187 New Market Center
Boone(828) 265-1674
Rating: unrated until health ratings improve.
We first ate lunch here in one August day.
Tom: Last summer we un-rated Dos Amigos after a number of reports of food sickness and low ratings in the Health Inspections reports. Since then they have had only one inspection, last fall, and had a better rating — 94 (although there were again food storage temperature violations). Ray revisited it recently and posts the following Second Serving update. You may wish to check the Health Inspections reports on your own.
Second Serving Update review by Ray: While waiting for the new Star Trek movie to start, I decided to have a meal at Dos Amigos. Compared to Los Arcoris, the chips & salsa were not as good, but, hey, they are free and you get what you pay for. For main course, I chose the Chili Verde. This consists of sauteed pork tips over a guacamole salad, covered in a spicy green chili sauce, with beans and rice on the side. The beans were pretty standard for a Mexican restaurant, but the rice was above average: cooked better with just the right amount of spices. The chili verde proper was excellent! The portions are huge, and the green sauce is just the right spiciness. For dessert, I had a craving for fried ice cream, but was a little put off by the price. However, I went for it. WOW! Once the ice cream arrived, I understood the price. The portion was easily enough for two people, perhaps three. For the price, this was an excellent dessert deal. The ambience hasn’t changed much since our last visit. The bar now serves mixed drinks. My server was prompt & courteous, and the plates were a cut above the plain stuff usually found in Boone, although the flatware is still the el-cheapo Chinese stuff stamped out of 0.080 stainless. However, all in all this was a very enjoyable, relaxing visit. The food was great, the ambience relaxing, and the service good.
Tom: What can you say about Mexican? I love it but all the places seem the same. That is, other than Taco Bell, which is not worth reviewing. Well, at least Dos Amigos was more memorable. Do you remember what you had?
Ray: Yeah–I had the Burritos Deluxe ($6.25) and a Tecate beer. Despite ordering the dish without cheese and sour cream, it came with cheese, but with no sour cream or guacamole. This was quickly fixed by our waiter, however. The dish consisted of two burritos, one ground beef and bean, one chicken and bean, topped by guac and lettuce and tomatoes (but with no sides of rice or beans). While tasty, the dish was very mild. Good, but not anything outstanding
Tom: I had the Special Lunch No. 4–Chile Relleno and a taco,served with refried beans and rice. I am sort of into the chile rellenos lately and this one may have stayed on the bush a bit too long–it seemed tough and chewy to me. The rice did not seem like what I expect in a Mexican rice but more like flavored white rice. Beans are beans. I washed it all down with a Negra Modelo Dark, the whole experience leaving me useless and dangerous for some time after returning to work. Dang heavy machinery!
Ray: The Mexican beer selection is good (10 different beers) and reasonably priced ($2.50/bottle). The selection even includes some beers, such as Negra Modelo and Bohemia, which can be hard to find.
The service was initially very good, with our meals arriving in just a few minutes, and my reorder due to the mistake taking an additional five, despite moderately crowded conditions. However, it took at least 10 minutes for our check to arrive after we were clearly done with our meals, which is far too long.
Tom: Yes, but at least the plate of nacho chips was a nice warm start to the meal. The salsa was spicy hot but lacked body.
Ray: The atmosphere is like any other mexican restaurant in the US: large hats, pictures of Mexico, and Mexican music lightly playing in the background. The restaurant was quiet, which made for easy conversation. One could feel equally comfortable having a casual meal with friends, or a more formal business dinner with colleagues.
Tom: So, whaddya think of it overall?
Ray: Would I take a friend from Texas or Arizona to Dos Amigos? Probably not. Having had lots of experience eating Mexican in those states, Dos Amigos would not be what they expected. While the meals here are good, they are just not spicy enough for what I consider good Mexican food. Will I personally eat here again? Yes, but I will ask for a bottle of hot sauce :).
Tom: Well, I guess that is to be expected since this is one of a chain of at least a half-dozen restaurants in the Carolinas and Georgia. I don’t think Dos Amigos has anything over the other Mexican restaurants in the area, but we have yet to “officially” review those.
Second Serving…
Ray: I visited Dos Amigos later, by myself, to sample the chili. The chili at Dos Amigos is certainly not what I was expecting. It consists of refried beans and taco meat, mixed together with a red sauce that is almost totally devoid of spice. Very disappointing.. no veggies, no peppers, and no real spiciness. I will never order this mess again.
GPS Coordinates
Lat: 36° 13.156′
Lon: 81° 39.76
Menu (prices may change)
Health Inspection reports Click on one of the listed Visit dates for the reports.
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