Alero Restaurant

[sweetfreak]

Last night, we tried the new-ish Alero on U Street and were very pleasantly surprised.

This Alero is NOTHING like the one in Cleveland Park. The decor and menu are entirely different. The interior is quite swanky. A large bar area with a variety of seating options: the actual bar, many high tables and couches and chairs around coffee tables.

I tried both a frozen swirl margarita and one on-the-rocks. I preferred the swirl only because the rocks version contained so much ice, there was very little margarita.

The salsa with the chips actually has some kick, unlike many other Mexican restaurants that seem to be afraid to add heat to their's.

For a starter, I shared an avocado half stuffed with shrimp topped with an "Alero" sauce. The combo was cool and refreshing.

As an entree, I ordered the chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce. These were not your typical goopy-cheese, red sauce enchiladas. The chicken inside was terrific...so flavorful, and the mole sauce was a delicious companion. On the plate were three small tortilla bowls, one filled with shredded cheese, one filled with refried beans and the third with rice. It was a very nice presentation.

Appetizers appeared to be more interesting than your average Mexican restaurant: crab cakes, calamari, etc.

I would definitely return. Others may scoff that this is not authentic Mexican food, but it was just so much better than it's Cleveland Park cousin, I had to post about it.

[JennyUptown]

Are the prices comparable to the Cleveland Park location or more like what you'd expect in a place with swank new digs?

[sweetfreak]

You know, I would say the prices are somewhat higher than the Cleveland Park location, but not crazy. $7-8 for apps and entrees in the $17 range. I should add that they also had some interesting sounding dessert options like fried apple empandas with ice cream.

[JennyUptown]

If memory serves, that's a pretty significant price difference. I always think of Alero (the CP one) as a place to go when I'm feeling poor.

Edited January 21, 2005 by JennyUptown (log)

[sweetfreak]

Yeah, after posting, I realized that there probably is a bigger price difference than originally stated.

Which led me to another thought that I had the other night when I dined at the new Alero: I wonder if keeping the Alero name will hurt business because people assume that it will be the same decor, food, etc. Since it is much swankier inside and the menu is different, I would imagine that others would be as surprised as I was that this is Alero.

[oliveDC]

I was sorely disappointed with my first meal at the new Alero. Though the space is really attractive, everything we had was, well, awful.

You could've thrown the crab cakes down on the ice and played hockey with them, and I'm not exaggerating (ok, maybe a little). They were dense with very little evidence or flavor of crab. I was close to marching in the kitchen and yelling, 'Come on! It's not that hard to make a decent crabcake!'

I had the shrimp fajitas, and the shrimp had a strange chemical taste. Friend had some filet mignon dish with the meat chopped up in an offensive red sauce.

I thought the margaritas tasted like lemon-lime kitchen cleaner...

For two people, we spent about $100. Needless to say, I wish we'd gone somewhere else.

But from sweetfreak's post, I wonder if they've changed the menu a little. There were no enchiladas, quesadillas or other usual suspects. Many entrees were priced around $20.

Maybe I'll give it another chance some day...

[Gastro888]

Is this the same one as the one in Dupont? Their brunch is decent - 9 bucks for chorizo & eggs. Decent but not fab...

[morela]

I was sorely disappointed with my first meal at the new Alero. Though the space is really attractive, everything we had was, well, awful.

You could've thrown the crab cakes down on the ice and played hockey with them, and I'm not exaggerating (ok, maybe a little). They were dense with very little evidence or flavor of crab. I was close to marching in the kitchen and yelling, 'Come on! It's not that hard to make a decent crabcake!'

chemical taste.

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What's with Mexican food and chemicals? I don't disagree, but this is one cuisine, where the adjective chemical is used over and over to describe food and drink. I'm afraid I might like chemicals or something.

I think, maybe, Mexican food should try to be Mexican and not try to compete with lesser meat crab cakes...but then again, the mainstream folk don't care...

Too bad there's no hockey team.

[edsz]

Had dinner at Alero on U last Saturday. The space is very nice and very unusual for a DC restaurant. Since we did not have a reservation, we were happy to be seated without any wait around 9:00 p.m. The service was friendly and competent. We split the calamares appetizer. It was crisply fried, tender on the inside. I had the poblano chili stuffed with beef which was an interesting take on the old chili rellano. Quite good. We drank beer and coke so did not taste any of the fru-fru drinks. All in all, I'd go back again.

[JennyUptown]

Had dinner at Alero on U last Saturday.  The space is very nice and very unusual for a DC restaurant.  Since we did not have a reservation, we were happy to be seated without any wait around 9:00 p.m.  The service was friendly and competent.  We split the calamares appetizer.  It was crisply fried, tender on the inside.  I had the poblano chili stuffed with beef which was an interesting take on the old chili rellano.  Quite good.  We drank beer and coke so did not taste any of the fru-fru drinks.  All in all, I'd go back again.

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Have you eaten at the Cleveland Park or Dupont Circle locations? I'm curious to hear how you think they compare with U Street.

Some friends of mine also ate there on Saturday and were put off by the prices. I tried to warn them...

[edsz]

Ate at the Dupont Circle location about a year ago. (Would not go back there.) No comparison.