Santa Fe Mexican Grill - Greensboro

The friendly staff greeted me with at the door and service was on point from the start. I ordered the classic combination with two items one taco and one burrito, accompanied by refried beans and rice. Pairing it with a draft cold Blue Moon beer. The food arrived quickly at the bar. The hard shell taco was stuffed pretty good and was very tasty. The burrito, generously stuffed with shredded chicken was good. What really brought everything together was their red habanero house-made hot sauce that had a good kick, but without overpowering the dish. The atmosphere at the bar was laid-back, casual. Attentive bartender, made some good recommendations on the different margaritas regular vs Texas style.

Pleasantly surprised by how good this place was. When we finished our meal, it did take awhile to get our check. Maybe our waiter was on a break or something, but we didn't have anywhere to be so it was fine. He was super sweet when he finally did return, very nice guy and we had a pleasant conversation with him. Mango margarita was excellent. Shrimp with rice was delicious and I would definitely order it again.

I have been to this somewhat upscale Tex Mex restaurant several times over the years with mixed results. To paraphrase Longfellow, when they were good, they were very, very good, and when they were bad they were horrid! The last visit to this location there is a sister spot on what is now laughingly called Gate City Blvd) we tried the Birria Stew and a 4 Taco plate, both coming with an assortment of the usual sides rice, beans, and salad. The Birria Stew was straight up stew, not shredded beef encased in tortillas that is all the fad now, and deservedly so! The stew was very good and had the nice depth of flavor usually associated with this authentic dish. The dish has the rich, red color that helps define the stew, provide by the inclusion of plenty of dried red chilies usually the guajilla chilies, and often some ancho chilies are included. The dish was loaded with very tasty, shredded beef, and was ever better when some sour cream and slices of jalapeño were added, after spooning the mixture over rice. I do like the tacos made with this meat but once in a while this approach really hits the spot, without the tortillas somewhat muting the rich flavor. The 4 tacos we had were just ok tacos have never been the strength here, always a certain blandness to whatever kind you choose. I might well try this place again, but I won't be sitting in the parking lot waiting for them to open.

Not sure why it has taken us so long to try Santa Fe Mexican Grill. We have stopped in a couple times now and have enjoyed everything we have ordered so far. They have quite an extensive menu and I was excited to see they have one of my favorite dishes, Pozole! We will definitely make this restaurant one of our go to Mexican restaurants whenever we have a hankering!

As I stood and waited at the front to be seated, or even seen...the more time passed, the more I was saying to myself just get back in your car and drive two more minutes to Luna . I should have and unfortunately ended up having lunch at Santa Fe. I went a good hour and a half after lunch hours and there were merely 10 patrons overall (4 then left/finished before I ordered). A lot of empty seats at that point so I was trying to figure out where the host was even. The food....I haven 't eaten here in maybe two years but do not remember it being bad like this. I ordered the Huevos Divociados....I couldn 't even give it a 1 out of 5. It 's a fried tortilla cut out with a hole in the middle where they put the fried egg in. The sauces they put on top were some of the worst things I 've tasted in any Mex/Tex Mex restaurant. The rice was really bad as well bland but yet had a strange sweetness to it, like the actual taste of sugar type of sweet. I was ready to go and waitress was really nowhere to be found for the longest before I had to call on a different waiter for the check. Overall, probably wouldn 't return..would just go to Luna 's over there in the area. Chips and salsa were the best things I ate there...which is telling.