Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken is a beautifully decorated Mexican restaurant that teeters on the border of casuality and elegance. The ambiance is romantic with dim lights, a large fireplace, and handcrafted tiles top the wooden tables. Walking into the place, I thought I was in for a wonderful evening however, Coyote Crossing left a bad taste in my mouth.
And by bad taste I don’t mean the food, which was very good, although a bit pricey. We were served the traditional chips and salsa. The salsa was hearty with chunks of tomatoes, peppers, and onions and the corn chips were thick and homemade. As an appetizer we choose to split the pollo enchilada. Baked corn tortillas, chicken, and Mexican cheese trinity served with a mole poblano sauce. The enchiladas are actually an entr�e, but they sounded delicious and we were really hungry. When our “appetizer” was served, I was not disappointed. All of the seasonings and spices were just right, not one thing was too overwhelming, a perfect blend. As was the case with my entr�e of barbecue ribs al Coyote. In fact, the ribs, served in a caramelized barbecue sauce pescado with Veracruz MP grilled ono in a Veracruz sauce (I ate this and I googled it and still have no idea what it is), olives, and peppers in a tomate sauce with rice were very tender and the meat fell right off the bone. Always a good thing when consuming ribs.
But the food and the ambiance is all that I enjoyed about Coyote Crossing. There were many tables available when we were being seated, but the host squeezed us into a table with two parties on either side. Strike one. I ordered lemonade to drink and was served sour mix instead. Ok, could be an honest mistake right? All I had to do was tell our waiter the mistake and he could fix it. It should have been that easy, but we didn’t see our waiter again until after our entr�es were served (by a food runner). When I finally did get the chance to tell the waiter of the mistake his reply was “ok.” He walked away sans the sour mix and never returned with lemonade. Strike two. Strike three came around the time when our waiter stood, talked, and laughed with a co-worker instead of bringing us the check we had asked for about 10 minutes prior.
I’ve heard that Coyote’s margarita’s are awesome and that when the patio is open, happy hour is a good time, but I don’t think I’ll be heading to Coyote Crossing again anytime soon. I hold grudges.
