I erroneously thought Don Juan's Mexican Grill & Cantina was part of a chain. It's an easy enough…read moremistake to make with similarly named Mexican restaurants throughout the States. And seeing how extensively the former Denny's Restaurant was remodeled you definitely get that large corporate feeling. This is not your Mom & Pop's home-town restaurant effort.
But that corporate feeling begins to fade somewhat while you are dining. The staff are friendly, helpful, and appear to be enjoying themselves as evidenced by some of them singing along to the authentic Mexican background music.
The menu is huge! Would you believe 20 pages of drinks and food? Fortunately, there are photos for almost every dish, so you have no problem wondering what it is that you are ordering. Besides, most of the offerings are Tex-Mex dishes which Americans are quite familiar with by now, e.g., tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, and chimichangas. One thing that I found puzzling was that tamales were only available in each of the three Combo dishes. You apparently cannot order tamales singularly.
Upon being seated, we were promptly served complimentary chips along with a red salsa and a refried bean dip with cheese, pepper, and tomato. The salsa had no spicing at all. We each ordered a large (24 oz.) draft Modelo Especial ($10 each).
My initial test of a Mexican restaurant is to try a dish with their Mole and compare it with memories of the home cooked meal I was served by a close Mexican friend more than 30 years ago. However, I had wanted to also try something more than the Pollo Mole at Don Juan's. I zeroed in on Tampiqueña ($27); a marinated grilled steak and a mole enchilada coated in their house made Tia Maria Mole sauce. The dish was also served with refried beans, rice, lettuce, tomato, green onions, and guacamole in place of sliced avocado.
The steak was pounded very thin so that the likely tougher cut that was used was not overly chewy. The flavors however, with the grilling and marinade were quite tasty. The enchilada was filled with tender chicken, and the mole coating on the flour tortilla was more sweet than savory as opposed to what I would have expected from a more traditional chicken and mole combination. I guess it was the Tia Maria. Once again, I did not notice any spiciness . I was also provided with a container of four fresh, warm, flour tortillas. While I'm not a fan of flour tortillas these were the best flour tortillas I've ever encountered.
My wife ordered the Tacos Al Pastor ($21), choosing steak over pork or chicken, topped with pico de gallo and fresh cabbage in corn tortillas. The three tacos were also served with rice, lettuce, and tomato. The red salsa served on the side had no spiciness. However, a second container of salsa more brownish in color had plenty of spiciness. She was very pleased with her meal.
One additional item on the dessert list called out to me from the moment I saw it on the menu. Sopapillas ($9), as served here, they are triangular shaped pastry dusted with cinnamon sugar, whipped cream, and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. They were tasty and enjoyable but nothing like what I first encountered in a Mexican restaurant more than 55 years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There they were a basket of fried dough morsels served to us before our meal, with honey to be poured on them. YUM!
Overall, we were pleased with our Tex-Mex experience and are very likely to return to try some additional menu items. If you want spicy, be sure to request the appropriate salsa.
