Casa Mexicana March 18, 2012

This is was my first time at Casa Mexicana.  In fact, I have never really given the place a second look. I had never considered eating at this establishment before, because I always just assumed it was another average Mexican restaurant.  Don’t be fooled, it really is just another average Mexican restaurant.

 

What drew me to Casa Mexicana was the convenience factor.  The Cordova location is situated very close to Wolfchase Honda, where I take my car to get serviced.  My usual routine is to drop off my car, walk to the Wolfchase area to run errands while they are working on her, and then walk back to pick her up when ready.  This was my plan on this particular day.  Only, I had not eaten before I dropped my car off.  There are not many favorable dining restaurants in this area.  They all tend be mediocre chain establishments.  The only options otherwise are Casa Mexicana and Eat Well Sushi.  Eat Well is yummy, but I wasn’t in the mood.

 

Casa Mexicana was pretty empty when I walked in, but it was during the week.  I took a seat, and they presented me with my chips and salsa, like you get at pretty much every a-typical Mexican dining establishment.

 

 

The chips were really thin and greasy.  The salsa was pretty average, with a little bit of kick and not a lot of spice.  I munched on them, mainly because once I start eating tortilla chips, auto-pilot kicks in and I keep munching.

 

I ordered a margarita while I waited too.  I read on FourSquare that they have super strong margaritas.  These people did not lie.

 

 

Warning! I could taste some of the neon green, lime-y goodness in the glass.  However, I mainly tasted tequila.  To put this in perspective, all of the ice in my Margarita on the Rocks was melted in less than five minutes.  I had to ask my server for a glass of ice.  I used every single ice cube in a tall drinking glass to keep this thing cool while I drank it. It was strong. It was also awesome.  It was not too overwhelming for me, but I definitely did not order a second one either.

 

My food finally came, thankfully before I was able to finish the chips and salsa.  I ordered an enchilada, beans, and chile relleno combo, but I got a tostada instead.  This actually worked out perfectly, because I would rather have the tostada anyway.

 

 

There is not much to say about the food, other than it was pretty average. Nothing had an incredible amount of flavor or impressed me, but nothing was bad either.  It tasted a lot like going to any other average Mexcian restaurant in Memphis.

 

Overall, I will probably be back to Casa Mexicana eventually sometime in the future.  Not because it blew my socks off, but mainly because I will be hungry at some point when my car is being worked on.  If you are stuck in the same situation as me and need some place in walk distance, Casa Mexicana is not a bad choice.  Otherwise, skip it and go somewhere else.

 

Casa Mexicana does not have a website or social media presence, but you can find more reviews on Yelp and Urbanspoon.  You can also find photos of their menu there as well.  They have an extensive menu, with every possible Mexican option you could ever want.

 

 

Las Delicias January 22, 2012

Las Delicias is a family owned and run mexican restaurant in East Memphis.  It’s great food, relaxed atmosphere, smiling faces are trying very hard to win that spot of “Favorite Mexican Restaurant” in my heart.

 

I have been to Las Delicias a handful of times, and I have never had a bad experience.  It has become my go-to mexican joint in town.  First, they have the absolute best guacamole in the city.  It is made fresh to order for everyone.  Unlike most places where it is a solid green goop, their guacamole is chunks of fresh avocado, tomato, onion, and cilantro.  They serve it with their chips, which are hands down the best tortilla chips in the city.  Thick, crispy, buttery, flaky, and always hot, they can never disappoint.  If this does not convince you, many local groceries and stores, like Miss Cordelias, have started selling their chips and guac.  That means something, right?

 

They also have killer margaritas.  I do not know what they put in their standard margarita to make it better than most, but they do something for sure.  I could suck down 8 of these, if you let me (please don’t).  If you are not incredibly hungry, I highly suggest stopping by here at least for a margarita and some guacamole as a snack.

 

This time, Scott and I stopped in for a full-on dinner.  We got chips and salsa to start, as is typical with every mexican restaurant.  The chips were “delicias”, as always.  The salsa is sweet with a hint of kick.

 

 

Then we, of course, ordered guacamole.  Scott got a margarita, which he let me sip on a little.

 

 

 

For his dinner, Scott ordered the Fajitas Alambre, which is “Grilled steak, green pepper, onion, bacon and cheese with 7 small corn tortillas”.  They were full of flavor, and I love that the tortillas are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.  It makes them easier to load up, and overall, you get a better filling-to-tortilla ratio.

 

I ordered a pork tamale, chicken tamale, rice, and beans.  I knew I was not going to be able to eat it all, but I was anxious to have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Las Delicias has awesome tamales, and I order at least one every time I go.  They have a thick layer of masa, which is always very moist.  The beans are typical refried beans, but they have freshly grated cheese on top.  The rice is very fancy is display and very moist in texture.  It is also full of flavor.

