Colibri Mexican Bistro

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Lauren Hannah

Joined 3 years ago

Mexican Heaven. Colibri is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The food is awesome - homemade guacamole tableside, and their tortilla soup comes in a kettle. The ambiance is always fun and it's always crowded! Definitely one of my favorites.

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foodiefromMA

Joined 3 years ago

A delightful trip to the heart of Mexico. Colibri Mexican Bistro brings authentic tastes from central Mexico and delivers them in a deliciously classical way, but with nice modern touches. It advertises itself has having the most comprehensive tequila collection in the Bay Area. With 350 tequilas to choose from, ranging to $85 a pour ultra-premium anejo tequilas, my guess is that claim is probably true. The interior is a pleasant take on Old Mexico, with dark wood banquettes, wrought iron fixtures, and earthy colors of ochre and sand on the walls.

I was there on a Monday night, 8 pm. The place was busy and fully occupied, but not crowded, and the noise level was quite tolerable, even with live music. The musicians played appealing Mexican or Spanish music without once crossing into silly mariachi territory (no "La Cucaracha").

I ordered a tasting flight of the featured monthly tequila, Jimador. The flight, for $20, gave me a one ounce pour of blanco, reposado, and anejo styles from the maker, along with a small glass of a spicy tomato juice and some lime wedges. Freshly made, warm corn tortillas arrived with three sauces: a spicy chile salsa roja, a medium-heat fresh tomatillo salsa verde, and a sweet mango salsa. All were delicious with the tortillas. Moving from spicy to sweet with the suble earthy sweetness of the tortillas was a nice set of starting flavors to go with the tequilas.

I ordered an antojito, Tostadas Tinga, which was three small crisp corn tortillas mounded with a spicy shredded chicken, a little queso fundido and a bite of avocado. All of the flavors were well balanced, and the creaminess of the cheese and avocado kept the spicy chile sauce with the chicken from being too much. This was best with the blanco tequila and lime. The distinct agave tastes mingled very well with the chile.

For my main course, I ordered Pechugas Rellena de Huitlacoche and Nopales Asados. Huiltlacoche, or "cprn truffle" is a fungus that grows on ears of corn and is considered a delicacy from Aztec times to now. Fresh huitlacoche is very hard to find outside of Mexico, although frozen and canned forms are available. It has a slightly sweet, earthy flavor that is unlike any other mushroom I've tasted. The huitlacoche was stuffed inside a properly seasoned and cooked chicken breast, with just the right level of brown, slightly crispy exterior and flavorful, juicy meat. It was accompanied by a timbale of sauteed zucchini, fresh corn, and herbs, also tasty. The Nopales Asados was sauteed cactus paddles, thinly sliced portobello mushrooms, garlic, fresh oregano, and olive oil. The fresh oregano nicely complemented the vegetal taste of the cactus. This course was nicely complemented by the reposado. The smoother, more complex, slightly woody notes of the reposado played well with the earthy, meaty, slightly salty tastes of the chicken and huitlacoche.

I finished my meal with Caballeros Pobres (literally "poor cowboys"), which is a Yucatan bread pudding, served with a brown sugar ("piloncillo") and cinnamon honey sauce and vanilla ice cream. Colibri bakes the bread pudding and then slightly fries the slices, making for a wonderfully warm, surprisingly light dessert, that was just-right sweet, even with the vanilla ice cream. I accompanied the dessert with the last of the anejo tequila, whose complex, mellow, agave and oaky notes stood up to, but did not contradict, the flavors of the Caballeros Pobres.

Service throughout was attentive but not obtrusive. Food was delivered hot, without excessive waiting, but the entire meal felt properly unhurried.

A wonderful experience all around.

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Magic Westside

Joined 3 years ago

Margarita Much? Hello, Brunch...I Love You!. Why bother with Dinner? I mean, it's so overrated. You can skip dinner, when you have a delicious tequila fortified brunch, complete with a few fresh blackberry margaritas and a to-DIE-for chicken mole. Throw in some huevos rancheros, a few more margaritas, some sopas, and you've had yourself breakfast, lunch, AND dinner--all for the thrifty price of brunch. Bonus points if they are showing classic Lucha Libre movies on the TV screen at the bar. While you may kill yourself getting in/out of the small area they allot to you for seating, and the theater crowd does make getting a reservation a lot like battling La Mummia, the food does make up for it. I promise.

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tkayasd

Joined 3 years ago

great restaurant - testing. Well prepared Mexican food from a few different regions and an extensive tequila selection, maybe one of the best in S.F.

Great place for a date or groups.

