Category Archives: Mexican

Los Reyes Mexican Grill

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Sampler
Tostada
Chicken fajitas
Exterior
Interior

***** (5 stars)

This is a homey little restaurant in a charming part of old Clermont. The small house has been lovingly decorated and features a colorful mural.

The menu offers all the standards and a few particularly authentic items such as molcajete. Prices are reasonable, and lunch specials are very inexpensive.

Your meal includes excellent chips and a very mild salsa. You can also request spicer versions. We tried the medium, which tasted like it had been pepped up with yellow habanero. If that’s their medium, I don’t think I could handle spicy!

We tried the appetizer sampler. The rolled chicken taquitos (which they may have been calling something else) were the highlight. The guacamole was also excellent. Quesadillas were straight forward. The only thing we didn’t care for was the jalapeno poppers, which had a very thick batter. (I just wish the appetizer had come out before the lunch, but maybe some people are in a hurry, and they were very busy.)

For lunch we had the tostada and chicken fajitas. The chicken in the fajitas was a particular standout, with a delicious marinade, and a nice sear.

In addition to beer they also have margaritas, and they are excellent. I’m not sure whether it was made with traditional ingredients, but it had a nice orange citrus hint to it, and wasn’t too sweet.

This is an excellent choice for a charming sit down Mexican meal in Clermont.

Los Reyes Mexican Grill
658 West Ave
Clermont, FL
34711
https://www.yelp.com/biz/los-reyes-mexican-grill-clermont

San Jose’s Original Mexican Restaurant

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Interior
Top shelf Margarita
Appetizer sampler
Chicken tortilla soup
Taco al carbon

**** (4 stars)

This location is much larger than the original one on West Colonial, and I think it is much better. The space is bright and airy, and divided into a number of rooms, with a nice bar along one side.

The menu is very extensive. A good way to get a variety is to try the appetizer sampler, which actually contains items I don’t regard as appetizers, such as chimchangas, tamales, and flautas.

I also tried the taco al pastor, which is authentic with the inclusion of pineapple bits, although I would have liked the meat to be richer and spicer.

The top shelf margarita here is one of the better ones in town. They don’t call out the specific spirits, but it definitely tilts toward the orange side of the flavor chart, which I found interesting. Fresh citrus kept it from being too sweet.

San Jose’s Original Mexican Restaurant
16112 Marsh Rd
Winter Garden, FL
34787
(407) 554-2118
https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-jose-s-original-mexican-restaurant-winter-garden

El Abuelito Family Mexican Restaurant

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Huge margaritas!
Chalupa, enchilada, Chile relleno
Exterior
Interior

**** (4 stars)

Competently executed Mexican food in a pleasant environment. Where else can you have enchiladas while watching skiers (although we were there in July). Well-stuffed chalupa, very tasty Chile relleno, so-so cheese enchiladas. HUGE margaritas!

Good service and nice ambiance.

El Abuelito Family Mexican Restaurant
385 W Broadway
Jackson, WY
83001
(307) 733-1207
https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-abuelito-family-mexican-restaurant-jackson

Julio’s Agave Grill

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Enchiladas Sauzas
Queso fundido
A photo at Julio’s Agave Grill
Interior
Patio

**** (4 stars)

A delightful outdoor patio is the highlight of this neighborhood Mexican restaurant. Chips and salsa are complimentary. Queso fundido was and interesting, complex recipe that included mushrooms. The cilantro rice is particularly as rly good. Margaritas are potent! Service was attentive and friendly.

Julio’s Agave Grill
2809 Agoura Rd
Westlake Village, CA
91361
(805) 370-0145
https://www.yelp.com/biz/julios-agave-grill-westlake-village

Chevys Fresh Mex

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Appetizer Fresh Mex Sampler
Bar and interior

*** (3 stars)

Back when there weren’t many Tex Mex restaurants in town, we used to go here all the time. (Actually, our history goes back far longer, because back in the 80s this was our Sun Bank!) But somehow it fell off our radar, and we hadn’t been in years. We were surprised to discover the extensive remodel, which involved moving the door and making the bar area much larger and better than it used to be.

Unfortunately, the food hasn’t improved along with the decor. We shared an appetizer sampler, and it was pretty ho-hum. To give you an idea of how far this place has strayed from Mexican or Tex-Mex, the best thing on the platter was Buffalo wings. And, oddly, every single item included chicken, so that’s not really much of a sampler, is it?

The highlight was the house margarita, which was an excellent blend of balanced ingredients. Service was friendly and professional.

Chevys Fresh Mex
12547 State Rd 535
Lake Buena Vista, FL
32836
(407) 827-1052
https://www.yelp.com/biz/chevys-fresh-mex-lake-buena-vista

China Poblano

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Tuna ceviche

Chilaquiles

Interior

*** (3.5 stars)

This interesting concept mixes Chinese and Mexican food, but not on the same plate. That is, it’s not fusion cuisine, just two cuisines in the same room.

We like the Mexican items we tried better than the Chinese. Tableside guacamole was very good, and although pricey it was a generous serving. The chilaquiles appetizer was also good and quite authentic.

Tuna tartare was just okay; it suffered from too many ingredients, and ended up a bit muddled. Dan Dan Mien tasted okay, but the noodles were unusually large and sticky.

My favorite item was the four cocktail sampler, which featured four different cocktails in reduced portions for the reasonable price of $32. All four were interesting, and several were quite good.

The room is fairly high energy, but we has a table in the back corner which had much more reasonable noise levels.

China Poblano
3708 Las Vegas Blvd SLevel 2Boulevard Tower
Las Vegas, NV
89109
(702) 698-7900
https://www.yelp.com/biz/china-poblano-las-vegas-2

Casa Jimenez

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Chips salsa and margarita

Beef nachos

Chicken empanada

**** (4 stars)

I’ve been hesitating to go here because the reviews have been so mixed, but I’m glad I did.

Service was excellent (of course it was early Sunday and I was alone) and so was the margarita, which was obviously made with fresh lime.

Because it was Sunday it was “happy hour” all day, and there are some deals. I had a chicken empanada, which had a nice flakey crust, and a huge plate of beef nachos. The nachos were made with an unusal combination of squirt cheese and unmelted cotija cheese, but they were good. And they were just $5. My whole bill was under $16. Definitely a great deal for a nice experience.

Casa Jimenez
15493 Stoneybrook W Pkwy
Ste 120
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 614-1438
https://www.yelp.com/biz/casa-jimenez-winter-garden

Pepe’s Cantina

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Interior

Exterior

Tacos Al pastor

Vegetable fajitas

**** (4 stars)

This I-Drive Tex-Mex restaurant is certainly an improvement on the counter-serve concept that was here before. Now there is full table service. While the menu seems to be a bit tourist priced, there are some excellent lunch deals.

The best deal of all is the house margarita, which is very well made, generous, and is about half price during the day. Plus, it comes with free queso which was quite tasty.

We enjoyed all the menu items we tried, and the service was pleasant.

Pepe’s Cantina
5415 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 317-6649
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pepe-s-cantina-orlando