Spotted Donkey Cantina, el Pedregal

Stayed at CIVANA and came here for a meal. Was worried given the ratings but the food was amazing. Such good food (much better than El Encanto).

This spot is really cute. I wanted to love it. Great ambiance. LOVELY staff. The food came out REALLY fast... which should've been the red flag, because none of it was good. Two of us ordered the ceviche (mind you the waitress was really honest and recommended a few other items as her top 3, but we still ordered it). It was more of a cóctel de camarón (shrimp cocktail). My friend sent hers back after trying to add lemon and "fix" it. She felt terrible doing it but it was really bad. I kept mine because I didn't want to send another dish back, but one of the shrimp was slimy and I was certain I was going to get sick from it! Do not order the ceviche! My friend then ordered the salmon, which she couldn't eat because it was still raw inside. My husband had the carne asada which he said was fine. And the kids Mac n cheese was ok too. Unfortunately we will not be back.

Enjoyed another great time & meal at The Spotted Donkey! Had the 'Trio' of salsa's w/ chips & an order of guacamole & 'house' margaritas at the bar as we arrived early. Were seated soon at our table by the window and was able to see our beautiful Arizona sunset. I couldn't decide between the Cantina Shooters - which are stuffed jalapeño peppers with bacon, cheese in a cilantro buttermilk sauce & a no meat quesadilla; so I got both! All very tasty! ((Now, I have leftovers for tomorrow!!)) My husband ordered the carne asada as always & it must have been great; as his plate was empty!

We love the art on the wall, a lot of donkies that were painted by a local artist and they're all for sale. Now, as far as the service, it was good, we really enjoyed our waitress, but the food was meh. I added shrimp to my fajitas and it was a whopping $36, not a whole Lotta flavor and who adds chunks of tomatoes and sausage to their fajitas. I've never had anything like it. I can say, not anyone was super thrilled with their food. Drinks and food to expensive for what you get.I just can't-

TL;DR: Americanized Mexican food.It's possible that there are just no good food options in this part of town, so perhaps the standards should be lower.Nachos were okay. Tacos were very dry and the taco shells were probably store bought. They were so thick. I wanted to get the churros but could not be bothered after seeing and tasting the tacos. I cannot recommend this place to anyone.

Lovely location within The Boulders resort. However, this place missed the mark. Service was good at first and then slowly the waiter all but disappeared. Ordered Calabacitas Fajitas and it came out with no Calabacitas? Had to approach the manager who said she used it as a "teaching moment" for her staff?! Yeah you don't use that as a teaching moment for the prices they are charging. Tortillas fell apart and they also charge for chips/salsa. Had to keep asking for refills and even the check - super disappointing as this was almost $100 meal for two.

This one is a tough call between 3 and 4 stars. The beginning and end of our meal weren't great but the meal itself was really good. We started with the expensive chips and 3 salsas. While the chips were adequate, the 3 tiny bowls of salsa were laughable. We then ordered 3 things, Baja shrimp tacos, shredded beef quesadillas and the nachos. All were delicious. The portions were good too. We then split the mini churros. They weren't churros but solid pieces of fried dough. Chewy too. Not good. Our server was great but extremely busy. The place was packed and the cooks and servers were overwhelmed. So service was slow.

Neat ambiance, that's about it. My family stopped in on a whim because we were in the area, and we were hungry. Friday night about 6:00 we were expecting a line and a wait. Nope, walked right in and got sat outside. We were informed the wait staff would be about 5 minutes so we asked if we could get the heaters turned on (chilly with a breeze). They said sure,,,,,, nope. Every heater except for one was out of propane. 15 - 20 minute wait led us to our appetizer, food and drinks being ordered all at the same time. I ordered steak fajitas, my wife ordered surf and turf burrito. My son ordered a Barbacoa chimi. Remember me saying everything was ordered at the same time? Welp, that's how it's arrived, all at the same time. The wife and son had no complaints with their food, so that's good. My fajitas were underwhelming. About 2/3 bell pepper, tomato halves, and onion, 1/3 hot dog (sausage ish type stuff) and a bitof steak. All in all, the service was not bad ish, but the food, hard pass. I can see why this establishment is unclaimed. Long story short, we won't be back, but is you feel like gambling $150 on mediocre food, I'mInterested in your experience.

The food here is wonderful with the pork quesadilla and fajitas we ordered. Service was great. But you must wonder why the 3 star. Here are areas of concern:1. 7 dollar pork upcharge for quesadilla to make it a 24 dollar dish2. Charging for chips and salsa almost 10 bucks3. Charge for each side salsa.Such a great experience was ruined a bit by the bill.

Service is outstanding, staff friendly and attentive. Ambiance is cute and cozy.Do I recommend the food? Absolutely not. We ordered a queso dip and jalapeño poppers. I personally ordered the charred Avocado tacos with rice and beans. Queso dip: wateryJalapeño poppers served in cups of ranch: cold and frozen cheese on the inside, fried soggy mess on the outsideAvocado tacos: fair but the rice it came with was incredibly bland with hard, overcooked rice grains.Fed a family of four at 175 bucks for a mediocre meal that looks good on paper but poorly executed.