Ay Dios Mío

When I saw how the chef was being considered for a James Beard award, I wanted to try his food.
The place is a bare bones place, cement floors, a TV on one wall and a mural on another. Maybe 8 tables in the restaurant area. We were a group of five, and they had one large eight top to accommodate.
The waitress was a bit preoccupied when she approached our table. Poking continuously on a pad I assume is connected to the kitchen. Even before we gave her an order. I waited until she was done with it to give her our drink and appetizer order. And even then had repeat it three times to her.
We started with chicken wings, they both were good. Lemon pepper and the spicy wings with home made ranch. The nachos were a disappointment, not much cheese, they black beans and chicken. Nothing I would order again.
When it cal time to order our entree she took the orders of my wife and the couple who came with us, but when it was time for my daughter and I, she turned and almost ran to the table beside us, and began immediately taking their requests.
It was actually amusing, we all laughed.
When a different employee came by I asked that he take out order and add it to the rest of the table so all the meals came at the same time. After I told him what had occurred. And the waitress was still at the table next to us talking to them.
He apologized and assured me he would correct the issue.
The meal came for the others a few minutes later. And plate of tacos was placed with my daughter. I tried a bit of the meat and they were very good, only to be informed that it was not hers, but our friend next to her. And it was the lingua not the carne asada her and I had ordered.
Ours came to table about fifteen minutes after the rest. Which was fine, I expected that to happen.
My wife had the octopus tacos, very tender and flavorful.
When I tried my asada the flavor was on point, but the beef was chewy to point of rubber. I dared not return them. At this point I had little trust in our waitress.
The music was also an issue, in the bar area I understand people want a party atmosphere, but in the dining room, I want have a conversation with my meal. I don’t need loud music blaring in my ear.
I don’t think I would return, there were just too many issues to overcome.
I hope they get their problems corrected, and I hope they do well.
They will have to though without my patronage.

We saw they finally open and were excited to try it out and did not disappoint! The drinks were well balanced and promptly came out. We got the shrimp aquachile for an appetizer that came with the best flavored tortilla chips I have ever had. The black sauce had a balanced citrus and salty flavor that paired well with the shrimp. The fish tacos were fantastic for the main course. My only criticism is they seemed a bit understaffed but our waitress was otherwise very prompt. Looking forward to coming back!

There are immense amount of places that have great tacos in El Paso and I would definitely recommend AydiosMio as a ‘go-to’ place to have some delicious tacos while pairing it with some great drinks! They ensure to always have such a great vibe from the moment you walk in!

Loved their margaritas and my wife specially loved that they had Arizona tea seltzers!

Amazing place to go on a date! Great location!

This is exactly what the 5 points area needed! There are so many great places to go to in this area but hands down this has quickly become one of my favorite places! It gives you an ‘out of town’ feel due to the atmosphere being so different and yet so welcoming! PLUS the food is exceptional! I opted for the corn riplets and the taste was absolutely impeccable! Everyone was so friendly and i absolutely love the ambiance!

Ay Dios Mio is a new bar and restaurant in the central area of El Paso. While I had high hopes given the Chef's experience and some of the marketing, I was somewhat disappointed with my experience. Overall, Ay Dios Mio gets a 3/5 for the lackluster service and is mostly held up by the food.

For more detail:

To start, the food is good with a few minor inconsistencies. The head chef comes from El Charlatan (former restaurant of Socorro), and the food is very obviously from his mind. While this normally wouldn't be a bad thing, the mushroom tacos I had were very inconsistently salty. The first one I had seemed to have approximately 1000mg of salt in it while the others were good in terms of salt.

The service, as indicated by another review, definitely leaves a lot to be desired. When we walked in, there was no host, and another group was in front of us. After waiting for a few minutes, we eventually just decided to sit at the bar to keep the night going. The bar was cluttered with silverware and other bar type items, which really don't belong where customers sit, which kinda kills the inviting vibe.

The bar service was okay but the staff really made no attempt to sell us on the products they had on hand so we just resorted to cheap bottled beer since we really didn't know what else was on the menu.