Cancun Mexican Restaurant
6714 East 82nd Street
Indianapolis, Indiana  46250
http://cancun-indy.com/

It seems like I’m always on a quest to find a decent Mexican restaurant right near my house.  There are some up in Fishers and there are some farther south toward Broad Ripple, but I seemingly live in the dead zone of “authentic” Mexican restaurants.  Sure, there are plenty of the strip mall variety places that all have the same menu, but none of them are particularly understanding.  Continuing my quest recently, I decided to stop in at Cancun on a Sunday afternoon to check it out.  There was a Colts game that day, so I understand the lack of customers, but I was the ONLY person in the restaurant for my entire meal and I was there after 12:00 p.m.  Odd.

As with any Mexican restaurant, your meal starts with chips and salsa and it’s sometimes a good gauge of how your meal is going to turn out.  After eating these, I was not encouraged.  Sure the salsa had a little zing to it, but it didn’t taste fresh at all.  Honestly, this tasted straight out of a jar or at least like something that was made well in advance.  The chips tasted straight out of the bag too.  So, after the disappointing start, it was time for my meal.

What I Got:  Sonora Shredded Beef Burrito; $8.65.  Burrito consisting of shredded beef, cheese, refried beans and rice topped with cheese and salsa rachera.  Served with a side of refried beans (I had them substitute Spanish rice).

The menu said this was a giant burrito and it certainly was that.  Outside of its size, that’s about all it had going for it.  The shredded beef was slightly overcooked and chewy, the salsa ranchera was flavorless, the rice was obviously made well in advance and everything else was pretty much standard stuff that would would expect to see in a burrito.  To top it all off, it was served to me only lukewarm as well, so I had to eat fast before it turned ice cold.  Granted, I should have had them re-heat it for me, but I know that would have just consisted of them throwing it in a microwave and I wasn’t interested in that.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely not.  Despite Cancun being a free-standing building on its own, this place is nothing more than standard strip mall Mexican food and as I said, I am not looking for that.  I want authenticity and more importantly, flavor. I guess I should just learn my lesson and drive up to Fishers and go to Riviera Maya or Mexico City Grill to fulfill my cravings.

-IndianapolisEater

Pancho’s Taqueria
7023 Michigan Rd
Indianapolis, IN 46268
http://www.panchosmexicantaqueria.com

If I had a list of my favorite foods that I like to eat, burritos would be firmly planted towards the top.  Even a bad burrito can be palatable.  When I talk about Mexican food in Indy, I always get recommendation to go to Pancho’s Taqueria.  Indianapolis Eater already gave the Allisonville location a try and gave it a WIBIA-Yes rating.  I tried it about three years ago and it didn’t leave any lasting memories, so I thought that I would take another swing at it.

What I Ate: Lunch Special #12 – Burrito with sour cream and lettuce.  Drink was included; $7.90 with tax.

Now, this was a little misleading.  A sign on the front said they had specials from $4.99, but I didn’t see any lunch specials for that amount.  Also, the sign said that all lunch specials were served with refried beans and rice.

As you can see, no beans and rice.  When I opened my burrito, there were beans and rice inside, so I would assume that is what the sign meant?  Kind of confusing.  Pancho’s has a salsa bar with seemingly freshly made pico and four different types of salsa.  I tried the pico and the “salsa for chips.”  Looking at my plate, I thought…what am I going to do with iceberg lettuce topped with sour cream and a nasty looking tomato?  I opened the burrito and dumped it all in and with a full scoops of the above mentioned salsa.  The burrito shell was slightly grilled and made it difficult to reassemble with the increased amount of ingredients.

Pancho’s gives you the ability to choose from about seven different meats.  Normal fare includes chicken, steak, ground beef, chorizo, carnitas, tripe, etc.  The carne asada (steak) was cooked well and cut into very small pieces.  I picked a few pieces out to taste them outside of the burrito and I found it to be a little bland.  However, the meat was gristle free and had very little fat.  The beans and rice were filler.  If you have had ‘em once, I guess.  The pico brightened it up a little and the salsa made the burrito a little too runny.

Would I Buy It Again?  No. This was a boring burrito.  $7.90 for a burrito and a drink is about as much as Chipotle and I am not sure if I would pick Pancho’s over Chipotle.  For burritos or tacos, I prefer neighboring El Pastorcito or even El Taco Torro.  It wasn’t a bad burrito and you should give it a try to see if you are with the masses.  I found Pancho’s to be a step above the El Rodeo’s of the world, but a step below the burrito elite in Indy.

