The Prickly Pear Taqueria

The Prickly Pear Taqueria is set in Midtown Atlanta. Typical of restaurants in downtown areas, it is flanked by office and commercial buildings on both sides.

The Prickly Pear is a restaurant with well-defined customer base. The restaurant was made to serve the 21-30 age group. In this spirit, the restaurant has a relaxed ambience, has a modestly priced menu and has a large selection of drinks.

The area where the restaurant excels is its ambience. The atmosphere certainly feels as if it belongs in a much pricier setting. The attire of the customer base also conforms to a higher class of restaurants. The women were wearing dresses and the men were wearing fashion-forward semi-formal apparel. The décor of the Prickly Pear is very inviting and lively. Dimmed lights in the evening make the scene calm and relaxed. Bright red and orange walls compliment the lighting well. The music also adds value to the atmosphere. A live DJ plays Spanis

h guitar driven songs during weekends. A number of large LCD’s dot the restaurant but are peripherally located with muted sound.

Although the Prickly Pear is located in a very busy area, garage parking is available to customers. The restaurant has also made itself as accessible as possible; you can reserve and even view the menu online, at http://www.pricklypearatlanta.com. The restaurant is also wheelchair accessible. Although it does not deliver, the Prickly Pear does have a takeout option.

The Prickly Pear pampers you with a variety of seating options. A personal favorite of mine is the airplane seating option. The Prickly Pear has actual airplane seats that were probably acquired by a dilapidated airplane. In addition, the Prickly Pear offers high chair seating, regular around the table seating, and low chair seating. Outside seating is an option as well.

The service was above average with an attentive waitress and fast seating. The ‘meal of the day’ is advertised very quickly and the waitresses don’t annoy you with too many details.

As I approached the entrance with a friend of mine, a waitress greeted us with a warm smile and gave us a long list of seating options. Even though It was a Saturday evening, the restaurant was not overly crowded. I suspected that peak time would probably be around 10:00 PM as that would be peak bar hours. As we made our way upstairs, it became apparent that this is a very popular place for big groups. I looked around and found a live DJ in the corner of the restaurant playing some soothing Spanish music and taking requests from customers from time to time.

After being seated, I saw a large piece of paper with a lot of writing on it. I quickly realized that it was their excuse for a menu. The menu seemed cheap and consisted of a crumpled piece of paper that looked like it had the corner chewed off. After being briefly devastated by the state of the menu, I started to read it. Everything was reasonably priced, almost all of the appetizers were under seven dollars and almost all the main courses were under ten dollars. I was pleasantly surprised because I expected higher prices judging from the look and location of the restaurant.

The meals in the menu were very well organized. The starters are what you would expect in a typical Mexican restaurant. The Prickly Pear has a neat ‘make your own’ nachos option that I thought was a pleasant change. For the main course, there are salads, quesadillas, pizzas, enchiladas, and a particularly long list of tacos to choose from. The tacos are notable because they seem as if they are meant to be ordered as combinations of 3-4 tacos as they are priced between three and five dollars.

As mentioned before, the Prickly Pear prides itself on its exquisite and extensive liquor list. The only disappointing part about the menu was the desert. With only four deserts to choose form, it’s quite an anticlimactic end to an otherwise option rich menu.

I decided to have an enchilada for the main course and try a make your own nachos as a starter. I had just started to have a discussion with my friend when the appetizer arrived. It had been roughly 7 minutes after we had placed the order. It was a pleasant surprise as the restaurant was still quite full. We hadn’t finished half of the nachos when both the main courses arrived. It had been 10 minutes since we ordered the food.

The size of the serving was a little over average. It was not enough to completely stuff us, but at the same time, it did not leave us crazing for more. The quality of the food unfortunately, is a different story.

The appetizer was a bit of a disappointment. We expected a lot from the nachos seeing as they were very well garnished, but many of the chips were already slightly soggy. Also, the cheese was not as hot as you would expect from fresh nachos. As we started eating, it became apparent that the Prickly Pear opted to trade in time for quality. I was convinced that the nachos were made some time ago, and the toppings were quickly put together at the last moment. The main course, again, was not as good as we had hoped. It did not taste fresh and was not as hot as it should have been. The corners of my enchilada were slightly crispy and where not filled with cheese. It again became obvious that these dishes were in fact pre cooked, and not freshly man. It was disappointing that the food could not live up to what we had expected. We decided to skip dessert and head back. As we were leaving, I noticed that the restaurant was still pretty full, many of the tables being occupied by groups of people.

I visited the Prickly Pear a few times after, dressed in semiformal, and the experience was very similar, except for the live DJ. I assume they only have one on weekends. Another difference was that the restaurant is a lot less crowded on the weekdays. The friendly staff, overall atmosphere, and mediocre food were still the same.

The Prickly Pear has many pluses and a few minuses. It is a unique restaurant and is intended for a certain customer base. This is not the place to go to if you want an excellent tasting meal. The Prickly Pear, it seems, doesn’t care much for the overall taste of its food. This is the perfect place to come to if you are in a big group and just want to relax and spend some quality time with friends. The multiple seating choices are meant to pamper you with option. The exotic drinks menu urges you to relax and the soothing music calls for you to put your worries away. For a restaurant so close to downtown, the prices are relatively low. The multiple widescreen televisions showing ESPN are a nice touch to the restaurant. All in all, this is the perfect place to come for dinner if you want a perfect dining experience, but are willing to sacrifice on the quality of food.

Prickly Pear Taqueria-

★★★☆☆