...Gran Agave

Everything’s relative. 

Albert Einstein was a genius for saying that.  Well, Albert Einstein was a genius, period.  However, those two words are true even without his scientific knowledge.

You may think that what you once had was fantastic – until you have something that is even mind-blowingly better.  One of the greatest quotes I’ve ever heard is, “What if what I think is great, really is great – but not as great as something…greater.”

Oh, that Matthew McConaughey.  That quote is from “The Wedding Planner”.  Not exactly a cinematic marvel, but great wisdom, nonetheless.

I think that if I had eaten at Gran Agave when it first opened, or even before I started this project, I would have thought that it was great.  The prices are reasonable, and you get a lot – a LOT – of food for what you pay.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the food itself. 

My mother talked my brother into taking me to dinner on my birthday, since we were not celebrating as a family until the weekend.  He asked me where I wanted to go, with the request that we not travel too far from The ‘Miff.  Of course, my mind is always on eating somewhere “authentic”, so I tried to think of someplace that wasn’t too far, but still related to this blog.  Where to go…where to go…?

Oh yeah!  I still hadn’t tried Gran Agave, and it’s at The Waterfront!  10 minute drive!

I was met with some resistance, however, since as it turns out, my brother had eaten at Las Velas for lunch (Ugh!  So jealous!), and Mexican food twice in one day could be a dangerous situation for his stomach.  But, it was my birthday, so off we went.

The great thing about Gran Agave’s location is that there is ample parking.  We parked in the big lot behind Barnes & Noble and walked over.  We were seated right away and were given menus.

Holy cow.  There was a LOT on the menu!

And then I looked over to my right – 2 former students at a table not far away.  I waved, said hi noted the coincidence of running into the Spanish teacher at a Mexican restaurant, and continued to peruse the menu, all while chomping on the chips and salsa, which were pretty good.

My brother had heard that the queso sauce for the chips was really good, so we ordered that to go along with our chips.  I had decided to go with the Mole Poblano, which, if you recall, is what I ordered at Las Velas when I went (I’m obsessed with mole now.)  My brother thought that the Enchiladas del Barrio sounded interesting, since they were enchiladas topped with…a steak – an entire steak.

We waited for our food, still eating the chips and salsa….and wondering where our queso was.  Minutes passed….more minutes passed….

Then out came our meals.  No queso.  My brother was not a happy camper.

Like I mentioned earlier, you get a LOT of food with your meal.  Tons of rice, beans, and chicken in mole sauce, lettuce…only one piece of tomato, though, and only 3 homemade corn tortillas.  Oh, and guac – yay, guac!

My brother had to dig under that steak for his enchiladas.  He had no idea where to start, but he found them eventually.

After eating for a few minutes, I asked my brother what he thought about his food.  I know what I thought about mine, but I was curious to see how he felt, especially since he had had Mexican food earlier in the day.  Amazingly, we both agreed.

Meh.

The food wasn’t terrible.  It could have been much worse.  However, the flavor of my mole in no way compared to the flavor of the mole at Las Velas.  I ate it all, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was disappointed.

My brother said that his enchiladas didn’t have a lot of flavor, either – the steak was the best part of his meal.  He ate the steak, and could not finish about half of the enchiladas since he had eaten a big lunch – and he didn’t even want to take them home.

Luckily for our waiter, when the bill came, the forgotten queso was not on the bill – it was originally, but it was scratched out, since it was never brought to us.  My brother was ready to scream if it was on there; however, our waiter never acknowledged that he forgot about our queso, which caused his tip to suffer. 

Overall, Gran Agave is close, reasonable, and authentic, but there are much better options in the area.  It counts toward the extra credit, but trust me – what you think is great isn’t as great as something greater…but you won’t know until you venture outside of the area yourself.

Gran Agave

152 East Bridge St.

Homestead, PA 15120

Web (picture of menu available): http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/23/1505587/restaurant/Pittsburgh/Waterfront/Gran-Agave-Homestead