-Wibia

Qdoba
http://www.qdoba.com

I love gumbo and any other soul food that has some kick to it.  When I saw Qdoba had its own Mexican Gumbo, I decided to pass on my regular burrito and give it a shot.  Most fast food places take anything that traditionally has spice to it and makes it bland and boring for the masses.  I came into my Qdoba with low expectations of their gumbo but was curious to see how different Mexican Gumbo is from my southern favorite.

What I Ate:  Mexican Gumbo, 31 ounce bowl; $6.29

Looking at the menu after placing my order, I realized the “gumbo” was nothing more than their own tortilla soup with sour cream, cheese, and salsa topped with tortilla strips.  Soggy tortilla strips are a turnoff of mine and I generally find that sour cream overpowers the taste so I passed on both adding a half scoop of salsa verde and corn salsa to my gumbo.  Chicken, steak and pork are all available and I went with the pork option.  Overall, the aroma had me ready to go and the bowl was visually appealing when I got home and was ready to eat.

I was proud to have passed on my normal 1200 calorie burrito only to find out later that the bowl of gumbo was 1100 calories.  So much for the low carb healthy approach.  As I ate, I found there to be a variety of flavors in the gumbo and what looked like some kinds of peppers that were so soft like the pork that it almost melted in your mouth.  As I ate, the heat began to build and I found the gumbo to have just the right amount of kick to keep things interesting and meet my need for heat.  As I ate, I never had a spoonful that had a chunk of one ingredient that overpowered the rest of the ingredients finding even distribution throughout the serving.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes. I look forward to getting a burrito at Qdoba and have been reluctant to try anything besides a burrito when I visit.  Being someone who enjoys good southern fare and it being Qdoba, I had low expectations of whether their Mexican Gumbo but thought it would be a lower calorie option.  Although the bowl of gumbo has nearly as many calories as a burrito, I enjoyed the variety of flavors, how tender the pulled pork was and that it actually had some spice to it, which you rarely find at fast food restaurants.  On a cold Midwest day, I would be plenty satisfied with another bowl of Qdoba’s Mexican Gumbo and find it to be a good substitute for Yats Gumbo or the best gumbo in Indianapolis at Black Diamond.

-EatHSE

Taqueria Guanajuato
5210 West Pike Plaza Road
Indianapolis, IN 46254

I always forget that Taqueria Guanjuato has three Indy locations, as I frequently visit the one at 31^st and Shadeland any time that I am on the east side of the city.  It is so freaking good and I am not sure where to start.

I was excited when I had the opportunity to try a different location and wondered if it could keep the same quality.  This grocery store is huge and a lot nicer than the one on Shadeland.  Plus, they have an expanded menu and table service.  This location’s menu has rabbit and quail and a lot of seafood.   The one on Shadeland is just tacos, burritos and tortas.  Pike Plaza has alcohol too.  I decided to play it safe and stick with my normal order.

What I Got: Carne Asada Burrito;  $4.50 (don’t quote me on that, but it is under $5).

When you order the burrito, order it with everything.  Refried beans, avocado, lettuce, sour cream, tomato and cheese.   I can’t imagine it is any less than 1,300 calories.  Quite simply, this is my favorite cheap grab and go burrito that I have ever had.   It is pure fat and meat, but oh so tasty.  I usually grab one of the bottles of red salsa and paint a strip on my burrito, eat that layer and then repeat.  One burrito is probably more than enough for most people, but I usually add a sidecar of a chorizo taco (or two).  Those are the bomb as well.

Recently, I went there three times in one week and I had the Carne Asada, Al Pastor and Carnitas (available on the weekends only) and all meats were top shelf.  However, I once had a chicken burrito and it was horrible, so I can’t vouch for chicken here.

Would I Buy it Again??  HELL YEAH!!! I can guarantee you that I have been to 90% of Taquerias in Indianapolis and this is my favorite – and by quite a bit.   Their tacos, tortas and burritos are all lights out.

Recently, my cousin from Arizona came to Indy for Christmas and I mentioned going to the taqueria.  She curled her lip and said “Mexican in Indy?”  I reassured her that I have had burritos from coast to coast and one of my favorite burritos is here in Indy.   We went and she loved it.

Ok, stop reading my blog, go for lunch and report back. 