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smkennedy

Joined 6 years ago

I could eat here every day for the rest of my life!. My fiance and I were looking for a good brunch place and found good reviews for a place called "Dotties"--only the line was out the door and around the corner!! So we walked back to Colibre's Mexican Bistro which was located right next to our hotel, and it was the best decision we made on the whole trip!! The food was amazing!! Both of us really enjoyed the three types of salsa served at the beginning of the meal, with real homemade corn tortillas...yummy. I had the Huevos Rancheros and literally could have licked the plate clean it was so delicious....I highly highly recommend this place for Brunch, Lunch or Dinner. Simply perfect!! I eat a LOT of Mexican and Tex-Mex...and I would place Colibri in my top 10..maybe even top 5. maybe top 3!! :)

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goodfoodforall2008

Joined 5 years ago

Dissapointed in the food and service. We came from Seattle on a weekend trip and decided to eat here b/c it reminded of us of our trip to Costa Rica. The Mole tasted good but everything else was not memorable. First off, our waiters seemed inexperienced and dropped our plates on the table along with the salsa and made a big mess. No big deal, but then the food came out and we were surprised at how small it was. There were 4 tiny pieces of chicken on my plate and nothing else. We ordered a side dish of cactus and that was the oddest thing ever. It tasted like over cooked beans. Not our favorite place.

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ma44

Joined 5 years ago

Best Gourmet Mexican food in DT S.,F. If you are looking for great gourmet mexican food you have to check this place out. Not only do you get good size portions but the people are very friendly. Three of my friends and I went there recently on a Friday night and even though it was busy we were seated 5 minutes after we arrived (we had reservations) The tapas were excellent such great flavor. I had the beef mole and that sauce was full of flavor I was salivating after the first bite. It is pricey but well worth it. Best of all the margarita rock!

If you are cheap and count on your toddler to determine if it is good food or not like in the previous comment left stick to going to "Chevy's" man! and by the way having the gratuity already calculated in the bill is standard for a party of usually six or more. Read your menu where it usually states this.

Doesn't Recommend

pierrethepig

Joined 6 years ago

Patrons flock in like Summer moths into a campfire. The facts:

- $10 Guac, prep tableside - with 1.5 avos, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, j'penos and TABLESALT (yep, the harsh tasting, Denny's pairing, throat thirsting, Table Salt). Tableside prep. is a gimmick for a bland tasting Guac. and that just doesn't justify a 10dollarbill. They can do better than that.

- $12.50 margaritas - This place ain't Gramercy Tavern - nor is it close to a Manhattan cocktail spot or San Francisco for that matter. They must've knew most over 21 would not go to a mex place w/out sippin 'ritas - Ca-ching!

- $14 Carnitas. 6 chunky pork nuggets on a plate. I like the simplicity of it, but there' nothing to brag about. Tender from hrs of braising, and nicely caramel colored outside, possibly from a quick dunk at the fryer

- $18 Chicken stuffed mushroom w/ crema sauce (daily special). Taste good, but it's nothing mexican/ latin - and anyone who have had a decent al fredo sauce can nod their head when they taste this dish. $18 for a chicken entree on small plate?

- $7 Tres leches cake - it is what it is. Whether you get it at safeway or a mexican panaderia in downtown san jose, this one is no difference.

-$7 Coffee Flan w/ tequila. If only I had a camera to show it here. The edges of this flan looks as if the cooks (i doubt they have pastry chef back there - although the price suggest they're at par w/ Boulevard, Citizen cake and the like) had been having fun with his pairing-knife to get the flan out of its tinfoil mold. Then they put a flower-shaped carved strawberry on the side for that 80s presentation look.

This place lacks compassion of true latin cooking, and they priced their menus way over their game. The City is full of other places with open doors, decent drinks and better fare. Total bill came to $92 before tip - for dinner for two (1 appy, 2 ritas, 2 ents and 2 desserts). Our waitstaff is very sincere the whole time and it appears his colleagues are too from our observation in a busy friday night.

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paulaely

Joined 6 years ago

Yum!. Just had an amazing Sunday brunch at this friendly & attractive restaurant. My companion prounounced his chilaquiles "the best he's ever had", and my huevos poblanos were excellent as well. We both continued to eat well past the point of being full. Will definitely return and highly recommend.

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lkcoops

Joined 7 years ago

Excellent Food, Great Atmosphere. This Mexican restaurant in the Theater District is a bit of bliss. The atmosphere is very relaxed and comfortable. Service was prompt and courteous. The food was a mix of American and Mexican. The guacamole, which was made at the table, was delicious. The cerviche was heavenly. We had several small, tapas-style dishes, which was more than enough at 10 p.m.