The View

wonderful sangrias! Dinner was pretty good. Bartender was friendly… Overall loved the atmosphere feel very chill but classy

Walking from the parking lot toward the strangely proportioned stark, three-​story office building, the first thing you notice is the unmarked entrance that takes you into a tiny, non-​descript elevator lobby where there’s a glass door leading to a day spa/​beauty salon called The Mix. We walked into the Mix and were informed that we had to use the elevator to reach The View. Once in the elevator, we noticed there was nothing marking what floor the View was on, so we guessed it was the 3^rd floor and we were right.
Upon arriving on the third floor, we stepped out of the elevator into a tiny and narrow corridor where other arriving guests waiting to be seated and some wait staff were congregated. The cramped space made it nearly impossible to exit the elevator. We managed to squeeze our way past them and a bus cart filled with dishes, and entered through another unmarked doorway into a small restaurant space. I don’t mean small and cozy – I mean small, like too small – and too small in an unplanned and uncomfortable way. We were led to our table that was wedged against the bar, and practically right up against three young bimbos being hit on by posers and wannabe’s totally out of their league.
Ironically, there is virtually no view in the dining room of The View. Admittedly, there is somewhat of a view from the indoor/​outdoor bar area on the opposite side of the building. To get to the indoor/​outdoor bar, you have to walk through a narrow corridor that passes the kitchen on one side and a guy in a tiny office on the other, staring at security monitors displaying the numerous camera feeds from around the exterior of the building, parking lot, and bar. All the security gave me the impression that the View is weary of the guests its attracting.
The dining room space was seemingly decorated by Liberace. While Liberace was an excellent pianist, he had really gaudy taste in wall coverings, furnishings, lighting fixtures, color choices, and candelabras.
If there’s one thing I dislike more than wine served in a water glass, it’s wine served in a water glass that’s made for toddlers – the heavy thick glass with a stout, short stem, the kind you find at Walmart in a box of six for $ 7.99 – or maybe Chuck E. Cheese. I kind of feel sorry for the poor schmo who actually drops a couple Bennies on the Opus One and then watches the server pour it into a glass resembling an A & W root beer mug or sippy cup more than fine stemware. (Glad we stuck with the $ 40 bottle of Catena Malbec). I digress.
The laminated paper wine list had a few nice wines (from wineries we don’t often see in El Paso such as Far Niente, Nickel & Nickel, to name just a couple). Why wine lists with nice wines fail to list the vintage of the listed wines is always a mystery to me, but I was beginning to get the picture here. For a restaurant obviously trying to position itself as a sophisticated alternative, they just seem so clueless.
If a strange building, crummy wine glasses, poorly presented wine list, and a small, weirdly decorated space were all that were «off», maybe it could all be overlooked.
All our entrees and side dishes were served at room temperature. One of our guests had to send his steak back because it was badly overcooked and my steak still had marks where the jockey was hittin’ it – so tough that I had to question if it was actually tenderloin (or beef for that matter). The rest of the party completed their meals before the server returned with the returned steak. The replacement steak was ridiculously and so completely UNDERCOOKED that it scared those of us who enjoy steaks served rare. No chef in his right mind would serve a steak prepared that way. It actually made everyone uncomfortable, but by then, we were all done eating and ready to make for the door.
Other notable flaws, the «red wine reduction» was actually a brown gravy that appeared to have been thickened with flour or corn starch. The blue cheese that was supposed to accompany one steak was also a gravy-​like substance that congealed after a few minutes into something resembling baked pudding.
Although there were a few bright spots (the salads and soups were fine), they were few and far between. The overall food preparation and temperatures was simply unacceptable. Our poor server was trying to make the best of a desperately bad situation, but some in my party weren’t having any part of it – especially the victim of the returned steak fiasco. Thankfully the server «comped» that entrée. We left without coffee, dessert, or any desire to ever return. You know what they say about too much of a good thing.