Students get fresh Aroma

With its chic interior, dark mahogany wooden floors, live jazz music and cozy fireplace, Aroma Restaurant gives customers a sense of an entertaining night out on the town, but prices may drive customers away.

Aroma's stylish interior design outshines many other steakhouse restaurants in El Paso. Its well-groomed bar carries a collection of colorful liquors lined up against the wall. Their dark wooden floors and red brick walls give an upscale appeal with comfort that resembles restaurants in Dallas or Austin.

"It's expensive and could be a deterrent, but it's a nice place to take a date," Pablo Padilla, junior microbiology major said. "I'm not sure if it caters to the El Paso crowd though."
Originally from Ciudad Juárez,

Aroma opened its location at 2725 N. Mesa St. last December. Its menu provides a variety of choices, from delicate sandwiches to interesting salads, but their main focus is on steaks and seafood. Their upscale gourmet dishes might make your taste buds jump for joy.

While their prices may be too high during a recession period, superb customer service is Aroma's goal and you get a sense of it the minute you walk in. From the hostess who greets you at the door to the waiter who takes your order, Aroma employees strive to please you as much as possible.

Carlos Solis, manager, said that their focus is all about good quality service, making sure that customers leave happy and satisfied in hopes they become returning customers.
 

Aroma is the first restaurant in El Paso to implement a call box, which is a box in the middle of the table that has three buttons, one to call the waiter or waitress, the other to cancel the call and the last one to call for the check.

"This creates a faster service for our customers," Solis said.
Along with the call box, Aroma has a valet parking service to deal with  limited parking spaces and El Paso's customers appreciate it so far.

"It's a hassle to have to drive around for 30 minutes waiting for a parking spot to open," Karla Espino, sophomore organizational and corporate communication major, said. "But, they provide the luxury of doing it for you, which I am happy about."

Along with valet parking, Aroma offers live jazz musicians and an outside patio for those who may like to dine outdoors. Although closed during the winter, Solis looks forward to opening it once the weather gets warmer so as to provide more tables for customers.
 

"We've had a good turnout so far and business is good," Solis said. "We like to believe that our customers are happy with what we provide."

While Aroma is ideally located between Glory Road and Cincinnati Avenue where upscale restaurants and bars flourish, it is not the most economical lunch spot for students who are working to pay off their college tuition.

Lucia Murguia can be reached at prospector@utep.edu.