Blue Agave

Alright, my first post and a great restaurant to speak of. Yesterday was hot and beautiful and with my co-authors Nikki and Jesse and our friend Greg, I visited Blue Agave for the first time.

This restaurant is located in the former Parthenon (restaurant) building on S. Church St. The thing I immediately liked about the place is the feeling of openness. The sizable lobby area is centrally located between multiple dining areas, each with large openings so I didn't necessarily feel disconnected from other parts of the restaurant. I wasn't trying to have a private experience with my hot dates, so I liked that I could pretty much take in the whole place from my seat.

Having come off a heavy cultural experience at Borostock the night before, I gulped down a few sweet teas. We ordered a large bowl of cheese dip, which Greg referred to as cheese soup due to the rather large size of the bowl. This is now my favorite cheese dip in town! I could tell they use real cheese, perhaps queso fresco or chihuahua, not white American like most Mexican places. This added a nice sharp zing to the flavor and I loved it. One tip, save some money and order the smaller bowl for a table of four.

Everybody's lunch plates were presented nicely, some with separate bowls for components like pico de gallo and other condiments. I say separate bowls, but each component was all on top of one plate for a nice collective presentation. To me, this is a factor that enables a Mexican restaurant to stand out from the next. If you haven't noticed, Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen in middle TN and many are content with just filling up the majority of your plate with sloppy rice and beans. Blue Agave apparently takes pride in its presentation.

I was feeling saucy and ordered the Chili Verde. This consisted of super tender pork bites simmered in a green chili broth. It was a tremendous blend of savory and spice, not too hot and not too salty, with a nice green color to the sauce. This came with rice, beans, and tortillas and was really satisfying. I definitely finished all of the pork and may have finished the leftover sauce with the help of my fork and some chips.

The service was great and the cost was on par with other Mexican restaurants. These factors considered along with the restaurant taking extra steps to make it nicer than other places, I recommend Blue Agave to you for a tasty experience!