Sonrisa – Foodie’s Review

Food type: Neo-Mexican with touches of Spanish (gazpacho?)

Menu: Lunch, Dinner, and Happy Hour

Location: University Village

Atmosphere: Confused “hip” a la Amber in Belltown; lame flame vacuums; carpet as ugly as Union’s; big booths

In attendance: Senior couples; 20-something mother-daughter teams; odds and ends; frat guys during happy hour; my girlfriend and I

Service: Friendly, clueless, attentive

Quality of ingredients: Poor to fair (i.e. chips-”fair”; guacamole-”fair”; chicken-”fair”; carne asada-”execrable”; soup-”fairly poor”; spring rolls-”fair”; tequila in standard margarita-”good”)

Dishes eaten:

• Pumpkin cream soup (tastes like orange-colored cream with pepitas for crunch) – “Poor” – Straight from the udder
• Chicken tortilla soup (not exactly chicken tortilla soup–tastes more like chili con carne, but one of the most edible things here) – “Fairly good” – Best bet for the foodie-inclined unfortunates eating here
• Spring rolls (somewhat edible, but the fusion by way of Asia evident with the plum sauce is an unwelcome touch) – “Fairly poor” – Dip and regret it
• Carne Asada tacos (meat might be sourced from Les Schwab it was so oily and rubbery) – “Execrable” – Straight from the La Brea tar pits
• Enchilada Alta (reminds me of Chipotle in that there’s no coherence–the ingredients aren’t exactly dissonant but they’re definitely not playing in tune) – “Poor” – Confused and poorly executed
• Roasted Ancho Chicken Burrito (again, no coherence and overly generous portion–I think the poor conception, mediocre ingredients, and poor execution of the dishes are at fault–only that, huh?) – “Poor” – If you must, order the green sauce on the side
• Tres Leches Cake (a huge and vulgar portion of one of my favorite cakes. Not bad, but not very good either) – “Fairly good” – Order without the whipped cream

Complaints: incoherent fusion-like food; relatively steep prices (for the type and quality of food); repugnant atmosphere; salsa’s gloopy like Agua Verde’s

Plaudits: good quality margaritas (especially during happy hour); chicken tortilla soup; chips (if hot); friendly service

Cost: moderately high for entrees ($11-26); reasonable for appetizers ($4-10); drinks ($7 for the house margarita which is quite good and $75 for the millionaire’s-I’ve had a shot of Gran Plata and while smooth, is not worth that kind of money–just get the house margarita); desserts are moderate (up to $10 I think)

Overall rating: 4/10

Recommended?: No for lunch or dinner; Yes for drinks

Visited: Spring 2008