Ardovino's Desert Crossing

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

One of the best restaurants in the El Paso area. Beautiful place that's a combination of a old hacienda and an Italian villa. Easily one of the most romantic spots to take a date or even a party. There's live music on the spacious garden patio, a hip bar area and modern dining room.

While I have been less than impressed with the food and service on long ago visits, my recent trips to Desert Crossing have resulted in good service and some outstanding food. The brother and sister Ardovino team have really matured into top flight restauranteurs and hosts.

Recently we had the Olive Roasts appetizer which is simply a selection of olives roasted in a small cast iron skillet with olive oil and garlic. It was wonderful with the crisp fresh bread. Salads were fresh, cold, crisp and tasty. We had baked penne and an Australian freshwater whitefish dish which was simply outstanding. While we passed on deserts, fellow diners could not stop raving about theirs.

Very few places in El Paso have good fresh fish and still fewer know how to properly cook a piece of fish. This example was perfect and up there with Cafe Central (in their better days of having a professional chef).

Let me mention the service. Having relatives and close friends as chefs and owners of five star restaurants and having lived and travelled in more cosmopolitian cities than El Paso, I am constantly annoyed at near complete lack of professional service at even the pricier restaurants here. Untrained staff seem to not know that the primary function of their jobs is to welcome and serve their guests. They are consumed by tasks and not creating an experience.

My recent visit put me in contact with at least 6 of the staff, from the parking lot to the bar for post-dinner cocktails and the experience was outstanding in every single instance.

Our waiter was exceptional. He wasn't just an order taker or server, he engaged us on the menu, the daily specials and truly added to a great dinner experience. I know that attitude like this comes from the top down and it is clear that Desert Crossing has their staff trained on providing not just food or drink but an experience.

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User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

What a huge disappointment. We had an hour and a half wait, the hostess said we could wait at the bar and order appertizers it took the waiter 25 min to come and acknowledge us, then never came back until we waved him down several times.
Dinner was worse, the service was terrible and two of our pasta dishes were burnt on top, the waiter did not want to be bothered with our complaint.
And on top of all that on our bank statement there are two entries for our charge.
Have been trying to reach a live person and keep getting everyone's recording, will keep trying.

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User Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Good atmosphere here and surroundings; Especially if you can eat outside on a warm afternoon, listening to the trains sounding their horns in the distance.

Haven't encountered really bad service here ever, obviously some of the employees shine more than others. Overall nothing too negative to keep us away!

The bar area is a fun place to eat and drink and we prefer it to the other dining areas.

Food wise I like the dishes they offer and the portions are an adequate size. My one complaint is that everything seems so terribly salty.

I have stopped ordering steaks as both times I had one the meat was extremely salty (I don't think I have had a steak as salty as that anywhere in my life!) and completely ruined any taste of the meat. I thought this may have been a one off but the 2nd time was a few months after the first.

Have had some well made Margharita's here!

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