First Impressions

While a restaurant in a mall generally imples food-court offerings sitting under a heat lamp and the ambience of a high-school cafeteria, Kona Grill is located in the swanky Socttsdale Fashion Square.  In keeping with the up-market image, the restaurant is positioned awayfrom the main walkways of the mall and is self-contained.  They offer a dining area in a sunken area, and an elevated area with a look out on the parking lot for overflow.  The lighting is dim and moody, but the effect is shattered by a large aquarium near a sushi counter, and mirrors scattered on the remaining walls.

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I’ve always heard my good friends say “You have to try out tamales” or “buy a dozen tamales and you’ll never regret it” and even “I can’t believe you’ve never had a tamale, how long have you lived in Arizona?” I would never consider myself a Mexican cuisine connoisseur. I rarely venture out of the few dishes that I really enjoy. This may have something to do with growing up in rural Ohio. I didn’t have the the “culture experience” that many Arizona natives have. I however decided to take the risk associated with trying new foods as we headed to Old El Paso Tamales.

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First Impressions

Nobody would call the surroundings of Old El Paso Tamales elegant– it’s a small strip mall anchored by a laundrette.  However, the insides were surprisingly clean, painted with an attractive orange-yellow faux finish and with several ‘fine art’ style posters.

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I love Mexican food; every dish, every flavor. So when I heard we were going to a tamale restaurant for lunch, I threw a little party in my head. It’s very difficult to mess up Mexican food in general, but I’d say tamales take the most amount of talent to make. Therefore, I was really hoping the chef’s at Old El Paso Tamales had their act together. Walking up to the restaurant, I had my doubts…any place located next to a coin laundry is usually just waiting to put up their “shut down due to health code violation” sign. Once I got inside though, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the place. Sure, it still had the typical Formica-type, one-piece, booth set ups like all Mexican fast food places have, but at least I didn’t feel like I needed a tetanus shot after touching the fixtures.

After waiting in a short line, and studying the even shorter menu (6 items…yes, 6 items), I made my decision to opt for the green corn tamales. Since they’re already prepared, I was served right at the counter. I took my little basket of awaiting goodness back to my table and began to unwrap the husks.

After my first bite, I new I had made the right decision to tag along for lunch today. The tamale was really good. I know “really good” isn’t very descriptive, but that’s just what it was. The flavors were spicy but sweet, and the texture was textbook perfect for a tamale. I was doubly impressed after the man who took our order told us that they were not made with animal lard. A little cheese was added to the filling of the tamale to add a little more texture and uniqueness to their recipe.

I really have nothing bad to say about this restaurant, except the gripe that I have about most restaurants…. Put on some music people! Eating a good meal in silence, somehow takes away from the experience. I don’t know how it’s not glaringly obvious to owners that they are working to a soundtrack of the soda machine and chewing. Even a small boom box in the corner would suffice.

All in all though, we went for the food, and the food was satisfying…AND CHEAP! a dozen tamales for $14.99.

Check out Old El Paso Tamale if you’re in the area of Brown and Horne in Mesa, you won’t regret it.

As the saying goes, you learn something new everyday. Today I was given a little lesson on tamales. I had previously never eaten tamales and truth be told I had no idea what they even were. A quick little lesson for those of you who were in the same boat as me, a tamale is a traditional Native American food consisting of steam-cooked corn dough with or without a filling. Tamales are typically filled with meats, cheese, and sliced chillies. The tamale is generally wrapped in a corn husk or plantain leaves before cooking, depending on the region from which they come. (more…)

A special Explore Arizona Foods Midweek Fiasco Report (more…)

Today we did things a little differently, instead of going to a restaurant and sitting down for lunch we headed over to AJ’s Fine Foods Grocery and ate at their outside grill. The setting provides for a slightly different atmosphere as you are basically eating at a small group of tables underneath the groceries awning. It felt more like a picnic than a “fine foods” dining experience however trailing off the beaten path was nice for a change. (more…)

First Impressions

It’s difficult to put a proper bead on eating at AJ’s. In the most basic sense, you’re sitting on patio furniture in front of a supermarket. But at the same time, it’s the fancy supermarket in the comparatively nice Dana Park area. (more…)

CiCi’s Pizza Buffet just opened up a new location here in Mesa on the corner of Higley and Brown. Being a fairly large fan of pizza I was excited to see a pizza buffet open up close to the office but boy was I disappointed. CiCi’s is horriable! They should honestly think about changing their moto from “Almost too good to be true!” to “Almost too bad to be true!”

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Burrito Express recently opened its newest location on the Northwest corner of Power and Southern, right by Costco. Found on the end of a small strip mall Burrito Express should prove to do alright, just so long as these burritos are as “bad ass” as they say they are (www.burritoexpressaz.com/). (more…)