 

 

 

 

Overall, Las Delicias is a guaranteed great meal.  I have never had anything I did not like.  The chips, guacamole, and margaritas are enough to make a consistent customer.  All of the extra yumminess is just a bonus.  Another bonus? The incredibly cheap prices.  You can dine on a budget with no sweat.  If you have never been there, you need to go. Right now.  Seriously, they do not close until 9pm, so you have plenty of time.

 

Las Delicias does not have any official website or social media pages.  However, you can find reviews at Yelp, Urbanspoon, and Trip Advisor.  You can find their menu on Marks Menus.  To prove me right even more, you can find more awesome write-ups from I Love Memphis, Dining With Monkeys, and The Memphis Flyer.

 

 

Rio Loco May 18, 2011

Rio Loco is not one of those talked about restaurants downtown. It’s pretty subtle and pretty humble. It’s not where you go for a lively night out. It’s where you go to grab a bite to eat before a downtown event. It’s where you go for good Mexican food.

Rio Loco is not perfect. It seems like every time I go, something goes wrong. The food takes forever. Our margaritas are the wrong flavor. Etc. However, their food is always consistently good. Their beer is consistently cold, and their margaritas are consistently strong.

This particular time I went, they did not seem prepared for Memphis in May. They were very understaffed. Our server worked his little tushy off, but it still took 20 minutes for our drinks to get to the table.

This time we went, we split a pitcher of Dos Equis Amber. We were grabbing a quick bite before Music Fest. Scott, Laura, and I split some white queso with chorizo and the shrimp and beef fajitas. The food hit the table fast, and it was sizzling. It was all really good. The cheese dip was thick, so you had a really good chip to queso ratio. There were lots of yummy veggies mixed with the fajitas.

Though I did not get it this time, I highly recommend the chicken flautas. They are amazing here.

My favorite thing about Rio Loco, though, is the salsa. It is perfect. It’s the right combination and sweet and spicy. You can taste the actual tomatoes, and it still leaves a kick in your mouth. I usually end up filling up on chips and salsa and have to take my food with me. It’s a good idea to split an entree and share the chips and dip.

Rio Loco is in a convenient spot downtown, on Union between Main and Second. If you park in Parking Can Be Fun or a nearby lot, it is directly en route when heading to the FedEx Forum or Beale Street. Stop in to have a margarita and a snack.

To learn more about Rio Loco, visit their website, Google Maps page, Urbanspoon, and Yelp.

Cafe Ole March 5, 2011

Cafe Ole is located in my favorite area of Memphis: the Cooper Young District. Right next door to Young Avenue Deli, right on the corner of Cooper and Young, is this Mexican-American infusion restaurant with some of the best margaritas in town.

I have had a couple bad experiences at Cafe Ole in the past, but I was willing to give it another shot. The service has always been great, but the food has always been sub-par. This experience has changed my mind though.

We walked in on a Tuesday night at 6pm, and the place was half empty. The hostess told me to sit wherever I felt and she would follow with menus. We sat down and were greeted within a couple of minutes by Hunter, who was cool. I asked if they had a beer list, and he said the beer fluctuates a lot so they don’t. They have the same draft beers, and a huge selection of bottled. I ordered a Dos XX, which came to me in a frosty cold mug.

We ordered some white cheese dip to start. The great thing about the cheese dip here is that you can either get white or yellow, and you have the choice of adding spinach or chorizo to either. I was recommended by someone on Four Square to get the white cheese dip with spinach, so that is what we got. It was delicious. Scott told me he was skeptical when I ordered it, but he thought it was “a nice touch” too.

For dinner, we split the bacon-wrapped shrimp and a plate of nachos. The nachos were pretty good, but nothing special. However, the bacon-wrapped shrimp were AMAZING. They are possibly one of the best appetizers I have ever had. I took one bite, sank back into my chair, and declared, “Oh my god these are soo good!”

They are jumbo shrimp, stuffed with cheese, wrapped in two pieces of bacon, and deep fried, served with a side of bbq sauce. Oh my god. Warning: You might have a heart attack after consuming, but man it would so be worth it.

Though I did not consume any margaritas on this round, I highly recommend them when you go in. They are delicous. Cafe Ole also has this wonderful thing called Margarita Monday, where margaritas are 2 for 1 ALL DAY.

Cafe Ole also has wonderful happy hour deals all week long. From 4-7 you can get different drink and appetizer specials, depending on the day. They also do brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. You can find these different deals on the calender on the website. Since we went on a Tuesday, my beer was discounted and all of our appetizers, minus the shrimp, were half off. With the discount, our tab ended up being $22.00, which was $10.00 off the original price.

Cafe Ole regulars enjoying drinks at the bar

Overall, I recommend skipping the fish tacos (not good) and nachos (average), and enjoying some bacon-wrapped shrimp and a few margaritas on the patio. This patio is what the place is known for, and it is consistently voted among the top patios in the city.

Below, Denise talks about her experiences bartending at Cafe Ole.

For more information on Cafe Ole, you can go to their website. You can also visit them on Google Maps, Yelp, and Urbanspoon, where all of the reviews seemed to be mixed.