food
the food was very tasty and acheived a unique balance…read morebetween americanized mexican food and traditional cuisine. going into the experience, i'd been to the restaurant at least once before, and though i do not remember what i'd got before, knew i was wanting beans to celebrate what spanglish boys like me refer to as frijole friday. also remembering that the restaurant features a lunch menu, i'd asked the server about that, although after responding to the question of what i wanted to drink with sierra mist, and receiving that drink with chips and salsa quickly upon sitting at the table. then, the server pointed me to the lunch menu and explained that the lunch menu comes with a choice of 2 options among those on the list, with rice and beans being an option, as well as a side that you can add to your 2 choices for the special. and considering 2 lunch entree choices plenty for me, i ordered the rice and beans along with a soft cheesy taco, which i'd narrowly chose instead of the chile relleno, another vegetarian option that looked tasty. nonetheless, the soft cheesy taco was quite tasty, similar to a cheese enchilada, not wrapped and covered in queso. further, the beans and rice were each delicious as is, and the queso left from the soft cheesy taco added a convenient, complementary sauce to mix with the beans and rice for an even more complex taste, though admittedly one that comes at a small nutritional cost. for real though, who has beans and rice, plus chips still in the basket, and leaving queso on the plate? not to mention, the chips and salsa were tasty too, with the salsa on the sweet side out of the salsas i've tried at restaurants. and lastly, to get the review full circle, the sierra mist i ordered initially added to the meal a refreshing beverage that complemented well the spanglish of the food order.
service
the server, ms tara, waited on the table with excellent customer service skills. in addition to almost immediately asking for a drink order and delivering it, plus chips and salsa, quite quickly also, the server gave about the perfect amount of attention i've come to prefer while dining solo dolo, checking quickly upon arrival at table, asking if i'm alright when delivering the food, staying around the area in case i'd thought of any request, and receiving payment promptly at the end of meal. one example of pleasant customer service to me, particular to restaurants that serve chips and salsa, is asking if i'd like more chips before refilling the basket or bringing a new one.
ambiance
the ambiance was pleasant. although the waiting area in the restaurant was close to full when i arrived, the seating area was still rather open and spacious, suggestive of the often unavoidable delay in coordinating that comes from a table request by a large group, as i'd while in the waiting area. nevertheless, the seating situation turnt out well for me, as i still received a table quickly and sat in a room i do not remember seeing before. on the back wall of the room, the furthest i was able see in the restaurant, was a mural of what looked to me like an open air market, including a donkey and at least one guy with a sombrero. while the mural is likely set in mexico, considering the cuisine of the restaurant, certain elements evoke the arid, desert climate of the middle east, and the man in the sombrero with the donkey may evoke in people an image of jesus riding into galilee on a donkey, a connection i find interesting because of the restaurant location in the shopping center across the street from the west side of bishop kelley high school, a catholic christian school.