Pure Taqueria

Well, we went to Pure Taqueria in Inman Park at 5:00 pm on a Friday with our 14 month old for a quick bite since we have been there before and the food was good. We were taken to our table, but told by the "hostess" that they only had three highchairs and currently they were all being used... too bad for us... as she giggled and said the one table who had all of the highchairs had just sat down. She then proceeded to tell us that they used to have a bunch of highcahirs but the manager specifically got rid of all but three because he no longer wanted the restaurant to be "family friendly". Hmmmm, I don't think the 25 year old party crowd would be visiting Pure at 5 pm to start their evening... maybe I'm wrong, but the place had tumble weeds blowing through. I would think the extra "family" coin would be welcome.?. Needless to say, we left. So the AJC writer who dubbed this restaurant as "kid friendly" is sadly mistaken. Parents beware... they don't want your business as we were told.

My family went to Pure early Sunday evening, and opened the door to be almost blasted back out by the excessively loud music. You couldn't even hear the host over the blaring music. We asked to be seated on the patio, hoping that the sound would be lower. After we sat down, we were shocked to see -- and hear -- a large party of parents (about 14) and their very young children (at least 14 of them). The todlers were running around the patio shrieking and yelling, the parents were so drunk they didn't even seem to notice or care that they (the parents) were shrieking and shouting at high decibel levels, and whenever the kids caught their attention, one of the adults would start throwing a child up into the air until that kid was shrieking and screaming. And the infants, all scattered around the patio in huge buggies, were crying most of the time, but the parents never seemed to notice. The children were also running through the gate into the parking lot, without any parent noticing. It was the worst restaurant situation I have ever encountered, and the management just seemed to be oblivious to these drunken parents and their undisciplined offspring.

And Pure management did not do a thing, even though more than 6 tables of customers were obviously severely affected. They seemed to encourage this group by not cutting off their drinking.

I would only go back to Pure if I lose my hearing and go blind!

I just tried it last night for the first time. Our dinner must have already been sitting around because it showed up not two minutes (no kidding) after ordering. I had a stomach ache before I even left the restaurant and proceeded to go home and regurgitate my food over the next several hours.

The ingredients are fresh, but flavor is lacking. Had the special this past Saturday (lamb tacos). The meat was very bland and unseasoned. There are very few specials nowadays. There used to be daily/weekly enchilada specials, but now it is plain ole chicken enchiladas every day of the week. The owners obviously had a taste and some experience from travel for baja/cali style fare when they decided to create "Pure", but the ingredients used in the kitchen and menu items are lacking so much taste that could easily be realized in this potential gem. IMO, Pure is a lot of hype and trend for wanna-be foodies that have yet to experience true baja/cali deliciousness. It could be so much better if only the imagination were there.

This review is directed specifically to the Woodstock location. The food is average for Georgia Mexican food. This location is noisy, with limited seating. Open patio in summer is a fly attractant. Huge open rooftop bar/seating is only usable during spring and fall, otherwise too hot/cold. Serves canned Coke rather than fountain under the guise that "canned is better." Over priced for what it is.