Azul Y Cantina - Leetsdale

This place is a little hidden gem! We come here often! Very adorable restaurant settled in the hills of Western PA in a small town right off of the Ohio River. THIS is authentic and unique Mexican food so if you only care for chain type Mexican places that do everything the same then you probably won 't like it here. The salsa is different from anything I 've ever had but it is so delicious! And don 't sleep on their homemade tortilla chips. DELICIOUS! My husband and I always get the Queso Fundido. It is phenomenal. The margaritas are amazing (we normally have a few). They have a limited menu right now but I promise you it 's worth it. If you have a bad experience here then you must have caught them on a bad day and I would try again. It 's a small operation so be patient. We have to keep little local places like this alive!

Azul: A Disappointing Return It had been a very long time since I last visited Azul, and after this recent experience, it will likely be quite some time before I return. Something has definitely changed, and unfortunately, not for the better. Let's start with the basics—the chips and salsa. They used to be a highlight, but now they seem completely different. The chips were lackluster, and while the salsa had decent flavor, it was far too thin, lacking the rich texture I remembered. We ordered some queso for the table, and it took an unusually long time to arrive. When it finally did, it was a disappointment—split and stringy, almost like they had mixed mozzarella with tomato soup. The texture was all wrong, and the flavor just didn't work. Service was painfully slow. A simple meal for four people, who ordered similar dishes, took what felt like an eternity to arrive. When it did, the results were underwhelming. I ordered the Surf and Turf Burrito. While the flavor was decent, it was heavy on beans and rice and disappointingly light on meat. The Carnitas plate, once a favorite, was no longer on the menu, which now feels quite limited. To top it off, they charge for refills, which feels out of place for a place like this. Overall, Azul has really fallen from grace. The burrito was about the only redeeming part of the meal, but it wasn't enough to make me want to return. Sadly, this once-favorite spot has lost its appeal, and I'll be looking elsewhere for my next dining experience.

Azul is a gem! Service was excellent, the food was delicious and their home made drinks were amazing. It has nice ambiance and feels very welcoming. If you are looking for authentic Mexican this is a place to try for a nice date night out.

1st time back after minimum service around covid. Expected it to return to its former excellence. Not so much. They were busy and at 730 pm got a bit of a rush, it being summertime. Reduced hours. 4-8 or 4-9 depending on the day. 1. Slow service observed due to severe under- staffing. No actual bartender. Server has to make drinks also. PLUS do their actual job if serving etc. only 2 servers evident at the time we were there and one bus boy. They need to hire more people!! Especially for Fri Sat nites!!! Seems like more focused on take out orders now which the servers also have to work on. Not good. 2. Very pricey. Cmon, mex food isn't THAT expensive to buy the ingredients. A house salad, no protein, $12 for a handful of greens and a pittance of tomatoes onions? $15 for house-made guac that seriously needed seasoning. Tasted like nothing. Same with the cup of black beans on the side. Burrito looked great til it was mostly black beans and rice with just 2 shrimp and THAT was $19 with no other sides. Everything other than their homemade salsa for the chips was pretty bland which I'm surprised.. Charged for sour cream and red salsa, which tasted more like tomato sauce. Cmon! Whoever heard of Mexican food without salsa and sour cream? For 2 people, one of which who didn't get an entree, and only one drink between the two of us, it was a whopping $77!! Totally not worth it, and we won't be back unless they up their game. Menu, post Covid, is totally different with only a couple of choices per category. Seems like they're concentrating on the items that go well in carryout, which appears to be a large portion of their business. 3. The entire place was spotless so I will give them that as an extra kudo. So, after sticker shock and paying the bill (plus a tip) which totaled $86, I have two positive things to say which is why I gave it two stars instead of one: Our server tried his very best to be attentive to us and accommodate our needs. He was well-trained and very friendly. I felt really bad for him and the other server he was working with. The second positive thing was that I really liked their homemade chips. At first glance they looked like I would have needed to salt them but then as we dug into the basket they used a coarse salt that actually stuck to the chip and it was very tasty. But again you had to pay for those separately which was $5. It's a shame that what was once a very great place to go and eat, with excellent food, and excellent service is now a shell of what it used to be. Parking continues to be an issue since this building is in the middle of a residential neighborhood. But we were lucky and got a spot alongside the building. So sorry but it is, what it is.

Dinner out tonight at Azul. We had delicious double house margaritas, freshly made salsa and guacamole followed by vegetable enchiladas and a shrimp burrito. Madeline was our charming server. Great food, great service, mama's night off from cooking. Yeah!!