Sago Modern Mexican

10/18/2008 Posted by andrewcharmer

I chose to have my family and I attend Sago for my 18th birthday. I couldn't have made a better choice. The atmosphere is excellent, both friend and family friendly. At first, I couldn't really imagine a "modern" Mexican restaurant, but Sago DEFINITELY lives up to their style. My family chose various items from the menu, and I personally chose the Brisket Enchiladas. They were absolutely fantastic! The enchiladas had a smokey Brisket taste and were spicy but not over the top. The rice was cool-flavored, with a sweet taste that was key to contrast the seasoning. Charro beans were fantastic! Overall I couldn't have asked for a better experience. My family and I were waited on promptly and were given the private party room since we reserved early. If you're looking for a neat, new, fun and exciting twist to Mexican dining, go to SAGO! I'll definitely be returning.

Pros: Great service, great atmosphere, fantastic dining experience.

Cons: Might be a little spicy for some

10/17/2008 Posted by CountofMonteFrisco

King1234 and lennycharles perhaps are smoking that special herb Austin and Amsterdam are famous for. I must admit this place is not the best Tex-Mex or Mexican food out there, but it sure beats most of the restaurants I have been to in the past six months. If you are looking for gourmet Mexican then go to a gourmet Mexican. If you seem to think that pork tastes similar in two different dishes it is perhaps because recipes must be streamlined and salsas and sauces are the ones that change the dish. Go to any restaurant in the U.S. (yes your favorite one also) and you will see that they all have a basic menu and the sauces are the one that change the dish so they are all similar. This rant is just to address a review about similar taste in two dishes. I can honestly say that it is a nice, relaxing place to go, and not expensive at all. The drinks are good, and the food is vast. Please if anyone has a review that knocks this place, and states it is the worst; then please let me know what you think is your favorite so that I may go take a look so I may enjoy from such delicious food. Seriously, so far, I think it is the best place for its price and "type of food". Don't compare a maki roll from HEB to a maki roll from Musashino. This is just a fair review.

Pros: Decor, Service, Food, Price

Cons: Dessert

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

09/16/2008 Posted by Geneva12

The food is fabulous; however, I would say more Cuban than Mexican. The breakfast on the weekend, lets just say I did not lick the plate but pretty much left it white! The waitstaff was very friendly and prompt. Parking is bad during lunch if you are in somewhat of a hurry but you get the food fast. I go often but I must say that one of the owner's (Chase), was very rude when my mom and I went. We walked towards the door and he had the door open looking around and as we were very close he just let it close without holding it open and greeting us. Oh well, not everyone has chivalry and the food and waitstaff still rock!

08/31/2008 Posted by jwoftx

I was voting for the Citysearch Best of awards and saw this place was currently in third place but I had never heard of it so I thought I'd give it a chance. We went on a Friday night and there was about a 105 min wait to get a table on the patio. So we waited in the bar area for a table. My girl had the drink spec which was some big blackberry frozen margarita (apparently organic). I think she liked it cause she sucked it down pretty fast. I had Mexican Martini which was really good and really strong. The inside of the restaurant is really cool (very Six and The City as my g/f described it) but I am glad we waited for the patio - big fans and it felt like eating in a jungle. Our waitress was cute n nice, there when we needed her and gave great recommendations. We shared some fritter things for an appitizer and will definately be getting these again. A must try if you go! For her main course my girl had fish tacos and they were really good - homemade tortillas and she liked them enough not to share them with me which says something. Fortunately I really liked my chicken stuffed pepper and got to have it all to myself (according to our waitress this dish wa reviewed by the food critic at the Statesman and loved it too). I see some others who have reviewed this place didn't like the rice but we LOVED it. I've never had anything like it before but I'll be going back to have more of it! It was nice not to get the same thing as everywhere else. Oh, the other thing is the salsas are great - and when we told our waitress how much we loved them she told us we could buy them. Totally worth it. I finished the night with a frozen lime margarita - great - but they are so big n strong my girl was done in after her first. So great decor, food and drinks, - I can definately see why they are nominated for Best Mexican Restaurant even though they are new. We will definately goback. But next time we will use their free valet service!

Pros: Not a lot of money for good food and drink

Cons: Those fritters are addictive!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

08/30/2008 Posted by branv

Sago seems to suffer a little from lazy cooking. By this I mean that when you order two different dishes, it's somewhat surprising to find that they taste the same. On a recent lunch at Sago, husband ordered the Pork Gorditas while I ordered the Braised Pork enchildas. Fair enough, both items have pork...sure they should share some flavors. But that wasn't where they stopped. Anyone who has ever had braised pork, spanish style, knows what a succulant, flavorful dish it can be. And perhaps their pork might have been, if I could have tasted anything over the bitter, overwhelming chile de arbol sauce that absolutely drowned the entire dish in both quantity and flavor. You know something is wrong when any restaurant relies on sauce more than its meat (and worse when even the sauce isn't so great). My husband had something of a funny look on his face while eating his gorditas, and asked me to taste them. Described as pork shoulder with onions and spices, it actually seemed to be more of the same enchilada pork mixed in with the same chile de arbol sauce. Neither of us could be completely certain that we were eating pork. I would like to be able to comment on their soups, as husband and I ordered two different soups as appetizers, however they never arrived, but that's understandable since our waiter rarely showed up either. And one more thing...perhaps I've missed something over the years, but since when do people put mozzarella cheese on mexican food, as many of the items on Sago's menu included. Just strange.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/14/2008 Posted by king1234

Very dissappointed with this place. Felt like I was in Dallas when I walked in, not Austin. Drinks were pretty weak, bad ritas and cocktails. Food was pretty bad also. Chips and salsa were not good, bad enchiladas, horrible brisket tacos. Others had tinga tacos, (tasted nothing but liquid smoke) over-cooked chicken fajitas, and stuffed poblano lacking anything special. Service was bad. It took 15 minutes to get a server once we sat down and it wasn't really busy. Hopefully you will have a better experience, I will never go there again.

Pros: Close to the Saucer to wash down the bad food.

Cons: BAD BAD FOOD

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/23/2008 Posted by girlsmiles

Loved the food. The mole chicken enchiladas were very tasty as was the Posole soup. The soup was probably the best I've ever had. Chase, the chef, is so personable! If only he'll add a tres leche cake to the menu it would be perfect.

Pros: Great Patio, great food

Cons: parking can be a pain, but there is valet

04/02/2008 Posted by gramnation

Had butternut squash soup, a roasted pork panini sandwich, and a Tecate. I wanted to lick the soup cup clean. Friend bought ceviche which came with diced mango. Best ceviche I've ever tasted. Great chips and salsa before meal, salsa had a pureed texture I've never seen, perfect cling to the chip and wonderful taste. Beautiful decor. Waiter split the tab of our large party with efficiency. Really good place.

Pros: food, decor, service

03/30/2008 Posted by hpnotiq_dime

Went here for dinner & drinks and was blown away! The service was great, the food was amazing and not only did they offer drink specials the drinks themselves were top notch! I would definately go back and have told all of my friends about it. The decor is modern, trendy, & hip--they even have a patio that I can't wait to try out on warm/sunny days. Overall, I had a blast and can't wait to return

Pros: Cool Decor, Centrally Located, TONS of Parking, Great food & drinks

Cons: NA

03/29/2008 Posted by lennycharles

Drinks were horrible. First we tried Margaritas on the rocks. They tasted like dish soap. Then we tried the their Mojitos. They tasted like they made them with sprite? and they were $8? food actually was ok. but if your gonna eat mexican food you gotta have good drinks to go with it. TWO THUMBS DOWN FOR THIS PLACE

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful