“Freshly arrived in Ruidoso for the weekend, as always we greatly rely on reviews from others. Most restaurants in the area were a real mixed bag going from 5 stars to 1 stars in the same week. I opted for Grill Caliente. It showed an interesting menu and had a full bar and a few craft beers. As suggested by the website, I called for a reservation and was assured that they weren't needed. The town on a Thursday night seemed very quiet. We arrived around 6:45pm. Upon our arrival the restaurant had several tables, but obviously not very busy. The sign at the hostess stand said to wait to be seated and it didn't take long for an older gentleman to show up. My wife who's a bit more outgoing than I am, threw in a cheerful good evening. The host, which I strongly believed was the owner, looked at us, looked at his watch, and without saying a single word grabbed 2 menus and showed us to a table. We were obviously disturbing a quiet night- my wife and I looked at each other and wondered if we had mistaken 6:45pm for a much later time. I contemplated just leaving - and then what? Where were we going to eat? We sat down, and started looking at the menu. Within a few minutes our server Ezra showed up and made up for that first bad impression. She was gracious, polite, and extremely effective. I started out with their house salad - greens, with several nice slices of tomatoes, grilled purple onions, and my choice of dressing - a chipotle ranch which was obviously house made. We followed with 2 burgers. Both were gigantic, cooked to perfection and a nice size of house French fries. Overall a great dinner and pleasant service. On the way out, the owner thank us and wished us goodnight. We had obviously came in at a bad time. I'm happy that we decided to stay to enjoy this great meal. First impressions can be deceptive, but are so important. We will surely be back if we return in the area.“
“My husband and I absolutely love this place. Total speakeasy feel inside. The owners are so nice. We ended up going twice while we were there and spending hours talking to the owners and other patrons. I am very sad that they are selling the place.“