I'm going to start this baby off with some caveats. "As good as it gets?" Absolutely as good as it gets within a 45 minute drive of Bay Saint Louis.
I'm kind of an authentic Mexican food snob, too, and this place isn't that. It's more of a Tex-Mex/Baja hybrid. Those can be good too, and they're pretty good here.
I've read the other two reviews, and I'm hoping those experiences were new restaurant hiccups. I haven't had a bad meal yet, but I'm only at three visits so far.
Twice now I've had the steak fajitas. The steak had a nice sear, and nice beefy flavor. Good quality meat, well prepared. The guac and pico they serve on the side are good too, though I'm thinking that scant tablespoon isn't nearly enough. I ordered extra of both last night, and they charged me for it. If you're reading this, guys, figure that one out. There's not nearly enough condiments for the amount of meat you serve, and you shouldn't be charging extra for a guy to have enough.
On the other hand, there's that "amount of meat" thing. The first time I had the fajitas, there was a lot of meat for one guy if you're having anything else. Last night, the meat covered my plate. There must have been twelve ounces of flank steak laid across the sauteed veggies. I wound up letting my wife have a couple after stuffing myself silly. So, guys, if you're worried about the meal being too expensive, cut out some meat and, er, beef up the condiments. Make me happy, I'm giving you a good review here. (I'm actually wondering if the amount of meat I got last night was because someone saw my picture on yelp LOL)
On the authentic Mex subject, they quite nicely give you your choice of corn or flour tortillas (fajitas are much better with corn), and they have horchata to drink, though I haven't actually seen it on the menu yet. My wife is partial to jamaica, and our server reported that the manager expects to add it in the next couple of weeks.
They have carne asada and carnitas tacos. First thing I ordered there was a pair of tacos to go, one of each, a la carte, and they were legit. Now gimme some adobada, some cachete, some lengua, and some al pastor. I love me some of that stuff. You can also get a carnitas torta, which would be good if the pork is good (I saw that other review complaining about the pork, and I'm hoping that was a one-time problem; the carnitas taco I had was pretty good). And then there's something called a carnitas burger. Hmm.
My wife and son have tried the ribeye tacos, the Benjamin tacos (they have shrimp in them, I think? I dunno, I was packing away fajitas), the cheese enchiladas, and the stuffed avocados, and reports were positive all around. And the chips and salsa are quite good, I thought.
I saw that review about the runny cheese. I'm nervous about that. There's a cheese some Mexican restaurants use for quesadillas and chiles rellenos and such that I think of as Mexican Velveeta; it tastes like white American, and it basically turns to a runny fluid at just above room temp. I hate that stuff. Avocado's, if you're reading this, please don't use runny cheese!
They also have chiles rellenos and tamales, but I don't know if they're going to be Mexican, Tex-Mex, or Mississippi hot tamale type stuff. Well, by golly, we'll just see, and I'll get back to y'all on that.
Right now, I'm just crazy glad I can get proper Tex Mex fajitas less than a mile from the house. Yes!
UPDATE: We went again last night, curious about that runny cheese issue. Two things.
First, the chile con queso is in fact runny, but it's also exactly like what I've had at any number of Tex-Mex places in Texas, and it's delicious. Very simple, cheese, chile peppers, maybe some cream to make it flowable (or runny). It was completely legit, definitely not from a jar, and very good.
If I really want to test a Mexican restaurant, I get the chiles rellenos. They're such a pain to make that most places make them up in advance, so with the usual simple cheese-filled peppers, it mostly comes down to what kind of cheese is used and how long they've been in the fridge. In this case, the cheese wasn't the "Mexican Velveeta" I described, but it was moving in that direction, and I don't think the rellenos had been kept in the fridge more than a day. In short, don't expect much on that score. It's still better than anywhere else in town, but meh.
My wife ordered the tortilla soup, which was much heavier on veggies than I've ever seen. Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli. For US tastes? I don't know, but it's probably good if you can eat cauliflower and broccoli. I can't stand them. Or brussels sprouts. Ick! read more