-wibia

Taco Bell Quad-Steak Burrito
http://www.tacobell.com/menuitem/Quad-Steak-Burrito

It has long been my thinking that Taco Bell should focus on what it does well and that is providing cheap and fast tacos and burritos.  At about $1.70 less than the Poblano Pesto Burrito I get from Qdoba, I had expectations that this would be a signature product for Taco Bell that would be comparable to other chain burritos but probably not as good at Qdoba or Chipotle.  In this review I will compare the Quad-Steak Burrito to Qdoba’s Steak Poblano Pesto Burrito, a fast food favorite of mine.

What I Ate: Taco Bell Quad-Steak Burrito $4.99

The Quad-Steak comes in at 13.4 oz in comparison to the 23 oz burrito from Qdoba making it more expensive per ounce.  The ingredients are simple including four servings of steak, sour cream, rice, salsa, and cheese.  Comparing nutrition to the Qdoba burrito has the Quad-Steak at 690 calories, 26 g of fat and 2140 mg of sodium to the Qdoba burrito at 1235 calories, 50g fat, and 3035 mg of sodium giving the lower quality Taco Bell Quad Steak slightly more fat and salt per ounce.  Neither will be on the list of anyone watching what they eat.

The appearance of the burrito completely turned me off.  Unlike the Qdoba burrito where you can clearly see the ingredients you have ordered, the Taco Bell Quad-Steak Burrito’s contents looked similar to all of the drop droppings in my backyard after a long winter full of snow.  Unfortunately, the taste did not save this burrito.  The steak tasted rubbery like it was a week old and was drowning in so much sour cream that you could not taste the rice or small amount of salsa included.  I tried adding some hot sauce to balance the source cream but it did not help this burrito disaster.

Would I Buy It Again?  Never! There are many menu items at Taco Bell that are half the price and are at least five times better than the Quad-Steak Burrito.  I enjoy Taco Bell but my guess is that this burrito will disappear from the Taco Bell menu and the sooner, the better.

-EatHSE

Mexico City Grill
11653 Fishers Station Dr.
Fishers, IN 46038
http://www.mexicocitygrill.com (same menu as Fishers location)

Mexico City Grill recently opened its newest location in the recently renovated Fishers Station Plaza at 116^th St. and Allisonville Road.  Fishers has several other Mexican restaurants within a mile of this location makingthe long term success of Mexico City Grill dependent on setting higher standard than its competition.  Since I work nearby, I inquired about whether they plan to offer delivery at lunch and it is not currently part of their plan.

This location was previously a Mexican restaurant and the layout inside has change little from the previous owners. The décor is bright and busy in an attempt to create a festive environment but over the top for my taste.  Having just opened, it was not very busy and the large staff provided quick service to the point I was asked if everything was okay about every five minutes.  It will be interesting to see how the staff handles a full dining room and if the service remains top notch.

What I Got:

Chips/Salsa(free) and Guacamole ($4.99).  You can usually tell a lot about a place by these three staples. The golden colored chips were freshly made and were some of the best I have had anywhere.  The salsa was very runny to the point you could see water separating from the rest of the salsa making it a huge disappointment.  The guacamole can be ordered for $4.99 or you can have it freshly made table side for $8.00.  For $5.00, I was disappointed in the serving size, but the guacamole was the right mix of avocado chunks to its creaminess and is some of the best I have had anywhere.

Burrito del Campo ($9.50).  A fresh flour tortilla wrapped around a combination of steak, chicken, shrimp, cheese sauce and rice.  Topped with your choice of a green sauce or cheese sauce and fresh diced tomatoes.  The steak and chicken were marinated and tender and the burrito included six large shrimp that were just a bit overcooked.  I chose the green sauce and the combination of everything worked well together.  The beans on the plate were standard fare but the rice was very dry and overdone.  Overall, I enjoyed this burrito enough that I would order it again.

Enchiladas Con Crema ($8.99).  With this choice, you get two enchiladas and my wife got one with chicken and the other with ground beef.  They came topped with sour cream sauce and cheese, and were served with refried beans, rice, lettuce, avocado slices and sour cream.  The sauce was make or break, and in this case, my wife was disappointed.  Although I liked the seasoning combination in the sauce better than her, it did not work at all on the enchilada with ground beef but came off better with the chicken.  Between the sour cream sauce and all of the other sour cream, it was a gloppy mess and both my wife and I would pass on this menu item in the future.

