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Posts Tagged ‘Mexican’

I rarely go out for Mexican food; exception would be if I’m deep in an area of a big city with a heavy Mexican population. Traveling the world, you get spoiled on “authentic” cuisine and disappointed about the Americanized version of same. At least I do.  Same after I lived in China.  Never been in a P.F. Changs, Chipotle, or Panda Express.

All that being said, I am a gracious sorta fella. so I will go out with a friend who is dead set on a certain location. In this instance, a tiny little restaurant on an out of the way street in Algonquin, IL, a NW suburb of Chicago. The Buena Vista (good view, I imagine because it faces the local river), has a rather lenghty menu (below) for a smallish place and nightly food or drink specials, some that are quite enticing (they advertise them in their store window. Or I suppose you could call).

So we went, ate very inexpensively, enjoyed it immensely. One of my personal criteria for Americanized Mexican restaurants is the refried beans. Cooked from scratch or from a can? These definitely pass the test. I could make a meal out of beans alone.

I had a two soft taco plate, with beef. The usual other taco and burriot innars are available, as are the more traditional ones you rarely see in the Americanized places (like tongue).

It’s good. And I appreciate how hard of work it is to own/run a small independent restaurant. So if you’re in the mood, check them out.  In the summer, get it to go and sit at the riverside benches across the street and ogle the beautiful people floating by.

Soft taco plate

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Buena Vista Restaurant Review
Buena Vista Restaurant Review

El Palomar de Los Gonzalez Restaurant features the best American and Mexican cuisine with outstanding picturesque views of the city and ocean. Open for dinner nightly at 6PM.

The full menu features a lengthy selection of local fresh fish, beef, salads and soups.

They love to prepare your requests tableside, when ordered, like Caesar Salad, and Bananas Foster.  A half dozen creative shrimp and lobster dishes delight diners.

El Palomar de Los Gonzalez

In order to have an appreciation for the “TexMex” cuisine that Casa Rio serves, one must first have a clear understanding of the difference between “Mexican” food and “TexMex.”  The latter is simply Americanized Mexican cuisine that was popularized in Texas during early settler days, and took advantage of local ingredients not commonly available in kitchens in Mexico. Shredded or ground beef, cheddar cheese, and flour tortillas are all American additions to Mexican meals, and what most Americans think of “real” Mexican food today – nachos, fajitas, burritos, chili con carne, and anything with sour cream, are all TexMex creations or popularized.

Casa Rio, “in the heart of Anoka’s entertainment district,” (Anoka is a far northern suburb of Minneapolis at the confluence of the Rum and Mississippi Rivers) is a TexMex restaurant (menu), specializing is house-prepared dishes with fresh ingredients, all at value pricing.

Minnesota bureau chief Kawika and company stopped in for dinner the other night, and were extremely pleased with every plate. The starters, chips, salsa, (first one’s free) and guacamole, and are all made fresh, in-house daily.  The warm, casual interior was also a plus.  He definitely recommends!

“Naked Burrito”

Taco Enchilada Plate

Chips and Salsa

Casa Rio Review

Back in Chicagoland for the last time this year, had a craving for Mexican food since Mrs. Burgerdogboy has been on a cooking strike lately and she makes some fine Mexican platos.

I was out in the NW burbs, some areas of which are increasingly populated with people of various Latin heritages, and mercados and taquerias are popping up like pop-ups.

Not wanting to cause confusion among any potential customers, one entrepreneur labeled his restaurant as plain as plain could be: “Algonquin Mexican Restaurant.” (AMR)

With tables that will accommodate thirty and a counter with room for eight more, the AMR serves breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday with hours from 10A – 8 PM. They were doing a brisk take-out business, but I was in the mood to be waited on, so I took a seat a booth looking out at the Algonquin intersection at the corners of “Road Construction” and “Needs Road Construction.” The gajillion dollar downtown bypass appears that it will take another generation of work before it is actually finished, and from where I sit, will do little do alleviate the REAL area traffic problems, which are East – West, while the bypass is north-south. DOH!

The menu is straight forward and straight Mexican. Order ala carte or a plate which includes beans and rice.  (Me and the Mrs were forever spoiled by the refried beans in Aberdeen, WA one day).   Turns out tho that these were pretty tasty.  I wish I had ordered an additional side of them. (The ones in Aberdeen were so tasty we ate two orders at the table and got an order to go).

Polished off the complimentary chips and pico, and then  I ordered three tacos, chorizo, shredded beef, and ground beef.  Chicken, steak, pork, and pork skin were other options.  No tongue here.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tacos, even tho I had them with the gringo flour tortilla.  They come loaded with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. A second “filling” option is straight chopped onion and cilantro.  Should have tried that.

In order of favorites – chorizo one, then shredded beef, and lastly ground beef.  The accompanying rice was nothing to write home (or here about) so i won’t.  I rarely eat rice as a side anymore. Can’t say why and sure you don’t care.

Circumstances were such that I spent a fair amount of time in Mexico this year, and of course few places North of the border can match local street food in Juarez or TJ,  just like after living in China I was spoiled to consuming  that type of food in the US.

But in any case, if you happen to be driving around the NW burbs, or live in Algonquin, Dundee, Lake in the Hills or Crystal Lake, the Algonquin Mexican Restaurant is worth a stop with freshly prepared food at great prices.   I’ve posted there menu over in our menu section, check it out.

Pico

3 Taco Plate

Storefront

 

Algonquin Mexican Restaurant Review