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San Francisco/Bay Area restaurant reviews by Chris NorrisArchive for Mexican
Taqueria Vallarta
Taqueria Vallarta
June 2008
S’Ok. Taqueria Vallarta is a bit of a dive joint that serves Mexican food on Scott Boulevard in Santa Clara. What’s unique about this establishment is that they’ve been around for years, and although it doesn’t look like much more than fast Mexican food, it is SO much more than that. The food here is fantastic, and after you’ve stopped in for your first time, The Taqueria will become a favorite lunch time option. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Carnitas Tacos – they Rock!
On the downside, we ordered food for about 15 people here on a take-out basis and were pretty underwhelmed. A combination of poor preparation and no good method to keep the food at temperature made this a poor experience. For example, the pinto beans were runny – like soup – while the cheese in the enchiladas was hardened. Best to order and eat on-premises.
Pedro’s, Santa Clara
Pedro’s, Santa Clara
May 2008
Hmmmm. Pedro’s is located in a very high traffic location near Highway 101 and a tremendous number of high tech companies, including Intel’s headquarters. Pedro’s has been at this location for over 20 years and is something of an institution among Silicon Valley engineers. It’s a huge place, with acceptable Mexican food, and is a popular choice for large groups who want to eat reasonably quickly, and where boisterous behavior won’t be out of place. Lunch is mob scene, while dinner is busy, but not overrun. Be careful of weekend brunch specials – the food is good, but the crowds can be immense. Pedro’s makes a pretty good margarita, making it a good “after work drink” location!
Casa Bonita, Phoenix
Casa Bonita, Phoenix
March 2008
Way Good. What makes this restaurant way good is not so much the food, but that you will feel exactly like you are Cabo from your first step into this restaurant. The music, the décor, the service and the food are as authentic as you can find in the northern 49 states! Between six of us, we managed to try the shrimp, the snapper, chile Colorado, fish tacos, and margaritas. Good, good, good!
Pedro’s Cabo Grill, Los Gatos
Pedro’s Cabo Grill, Los Gatos
Feb 2008
Hmmmm. Pedro’s is a bit of a Chevy’s clone located on the main drag in Los Gatos. The salmon and the chile Colorado are quite good, and the tortilla soup is terrific. Fajitas were ok, not great – plus, we had a quite a wait to get tortillas after the fajitas were delivered to the table which was pretty annoying. These places all generally seem the same to me – Chevy’s, Mexicali Grill, the Pedro’s chain, etc. Expect competent Mexican food in a Cabo style restaurant, with an equal number of hits and misses, and strong margaritas to help you look past some of the food and service problems. Pedro’s Cabo Grill in Los Gatos is not fundamentally different.
Mexicali Grill, Santa Clara
Mexicali Grill, Santa Clara
Jan 2008
Hmmmm. The Mexicali Grill is a clone of a Chevy’s style Mexican restaurant, with a Cabo themed, large open seating area and diverse selection of Mexican food and drinks. The problem with the Mexicali Grill is that it’s not as good or as consistent as Chevy’s, and even the Cadillac Margaritas can’t make up for the occasional complete miss, like way overdone salmon or salty, but otherwise bland, chicken mole. Like fajitas? Mexicali does a good job on fajitas. Like chile Colorado or chile verde? Those are good too. Otherwise, you might prefer the food at Chevy’s.
Rubio’s, Fremont
Rubio’s, Fremont
July 2007
S’Ok. Rubio’s doesn’t look like much when you walk in – first impressions are of just another fast food Mexican restaurant. Look a little closer though! Rubio’s actually has quite a lot of baja inspired dishes, including baja style street tacos, shrimp tacos and burritos, several kinds of fish tacos and burritos, and really great carnitas. It’s my favorite of the “run in and grab a bite” Mexican restaurants. I especially like the shrimp burritos, the carnitas street tacos, and the fish tacos.
Interestingly, during my Sunday morning routine of watchin’ some food shows, I saw Tyler Florence kick off an episode of ‘Food 911’ at a Rubios. Forgiving Tyler for his current stint as Applebee’s “designer chef” (what IS he thinking?!), you’ve got to credit him for his good tasted in choosing Rubio’s! By the way, that episode of ‘Food 911’ featured chicken burritos and fish tacos, which are easy to fix and way good. He features a really terrific sauce for the tacos (mayo, sour cream, chipotle chilies and some lime juice) that you should try at home!
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Sinaloa
May 2007
Hmmmm. You’re in Morgan Hill, and you want Mexican food. Well now you’re talking! There are quite a few good Mexican joints in MH and Sinaloa is one of the better, if not the best of them. Located on Monterey Highway in the old downtown section (actually, just across the street and down a block or so from Rosy’s at the Beach), this restaurant is a long time inhabitant of Morgan Hill, but was outside of town on the north end until bout 2 years ago. The food is authentic Californian Mexican food, the choice of beers is good, and the margaritas qualify as great. My old boss (twice removed) swears that Sinaloa is the bomb, and while I’ve never come to quite “get it”, there is a dedicated clientele of locals that inhabit the place.
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Chili’s in San Jose, CA
March 2007
What was I thinking? Start with a one hour wait (on a mid-week evening), complemented with no place to sit, and a huge crowd in the foyer. And for what? There is nothing this restaurant serves that doesn’t have a better alternative at a different restaurant within a one mile radius. Given that you’re basically eating food at the lowest common denominator anyway, why waste your time & money here? Try one of the alternatives: Chevy’s, Olive Garden, Fish Market, Black Angus, etc. Ok, I’ll admit that my 5 year old, who wanted to go to Chili’s on his birthday, loved the place. Sigh.
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Chili’s
Chili’s
5650 Almaden Expwy, San Jose, CA
What was I thinking?!
Start with a one hour wait (on a mid-week evening), complemented with no place to sit, and a huge crowd in the foyer. And for what? There is nothing this restaurant serves that doesn’t have a better alternative at a different restaurant within a one mile radius. Given that you’re basically eating food at the lowest common denominator anyway, why waste your time & money here? Try one of the alternatives: Chevy’s, Olive Garden, Fish Market, Black Angus, etc. Ok, I’ll admit that my 5 year old, who wanted to go to Chili’s on his birthday, loved the place. Sigh.