Kids Chicken Chimichanga ($4.99). The server forgot to put this in with the original order but had it out to use within a couple of minutes of us receiving our meal.  The kid’s meal was large enough to feed both my three and four year old and came with a chimichanga that my wife liked more than her meal, beans and rice.  The seasoning was simple for kids but overall good value.  The kids menu had many other good options making Mexico City Grill a good family destination.

Would I Buy It Again?  Yes. The service was excellent and the food was above average.  Whenever I visit a restaurant in its first couple of days after being opened, I am always interested in seeing if the quality of  food and service changes as they get busier or slower depending on first impressions.  Overall, if I am choosing between Mexico City Grill based on my first impression and the nearby Riviera Maya in the downtown area of Fishers on 116^th Street that I reviewed in May of 2010, Riviera Maya has a better environment inside, a full bar, equally good service, a better range of menu items and higher quality food with better flavor that make it the better choice of two Mexican Restaurants with similar menus and prices.

-EatHSE

Taco Bell
http://www.tacobell.com

Taco Bell has yet again trotted out a new menu item and while I was watching football this past weekend, I saw about a billion commercials for this one and since I am a slave to television marketing (LOL), I figured I’d try it out.

What I Got:  Beefy Crunch Burrito; 99 cents.

As with all Taco Bell reviews, let’s go over what’s in the burrito according to the Taco Bell website:

“Layers of seasoned ground beef, rice, warm nacho cheese sauce, reduced fat sour cream and Flamin’ Hot (R) Fritos(R) wrapped in a warm, flour tortilla.”

I can confirm that all those ingredients were in there, although since I am not a fan of sour cream, I had them remove it from my burrito.

In terms of taste, this was the basic Taco Bell tastes that you’ve come to expect with the added texture of crunchy Fritos worked in.  The ground beef, rice and nacho cheese sauce were all as you’d expect them.  But, when mixed with the Fritos, there was a nice additional crunch added to the burrito and I liked that.  The Fritos weren’t “Flamin’ Hot” in my mind and didn’t add any additional heat to the burrito, but I didn’t mind that because as I said, I liked the crunch added to what is usual just a mushy menu item.

Would I Buy It Again?  For 99 cents, I would definitely buy it again.  If they raised it much above $1.29 or something like that, I would never order it.  Although, you have to take that with a grain of salt since I am an unabashed fan of the Why Pay More? value menu at Taco Bell.  Regardless, give this burrito a shot if you are either A) a slave to television marketing or B) willing to try something different.  You won’t be blown away by the taste, but I also don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

-IndianapolisEater

Taco Bell
http://www.tacobell.com

As usual, Taco Bell has yet again re-worked its menu to re-introduce a menu item that first debuted in 2007, the Grilled Stuft Chicken Enchilada burrito.  Since I didn’t remember this from 2007, I figured this was a “new” item and ventured to my local Taco Bell recently to try it out.

What I Got:  Grilled Stuft Chicken Enchilada Burrito ~$3.00.

As always with Taco Bell, they start out with their usual mix of on-hand ingredients to prepare your food.  In the case of this burrito, those ingredients were:

“Marinated all-white-meat chicken, slow-simmered enchilada sauce, a melty blend of three cheeses–cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella–enchilada rice and reduced fat sour cream all wrapped in a flour tortilla and grilled to go.”

Well, as always, I can confirm that those were in there.  The second thing that I can confirm is that this thing definitely was “Stuft” because when I took it out of the bag, it felt like I was lifting a brick.  This is definitely a burrito that’s got some girth to it and they don’t skimp on the ingredients.  If you are a light-to-normal eater, you really could make this and maybe one other smaller item into a full meal.  Since I’m not a light eater, well, let’s just say that wasn’t the case.

Anyway, as far as taste is concerned, it was just alright.  The chicken was cooked tenderly and the rest of the components mixed well together and tasted as you would expect them to since it is just a re-mix of their usual ingredients, but all things considered, this burrito really lacked any sort of pizzaz that I would expect from a menu item at Taco Bell that costs in the neighborhood of $3.00.

Would I Buy It Again?  No, I would not.  For $3.00 or more at Taco Bell (the king of cheap food), I would expect a menu item more memorable like the chicken or steak quesadilla.  This burrito definitely could not hold any sort of candle to the quesadilla or the many other menu items in that price range. 

So, all in all, this will probably stay out for a limited time once again and go back into mothballs for another three years until they can dupe some poor unsuspecting rube like me into thinking it is a new menu item. 

