Tuesday night we went to a Mexican Food for Mexican diners restaurant. I've never heard of half the…read morethings on the menu. And most things are a la carte. So I ordered a burrito. In an American Mexican Restaurant, it would come with some sort of sauce on top and rice and beans next to it on the plate. In this restaurant, it came on the plate, period. And I was expected to eat it more like a sandwich. The burrito was stuffed much like a Chipotle one. Steak, rice, beans, lettuce and tomato inside. It was tasty.
Oh, and no complimentary chips and salsa first. You could order chips and a choice of a couple of different dipping sauces as an appetizer. We ordered chips and guacamole.
My wife ordered a mushroom quesadilla. It came, like my burrito, alone on the plate and not cut in pieces. It did not come with salsa and sour cream. She tried cutting it up and eating it like a big nacho chip, but while the tortilla was fried, it wasn't stiff. Floppy is the best way I can describe it. She said that the tortilla overpowered the filling, so she ended up scraping out the filling and eating that, and leaving the tortilla. The cheese was Oaxaca cheese, which was different. She enjoyed the filling.
The ambiance was dark but otherwise like any other Mexican restaurant. But the main vibe was dark.
I don't think it's fair to pan a restaurant because the food was served in a different way than you are used to. That being said, I have to say that no effort at all was made to make the food a pleasing presentation on the plate. No garnish whatsoever. The quesadilla looked like they just turned the pan up over the plate. The burrito was just sitting there on the plate looking lonely. Not a piece of lettuce or jalapeño slice for garnish. Nothing.
We had only water to drink. The price after tip was about $30. There was a 4% credit card surcharge. Not exorbitant, but wasn't too long ago that same meal would have cost half that much!
There are a few "plates" on the menu, which by description are more like what we would see in an American-Mexican restaurant. I think if we go back, we would first study that portion of the menu to see if something took our fancy. I would also study some of the other a la carte dishes to try something new. The place really seemed to cater more to the carry out or delivery crowd. We were the only people eating in. Eating at home would probably be a more pleasing atmosphere.
If you enjoy authentic Mexican food, I think this will fit your bill. Be warned, this is different from La Tapatia.
