June 12th, 2008

This Mexican kitchen and tequila bar is located inside Tyson’s Corner Mall (it replaced Morimoto’s restaurant, paulimoto). The food is cheap enough and you get a lot for your money. I enjoyed their menu, which was surprisingly full of traditional Mayan ingredients. La Sandia’s owners (part of a chain of Richard Sandaval’s restaurants) pay attention to details such as soft woven baskets for the thicker than average (yet still tasty) chips with salsa, fish scale silverware and intresting clear and blue glassware that is rounded at the top. (The glassware looks good but feels a bit weird to drink straight from the glass).

There are three main parts to La Sandia: Outdoor (mall) seating, Bar, and Regular seating. The interior is dark with portions of exposed ceiling or with a dark mirror-like metallic box covering it. The main dining room is partitioned off with lit curtains enclosed in glass and surrounded by colored glass. It is a mixture of tables and soft, leather booths that line the walls. I loved the bar, which is very beautiful–a back lit tin-punch-esque design. The outdoor area is walled in by these same designs, yet enclosed in glass.
Service was fast at lunch and still expedient at dinner (we went back for dessert). We had the Cobb Salad (around $12) and it was enough for two people and then some. I sampled their sangria but sent it back after one sip because it had too much of a red wine taste for me. Instead, I had their Passion Fruit mojito.

Later, we had the Banana Empanadas for dessert, which hit the spot perfectly–just something small and sweet to end our day of shopping. ^___^

In conclusion, I have no desire to go back to La Sandia.

When I visited La Sandia, the service was barren. Our server was nowhere to be found and semed bothered when I returned the sangria I ordered. The food was mediocre at best, and at this price, should be equal to other, similar restaurants at this range.

I have no desire to go back as there are other, better restaurants in the mall. In my opinion, I would rather have a different restaurant in this space (sorry!).

Sorry for the poor picture quality, I only had my camera phone.