Gaby’s Mexican Grill Restaurant (Business Lunch)

Gaby’s Mexican Grill Restaurant
1900 W. Huntsville Ave, Suite E
Springdale
Two Stars

Before heading over to Gaby’s, we were hoping it would stand out from the area’s myriad Mexican restaurants. But it didn’t.

The decor and atmosphere, coupled with the louder-than-necessary Spanish rock music, make the place O.K. for a familiar crowd, but Gaby’s is not a good place to take someone for a first impression lunch or get-to-know-you meetings.

Although there was a bit of confusion in the ordering process, probably due to language barriers, the meal started off with good, if not particularly hot, salsa and fresh chips.

The Pepsi-Colas seemed a bit on the syrupy side, with one diner saying she wasn’t exactly sure what she had been served as a beverage. She said it tasted like a cross between Dr. Pepper and Pepsi.

But that was a minor bump on the road to Juarez.

One diner at our table had the No. 5 lunch special ($6.25), which included two fajita tacos, in his case one beef and one chicken.

He said they were good but pretty much the same as fajita tacos at every other Mexican restaurant in Northwest Arkansas.

The chicken was tender and good. The beef was a little tough.

Another diner had the No. 6 special, which was one crispy beef taco and one chicken tostada ($4.55). The “crispy” taco was lying in sauces and grease from the rest of the food and was much less than crispy when he went to bite into it.

The tostada was fine, he said, but nothing to write home, or anywhere else, about.

Overall, he thought the food was flat out bland. He’s come to expect at least an attempt at some spice or heat in “Mexican” food, so his mouth was filled with disappointment rather than jalapeno flavor.

He said he was wholly unimpressed with the experience and would have just as easily eaten franchised fast-food fare from Taco Bell.

It would have packed a hotter, tastier and more pleasant punch, he said.