Ay Jalisco: La Comida Era Mala

For my readers that don't speak Spanish (I don't either), la comida era mala means the food was bad. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my family visited one of the Ay Jalisco Mexican restaurants in our town. I had actually been asking to go here for years but my mother refused claiming it was run by a Chinese family that knew nothing about Mexican food. I have no earthly idea where she got that from but suffice to say, she changed her mind when she heard a neighbor rave about the food. The restaurant was designed to look like a mariachi band gone wild. Lots of flare and color all over. I liked it. We were seated in a cozy booth toward the back of the restaurant near the kitchen. Our server immediately came over and greeted us and gave us menus and the obligatory chips and salsa. The chips were great. Crispy and just enough salt. The salsa was spicy but could have been chunkier and less soupy. We all ordered something different. Mom tried the chicken fajitas. Karin had the veggie burrito and I ordered the skirt steak tacos. My tacos were served on a plate with refried beans, guacamole, and rice. The steak was really fatty and not at all what I expected. The corn tortillas broke apart so I couldn't really eat them as tacos. The rice was really cold and the guacamole was so so. Karin said her burrito was OK. Passable but nothing she would jump up and down for at all. Mom's chicken fajitas looked great but they were drenched in oil and were lukewarm.

I really had high hopes since there are several locations and they always seem crowded. Perhaps the one at Miracle Mile just isn't a good one? I guess I will just have to cook Mexican food in Vero for now :) Luckily, I have Penzey spices to help me!

Bottom line: Skip Ay Jalisco at Miracle Mile. If anyone tries another location and likes it, please let me know. For now, I will stick to cooking Mexican food myself when I visit!