David K.
Yelp
I'd be hard pressed to come up with anything negative to say about this small, authentic-seeming Mexican restaurant. Excellent all around, from the food, to the ambience, to the service. Let's start with the service: everybody is super polite and friendly, and have no trouble with English even though they, and 90% of the diners are native Spanish speakers. Invariably the door was held for me as I entered, left, and went to the car a couple of times. That and the clean black uniforms are not what I'd expect in a local "hole in the wall" restaurant. Order was taken and food was served in a reasonable length of time, I was checked on occasionally, and no problem getting and paying the bill. The place was clean and pretty, brightly colored tablecloths, the walls decorated with colorful sombreros and scarfs.
I ordered the chile relleno plate and two tacos. I knew it was too much but wanted some to take "home"; actually to my campsite in Homestead. The chile relleno was among the best ever: a huge chili, coated with a batter that actually clung to it, and stuffed with, not the usual gooey melty cheese but something different and very substantial; rubbery like mozzarella but not. A meal in itself and usually these can be underwhelming. Served with chips, salsa, a very good hot sauce, red, salty and astringent, refried beans, and rice. And inexplicably 4 more tortillas!
Salsa: thick, tomato-heavy, smooth, not tangly like most. Different but I liked.
Chips: Far above average, a bit oily from being freshly re-fried. Salty.
Beans: perfect blend of smooth and chunks, red, good flavor. Watch out for the bay leaf, if that's what it was.
Rice: That perfect "cracked" texture that I've come to expect in Mexican food, lightly tomato sauced.
And a margarita: In the correct glass, with ice, and perfectly rimmed with coarse salt. Not super strong but not too weak either. Probably not fresh limes but I'm not complaining. My second drink was a bottled sangria that I spotted in the beer cooler. It turned out to be non-alcoholic but I didn't mind. Very fruity, not too sweet, and refreshing.
Meal next day was leftovers: the two tacos, a third I made from the rest of the beans and some lettuce from my cooler, and the plentiful rice still remaining. The tacos were a la carte and basic: just a filling with cilantro and onions inside a soft corn tortilla. One was barbacoa and the other chicharrones, both generous amounts. I liked the barbacoa a lot, heavily spiced and it reminded me of shredded brisket. The chicharrones, not so much. Interesting, but I think they need to be crispy to be enjoyed. These were not but in fairness that was mentioned in the description. Two good size meals and still some rice and tortillas left over, plus 2 drinks for a very reasonable price in the mid $40s with tip.