Mexicali Grill

I think I've mentioned before that we've had a difficult time finding great Mexican food out here. A lot of people from back in Florida don't believe us, since you always hear about Hispanics in California. Well, our area is mostly Asian, with few Hispanics or Latinos, so we're inundated with Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai places, but the Mexican joints are few and far between. ...plus, the ones we've tried haven't been impressive.

So, we're trying to find someplace good. Kathy suggested we try Mexicali Grill, since she had been there before and considered it to be "okay." The three of us went for dinner on a weeknight, which meant prompt service as they were pretty empty.

Chips and salsa were brought out immediately, and we were asked if we'd like some guacamole as well. We said yes, figuring it would be a couple extra dollars, but a good Mexican place has to have guacamole so we needed to try it. It turned out to be pretty bland, and for a whopping $7.25, something none of us would ever order again.

I ordered the chicken chimichanga, which turned out to be about average. Nothing was strikingly memorable about it, and I forgot to ask for extra-rice-no-beans (see! told you it had been too long since we've had Mexican!), so we took the beans home and Jonathan ate them later that week. I should also point out that it was a tad pricey for the serving size... I almost never finish a chimichanga in one meal, and I finished this one without a problem.

Kathy went with a couple of vegetarian enchiladas and asked for a glass of hot water to drink (she was still a bit ill). The food was okay, but she didn't eat it quickly nor bring home the bit of leftover. The water was also extremely hot, so she wasn't able to drink it for quite some time after it arrived (which took considerably longer than necessary as well).

Jonathan went with the Chili Verde, which was sauteed pork in a special sauce. He asked for double-beans-no-rice, and enjoyed the meal, but wouldn't get it again. He had quite a bit leftover, so it served as a nice dinner a couple of nights later as well.

Overall, the place was pretty cool and we agreed that we'd have to try it for Happy Hour sometime, but I don't know that we'd be back for dinner.