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One of my friends who recently read over these
restaurant review pages had mentioned to me that
he liked what he saw, but had really hoped to see
more "not recommended" reviews. In evaluating my
4/16/2002 trip to Tortilla Sam's, I discovered
that I was rating it a "Needs Work"... but I once
again want to put this restaurant in the
"recommended" category. I am perhaps a little too
forgiving in one sense... but then again, the
purpose of these reviews is to inform the reader
and not just to state an opinion.
To put it more succinctly, T-Sam's (as it is
colloquially known) is another one of those
eateries which is an exception to the rules. And
the reasons for this are many, as I'll explain
more below.
In many ways, the restaurant is unique: it's one
of the very few Mexican restaurants in Worcester,
yet it also happens to have one of the most
vegetarian friendly menus I've ever seen - with
unique items like Tofu Buffalo Wings and their
much beloved green chili. The decor is pleasant
and lively, really wonderfully done... but the
only music ever playing is Reggae, which is just
completely incongruous.
The menu simply has a huge tableau of choices, all
of the traditional Mexican fare you can think of -
often with a trademark twist. Fajitas by the
pound is another amazing and fun take-out option;
and the Sam's Secret Sauce wings are a taste
sensation that is not to be missed. Everything is
also very reasonably priced, and the restaurant
itself is open until the very early hours of the
morning, making it one of the few options
available for late night dining.
The one thing that really, really hurts T-Sam's
the most is their constant problems with service.
You can't expect to take any less than 2 hours to
eat a meal there. Food quality is usually
consistent, but the servers are either too busy to
take care of you or they end up forgetting what
you needed. If they could just fix these service
issues they would have a really solid "Good" rating,
and I wouldn't feel so torn over placing them in the
"recommended" column.
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