neat had great flavor but I couldn't taste any cheese or even the red sauce that they poured over it. Completely bland. Chicken enchilada tasted like chicken but was pretty weak as well in terms of flavor. The redeeming factor was that our food was out in 5 minutes and our waitress was very attentive. And my horchata was very good. I hope they can continue to improve, and maybe we needed to come when they are busy. When we left there was maybe 6 or 7 others who came in to eat 20 minutes before close.
(3)B W.
A friend and I tried Agave Grill for lunch last week. Prices are a bit higher than average for similar places and the portions are smaller. Presentation of the food was nice and not at all spicy. No chips were included with lunch. Staff was friendly.
(3)Gerald Z.
this is a family owned joint and I hope they stay in business although I worry because their location is a bit tough. As a mentioned last time, their chips and salsa are great (probably some of the best i have had). didn't add the cheese dip this time but probably should have. As a family of 8 we probably overwhelm any restaurant, but we really overwhelmed Agave this visit. They need more wait staff as the poor teenager working was swamped, she was so nice and we all felt bad for her. Food was good, but wait was really long. We saw a couple leave after ten minutes of waiting when they had not received a menu or water. I ordered the pork carnitas, they were amaze balls, tender and juicy on the inside and crisped up on the outside. Almost like mexican burnt ends. My daughter had the burrito fronterizo. Which was a burrito filled with season ground beef and chorizo, deep fat fried and covered in white cheese sauce. I was jealous, next time we go i will have that. the wait though really was bad. I am rounding up because this is a family joint and we really like the family that owns it. We came here with a restaurant.com coupon, i would suggest you take advantage of that and try the place out. Don't come at dinner on the weekend if you are in a rush though as you will not be happy...
(3)Chad W.
My wife and I have been searching for a good Mexican place in Des Moines-West Des Moines area since we moved here and have tried several, but this place has by far been the best! It was a very clean and nicely decorated place with Mexican music playing in the background ( a good clue you are in a good place). We got seated and ordered our drinks and they were brought promptly along with chips and salsa. The salsa was very delicious and flavorful, maybe a tad watery but delicious either way! When looking at the menu I new this place was the real deal when I saw meat choices such as Pastor and Lengua. I ordered the Pastor Fajita Burrito along with a steak Mexican style taco, my wife had the supreme nachos (why you'd order nachos at a Mexican place is beyond me). My Pastor burrito was so delicious and packed with flavor. The Mexican style steak taco was probably the best thing we had, the steak was seasoned and topped with cilantro and onions resting on a corn tortilla, on the side with the taco was a delicious red hot sauce! The rice was seasoned and about the same as most Mexican places, the refried beans were nothing to brag about but they did come in a cute edible corn tortilla bowl. My wife's Nachos were nothing special, but again you should never get Nachos at a Mexican place (at least if it is a real Mexican place). The service was great and overall this place seemed to be a very nice family owned business. Bottom line if you are looking for some great food come here, this is by far the best Mexican place in Des Moines I have encountered and it's not even close!
(5)Yunnis S.
Was visiting Iowa for the Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, and Dana Carvey show at the State Fair. It was about 11:15pm and we decided to check out GrubHub to order food. Agave Grill was open until 12am and so we ordered food. About 45 minutes later, we were wondering where our food was and so I decided to check the status of it. I received an email from GrubHub saying that our food order was cancelled. There was no explanation why and although we thought that since it was a small town, things like this could happen, we were still upset that Agave Grill didn't call us or anything to let us know we would starve for the night.
(1)Darien G.
Had lunch here last week and it was the first time I'd ever been to Agave Grill. I was impressed and the food hit the mark for being authentic. I had the steak taquitos, which are basically just a classic REAL Mexican taco on a small corn tortilla. The steak was generous and just the right amount of "greasy", the onion & cilantro as expected, and a wedge of lime was present just as I'd think it should be... I used liberal amounts of their red salsa to make things a bit spicier than most would care for, but the salsa was excellent. This platter of taquitos comes with a small fried corn tortilla shell that is full of liquidity refried beans (the menu says it is some sort of bean soup and I'd guess it is comparable to a cup of soup in a normal restaurant). I liked the beans / bean soup a lot and of course I broke the "bowl" up and ate it too! I'm being a bit picky by omitting one star from this rating, but there are a few reasons why: 1) Atmosphere feels a bit strange, like it used to be a sushi bar or something? 2) I don't believe there is any beer / wine / liquor available? I want to be clear that I didn't feel like I needed any of that for lunch, but it definitely would be a problem if you went there for dinner and ended up drinking sodas and water... much further down the list of issues 3) The chips and salsa that greet you were just ok. I particularly felt like the salsa was more of a sweet tomato sauce than one would anticipate. I had to mix the bottle of salsa picante with mine to make it more to my liking. This is admittedly really far down the list, but if you are going to be authentic in many ways, get this part right too! All in all, I will look forward to going again and I'll probably order the same thing.
(4)Ron T.
Stopped in and thought we would give ita try. We ordered the carne asada and carnitas platters as these are two of my favorites to testto see if the chef knows what he or she is doing and also it gives me an idea of the quality of the meat served. That being said I was very disappointed with the carne asada as it was thin, tough, and contained a lot of grisle. The Carnitas had good flavor but was cut up in tiny chunks so many were over cooked. The pico was ok but the guacamole was sour tasting.. The refried beans were excellent, great flavor. Certainly would have eaten more but the servong wad miniscule. Overall mediocre at best. May return and try something chicken but the pork and beef are a NO for us.
(2)Jaimee J.
Ordered some Mexican style tacos and the Agave dip. The tacos were not double wrapped, but were soft corn. There was no pico de gallo, just a load of cilantro (enough to have a handful left over). I did like that they served with grilled sweet onion and raw white onion. The tacos overall were very sweet, and the limes were not fully ripe. I've yet to try anything else, but I will not get the tacos there again. I was hoping for Los Laureles quality and did not get that here. The 'hot sauce' that you get with the tacos is not spicy at all, which is a disappointment for those who are expecting authentic style. It seems to be made with orange tomatoes, which gives an awesome flavor.. but it's very sweet and is missing a huge spice element like habanero, which would pair wonderfully. The 'Agave Dip' (just egg-less chorizo in queso blanco) was very good. Would definitely get this again! They give you more chips than you'd ever need! Was very satisfied with this, bringing to a 3. Will order again, because they deliver. HUGE plus! Friendly staff, beautifully clean joint but a little dim after sunset.
(3)