Ocotillo is a Compound that looks like it takes up an acre and consist of a coffee shop,

an outdoor bar with all kinds of outdoor seating

and multiple patios (also another larger patio that spills out of the inside dining room that I didn’t photo) and a big sleek modern light and airy restaurant with comfortable seating. The menu is very varied but is Modern American that changes with the season with International Accents. Ocotillo offers breakfast items, detailed salads, small (but not so small) plates, hot plates cold plates big plates. Interesting vegetable plates, sandwich plates, house made pastas, A selection of roasted chicken plates and much more! From what I tried the food seems to be quality casual detailed food at reasonable prices.

I’ve been at Ocotillo a few times and this is what I tried so far…..

A well thought out detailed Spinach Salad with Smoked Salmon. The salmon was rich and buttery. Everything tasted perfect together. The eggs were prepared medium and weren’t chalky. Fresh herbs were used and brightened everything up and crisp capers added that perfect crunch.

The Mole Chicken Salad. Also delicious but far more substantial than the Spinach Salad. If I only ate the spinach salad with smoked salmon I’d still be hungry. I ate around 1/3rd of the chicken mole salad and was almost full. I’d be willing to put it out there that if you don’t like mole or never had mole you will still enjoy this salad for a few reasons. The chicken in all the dishes I tried from Ocotillo are exceptional. Very good quality chicken that’s prepared to perfection that happens to be delicious. The chicken is only lightly kissed with mole. You have just enough to taste it but it’s not blanketed with mole. Everything in the salad is very good from the heirloom cherry tomatoes to the fresh marinated avocado. The pepitas are also roasted and are bursting with flavor.

On the small plate menu are Japanese Fish and Chips.

The plate is not so small. Big Sweet Pieces of Panko Covered Cod that are served with Seaweed and Sea salt Seasoned Fries. The fish was so mild and sweet I didn’t even think this could be cod. Fries with just a light touch of seaweed were tasty too. Everything seemed like it was oil free.

The Tandoori Style Chicken Sandwich is delicious. Besides many exotic spices it has this red lentil hummus kind of spread on it that elevates the already delicious charred chicken in it. This sandwich was very layered in textures and flavors. Crispy slightly bitter greens the charred in a good way moist flavorful chicken with tomatoes that added sweetness and cut threw the richness of the lentil hummus. I had my choice of fries or the side dish of the day, the watermelon and tomato salad with mild chiles. It was light and not spicy but interesting. The light bread seemed like it was fresh made and didn’t get soggy even two days latter when I ate the other half. I thought this was a real bargain for only $9.00.

My husband had the Grilled Steak Sandwich but I tasted a small piece of the steak.

The Steak was tender,  moist and flavorful. The tabasco horseradish cream on the side was amazing. It was suppose to be served spread on the sandwich but my husband wanted it on the side.

So far I only tried one of the roasted Chicken dishes.

It was the Thai Style Roasted Chicken. The Chicken was moist and developed with flavors and had a delicious red curry style sauce on it. I thought this was a large portion and this was shared the day I ate it.

Can’t wait to go back and try more.

Everything I tried was delicious so far. Unfortunately I didn’t have have room to try a dessert here yet.  I thought the prices were reasonable. Atmosphere is attractive and comfortable.

For me service was like from most restaurants.

On my first visit service wasn’t so great because the hostess sat me at a table that was being used as a bus-stand. On my fist visit the server I had knew little about the food and didn’t pace our plates. Perhaps that was just opening growing pains and the bugs were worked out because on my next visit the service was greatly improved. This server could answer questions about the food and we were checked on and served in a timely manner.

Between the menu and atmosphere you might want to come here if you are from out of town for a solid good casual detailed meal that isn’t too expensive.  If you live here you might want to travel across town for a  very nice meal out.

Ocotillo is Worth A Fork!