-IndianapolisEater

Chile Verde
7369 N Shadeland Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46250

It seems that this city is filled with strip mall Mexican restaurants and Chile Verde is another one of those located on the Northeast side at roughly 75th & Shadeland Avenue.

As with most Mexican restaurants, they start you with unlimited chips and salsa and ordinarily I wouldn’t comment on this, but in this case, I have to because this was good salsa.  The salsa was little runny for my tastes, but outside of that the taste was spot on.  I prefer my salsas to be overpowering and this one had an overpowering taste of onion and cilantro.  If you like mild salsas, you aren’t going to like this one because this one might make your nose run.  Anyway, on with the actual meal…

What I Got:  Pick Four Combo (Chicken Taco, Beef Burrito, Chicken Chalupa, Bean Enchilada) $9.99.

First things first, this was A LOT of food, as you can see.  In the lower plate are the taco and the chalupa.  The upper plate includes the burrito, enchilada, rice and refried beans (rice and refried beans are served with all combo meals).  As with most of these strip center Mexican places, my food was served in about fourteen seconds.  I don’t know how they do it, but that always makes me laugh.

Taste-wise, the chicken taco and chicken chalupa were outstanding and that is because the chicken was outstanding.  The chicken was freshly cooked, large and tender.  In my experience, that doesn’t happen a lot and when it does, it is truly appreciated.  I also appreciated that they used traditional queso fresco on all the dishes as opposed to the cheddar cheese that you see on most “Americanized” Mexican dishes.

The burrito and enchilada on the other hand were just boring.  They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t anything to write home about.  The beef was greasy, mushy and seemed like it had just been sitting in a warmer box for hours even though the restaurant had just opened for lunch.  Not an encouraging sign.  The beans in my enchilada seemed like they were poured straight out of a can and really were no different than the bean mix that you would get in a bean burrito at Taco Bell.  If I’m paying “premium” prices, I’d like my beans to be a little better than that which I could get at Taco Bell.

The rice and beans were just rice and beans.  Again, the beans were the same thing used in the burrito, so they weren’t all that wonderful.  The rice, while tasty, seemed like it had also been sitting in the warmer box for a while as well and that was disappointing.

Would I Buy It Again?  Perhaps I’m a glutton for punishment, but yes, I would buy this again.  In the future, I wouldn’t mess around with the beans or the beef though and I would go straight for the chicken.  I’ve certainly had better Mexican food than this and I’ve definitely had worse, but for $9.99 (I also had a $1.00 off coupon from coupons4indy.com), you are getting a very filling meal that really isn’t going to cost you all that much and has a halfway decent taste.

-IndianapolisEater

Bajio Mexican Grill
http://www.bajiomexicangrill.com

Bajio was last to the market here in Indy with Chipotle and Qdoba already having a firm market share on chain casual Mexican food.  I had lunch at this Bajio probably about two years ago and this is my first time back.  The format is an order at the counter and they will make it for you right there, so there is no server involved.  Before talking about the food, I have to say that I enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant more than its competitors.

What I Ate:  Bajio Bowl; $7.00ish with Grilled Mesquite Lime Chicken.

What I like here is that you can get anything without additional charges, so a scoop of guac does not cost extra.  Their produce looked fresh and the place was really clean.  However, all of the meat selections didn’t look that appetizing.  There is a shredded glazed chicken, a sweet pork and a smoked beef.  I really despise sugary meats, so that took care of two of my choices.  They really need to get the meat of out of the weird sauces.

On my burrito bowl, I added rice, pico, cheese, sour cream, black beans and lettuce.  There was nothing here that wowed me or that I loved.  The saIsa is supposed to me scratch made, but I have had better out of a jar.  The chicken was the worst part as it was pretty dry and just tasted warmed over like they made it a few days ago or it is bagged and they brought it in.  They have grills right behind the counter, so maybe they cook it there, but it just doesn’t taste like it.

Would I Buy It Again? I had a buy one get one and for under $10, my wife and I had decent dinner, so with a coupon, a hesitant yes.  Full price, no. However, I would rather go to Chipotle or Qdoba if I was paying full price because I like their meats and salsas better (I know that some of them are brought in as well).

Bajio has the most extensive menu of a fast casual Mexican place, with fish tacos, shrimp, enchlidas, etc.  I really want to like this place, but I can’t find a reason to go back…unless I have a coupon and I feel cheap.  This is the prime example where good, is just not good enough.

Does anyone love it there and if so, what do you order?

-wibia