COCKTAILING: Mix Downtown

Mix Downtown's Web site

The last time I went to Mix, I had only positive things to say -- we sat at the bar, had decent wine and a great bartender. After my more recent visit, I doubt I'll go back again. John and I were craving margaritas, so we initially went to Zocalo. But it was packed and I really wanted to sit down (I was wearing killer heels). So we ended up at Mix. Their menu listed two margaritas. Being the purist that I am, I asked which was closer to a classic margarita since I didn't want any sugary flavorings. The server didn't really know (?!) so I ordered a standard margarita with Patron Tequila. About 30 minutes later, our appetizers came, but still no drinks. We finished most of our apps (those kobe sliders are yummy!) before our drinks finally came. I eagerly sipped my margarita ... it tasted terrible. I asked what the Patron was mixed with -- Grand Mariner? Cointreau? She said she wasn't sure but it was some sort of mix. Seriously. A wannabe hot spot in Sacramento used a mix in place of a real cocktail? With Patron? Even though I was surprised and highly disappointed, I didn't send it back for fear I'd have to wait another hour for a replacement. I slurped it down and certainly needed another drink. Nearly half an hour later, I sent John to the bar since we hadn't seen our server. He came back with some cocktails straight from their menu (figured that was safer than ordering off-menu again). Those drinks weren't very good. In fairness, we're not really into the flavored trendy drinks so it's not shocking we didn't like them. By this time, we were ready to leave. We asked for our bill. It didn't come. Twenty minutes later, we asked someone else to find our server because we really wanted to go. Ten minutes after that, John went to the bar to ask for our check. They ran his credit card and said they'd bring it to our table. They didn't. We were about to go back to the bar to ask for it when finally someone came over with what we thought was our bill -- yes! We could finally get out of there! Oops. It was actually some guy telling us our table was reserved for later in the evening and we couldn't stay much longer. I almost lost it, but decided to be polite since this guy hadn't been a party to the substandard service we had already received. I said, "Yes, we've been trying to leave for the past hour but they are having trouble with our bill. Could you help us get out of here by speeding up the process?" He said, "Oh, don't worry. We don't need your table for another hour." Bottom line: Mix has a fabulous, fun atmosphere but the drink menu caters to an unsophisticated palate. Wait staff is friendly, but easily confused. If you speak slowly and repeat yourself often, you might fare OK.