Agave Cocina and Cantina Review

Jason here. A week or so ago we got to try out our first Mexican restaurant, Agave Cocina & Cantina , in Redmond. Like Crossroads which we reviewed previously, Agave is also very gluten intolerant friendly. Right on their website, main page it mentions, “Most of our food is gluten-free with the main exception being the flour tortillas.” in big bold letters. Already, the restaurant and I are getting along wonderfully.

The waiter we had was very friendly, and whom I believe was the manager even made a special stop to our table after I asked about gluten free options to explain that most of the options were gluten free, and if I had any questions he would be more than happy to answer them.

I decided I was in the mood for something on the lighter side, so I ordered the Warm Seafood & Spinach Salad. The salad consists of, prawns, scallops, halibut, baby spinach, bacon, roasted wild mushrooms, roasted red peppers, warm cider-tomatilla vinaigrette, and cotija.

I am not normally a big salad person, so believe me when I say the salad was delicious. Usually when you see bacon as an ingredient for salads, it is just very small bacon crumbles sprinkled on top. With Agave though, there was a substantial amount of bacon in the salad which really added a distinct and enjoyable flavor to the meal. Even before our meal came out, we were enjoying some delicious tortilla chips with salsa. All in all, it was great experience with wonderful food.

Kayleigh here. Unfortunately, I did not check whether my meal choice was gluten free, but I can say that the tortillas in the Roasted Butternut Squash Enchilladas tasted corn-based, so the enchillada menu is at least worth asking about. The squash was cooked perfectly, creating a lovely, somewhat sweet taste balance with the black beans and mild cheese. The meal came with a choice of any two of their sides as well, making sure everyone gets something they enjoy. For me, the asparagus and guacamole sides just seemed to good to be true, since they're both dishes that Jason won't touch if I make them at home.

Oh, did we mention the tortilla chips and salsa they put at every table are also safe to eat?

So far with the last few restaurants, our luck has been really good. Hopefully that keeps up so we can deliver some reviews of more very gluten intolerant aware restaurants with equally good menus.