La Capilla - Review #1

La Capilla Mexican Restaurant
807 E Adams Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 374-0342

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La Capilla At Night
La Capilla is one of a handful of restaurants in the Huntington Beach area I remember going to thirty or so years ago when two tacos, rice, and beans was "exotic" and getting a sucker on the way out was the highlight of my meal, except that La Capilla hasn't always been La Capilla and it hasn't always been a Mexican restaurant but I think it has mostly been a Mexican restaurant. I have only known it to be such but have heard there was a brief stint when it was an Indonesian restaurant. It's still retained its old school charm replete with sunny courtyard, interior so dimly lit you need night vision goggles while inside, and wrought iron chandeliers you could imagine Zorro swinging from.
The food was just what one would expect: serviceable and comfortable. Warm chips and chunky, flavorful salsa; chicken tortilla soup that didn't necessarily intrigue but did warm the soul; and lemon cilantro chicken as a main dish that was very lemony, very cilantro-y, very chickeny, and very buttery. And, yes, I got a sucker on the way out.




These parrots don't talk . . . ever




Mini Tostada


Lemon Cilantro Chicken
For carrying on the tradition of tradition for tradition's sake so well La Capilla earns a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating for the time being:

La Cocina de Isabel - Review #1

La Cocina de Isabel
841 W 19th St
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(714) 241-0123

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Two weekends ago I had a 24-hour period where I ended up at an unprecedented five Mexican restaurants. One was a restaurant I had just barely heard about and one thing I'd heard about it is that hardly anyone has heard about it. The other thing I heard about it is that one of the main guys who runs it is a world champion pizza dough tosser. So of course I had to go. No pizza dough was tossed (and there didn't appear to be anything like pizza on the menu) but I did get a good chorizo torta and a fresa licuado (strawberry milkshake) while mi madré got a sweet tamale (turned out to be strawberry flavored itself with some raisins in it) and a quesadilla on a tortilla she said tasted like it was made of Cream of Wheat. The setting is very much for the locals but the employees were very friendly and they had some picturesque paintings on the walls.


Actual satellite photograph


Strawberry tamale and quesadilla


Chorizo torta


Ride 'em, cowboy! er, cowchile


I hope those vegetables are vegetarians
The visit went pretty quick and was part of a frenzied marathon of Mexican restaurant sampling but I think I can safely give it a three and a half Speedy Gonzales rating for now:

Acapulco - Review #1

Date of Visit: May 19, 2006

Acapulco Mexican Restaurant
1565 Adams Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 241-0123

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This is their entire dinnerware collection


If you make it through the jungle and past the big bowl of oranges you'll find some tables


We were seated in the famous "Papaya Room"
Acapulco is a chain that fills much the same niche as El Torito but with a little more emphasis on seafood. All the seafood was thrown back into the ocean for this meal when all I ordered was the appetizer sampler platter and all mi madré ordered was a side salad. The Grande Fiesta Platter was so big I could hardly fit it into my camera's frame. This sampler platter was comprised of nachos, beef taquitos, cheese and chile quesadillas, Mexican pizza, cheese crisps, and spicy chile chicken drummettes. At $8.29 it was only thirty cents more than a one item combo plate. When I couldn't make up my own mind as to what I should order it made up my mind for me in a very satisfying way.


Say "cheese"


Okay, don't say "cheese"
I always knew I'd be doing a review of Acapulco, and it is probably the last Mexican restaurant I went to before starting this blog, but the thing that got me to go tonight was a mailer that came advertising their Sizzlin' Apple Chimi for dessert. It's an apple-cinnamon filled chimichanga sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, lying in a bed of glazed apples, and topped with a scoop of ice cream. The whole thing is served on a fajita skillet, and heated up again at your table to get it sizzlin' (hence the name). The ice cream scoop was coated in pecan bits and when I asked for some ice cream without pecans the waiter brought some without hesitation and didn't charge any extra for it. I believe this is a limited-time only dessert so if sweet, sticky, apple desserts are up your alley (they are mine) then book a trip to Acapulco soon.

For good prices and a good dessert, Acapulco earns a four Speedy Gonzales rating:

Mini-Mex Mini-Review

Mini-Mex Everywhere
204 E Adams Ave Ste D
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 536-4555

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Just a note that the old Tortilleria Hernandez in Huntington Beach has re-opened recently as "Mini-Mex Everywhere." Tortilleria Hernandez was another place that my family frequented during the last 20 years. They closed about six to nine months ago and Mini-Mex opened about three months ago. The owner of Mini Mex moved up from somewhere in Mexico (I believe Mexico City itself) when a friend told him about a Mexican restaurant that had closed down that he could re-open. So, if you were another faithful Tortilleria Hernandez patron be aware that a similar place is now in its spot and I think at least one employee is still the same as well.

Will do a full review sometime but for now here are two pictures of Mini-Mex Everywhere and their food:


Mini-Mex Exterior at Night; The Former Tortilleria Hernandez


Mini-Mex #5 Combo: Taco and Quesadilla

UPDATE

Here's some pictures taken on March 26, 2009. It has now been renamed Taqueria Mini Mex:

Mexi-Casa - Cinco de Mayo Review

Date of Visit: May 5, 2006

Mexi-Casa Mexican Food
1778 W Lincoln Ave
Anaheim, CA 92801

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Here's James checking in with his fifth guest review, this time of Mexi-Casa in Anaheim. I'd been there once before with him and his wife Lori and have to say I was shocked at how low their prices were. The menu looked like it had been printed in 1974. This was almost two years ago. When he called recently to say he had a review of Mexi-Casa he was working on I asked if the menus were still the same. He said they were new ones and that the prices had gone up but not very much.

At about 7p.m. on May 5, 2006 I went to Mexi-Casa restaurant at 1778 W. Lincoln ave. in Anaheim, CA with my wife and son. It was pretty crowded, but since we only had the two of us and a baby, it only took like 5 minutes for us to be seated. My wife ordered machaca (which is good at Mexi-Casa, btw) and I ordered a combo plate with a chile relleno and a chicken enchilada. There were new menus at Mexi-Casa, I think because they had just raised their prices, which are still VERY low (I think a Coke used to be 65 cents and now it's like 85 cents). The chile relleno had a light colored gravy-like sauce which looked like it had green chiles in it. It was so tasty when I took a bite that I kept eating from it until it was gone, before starting on anything else like beans, rice or the enchilada. I even forgot to take a picture until it was mostly gone. The salsa here tastes a little bit like V-8 juice to me -- it's not chunky. If it's too hot for you (it is for my wife) you can ask for the mild version. If you haven't been to the Mexi-Casa, come try it. I'd give it 3.5 Speedys, and I feel like adding half a Speedy for the reasonable prices, which enable you to get an appetizer and drinks and not cringe when the waitress brings the check.

More Mexi-Casa entries:

• Mexi-Casa Review #2