A week or so ago we all went over to Gloria’s, 3715 Greenville Ave, for a birthday party, food and a couple of us — no names named here — consumed a couple margaritas. Personally the ceviche kept me happy. Before I get ahead of myself, let’s get back to first impressions. The entrance to Gloria’s is manned by a sweet-natured gent with an accent so thick you almost miss it when he says, “Come in! The food is hot and the margaritas is cold!” If you don’t understand him, you’ll settle for his unbridled cheeriness and respond with a smile and a nod (as some of our party did).
The service was friendly though the waitress seemed slightly confused at first — she abandoned her first effort at drink orders but returned a few minutes later with renewed determination. Beware the black bean dip served along with the basket o’ chips — it’s addictive and if you have a long wait for your entrees as we did, you’ll be sorry because they keep it coming. I had as I alluded to before, the ceviche tostados. The ceviche was good, though I was spoiled because the ceviche at Alo, a new spot in the Knox-Henderson area where I’d recently dined, was great. I was truly envious, however, of the ladies across the table from me. They ordered the chicken soup and it looked scrumptious — it was in a king-sized bowl and looked homemade like the stuff my grandma used to make in pots (she used to let me help her rip chickens to shreds). I didn’t taste it but took their word, “mmmmm”. Yeah, for me that was the dish that got away. Other favorites appeared to be grilled pork and the quail. The service steadily improved and our waitress turned out to be a real trooper who split the check into 15 pieces — God bless her. Lucky for her she had, in me, an ex-waitress who gave her about a 70 percent tip. Oh! And the whole wait staff came over to sing happy birthday to our art director Jynnette Neal … by the way, everybody wish Jynnette a Happy Birthday.