Mexico City Grill - Like the Others, Only Better

You may have seen in the entry on the now-defunct Tequila's the lament that most Mexican restaurants seem to be the same, however well the food is done.  Well, Mexico City Grill isn't really that much different than the others, but we reeeeally liked it, nevertheless.  The decor is faux aged yellow stucco on the interior, with places where the stucco has faux-aged so much that  faux bricks are showing through.  It's kind of hokey, but I found the muted colors more relaxing than the neon-bright hues of places like El Meson. We got off on the right foot with some of the best chips and salsa I've ever had, and that's sayin' something!  As I've said, I dunno what makes great salsa, but MCG sure does-- there was a lot of cilantro in there, but there were other flavors as well.  The chips may not have been home-made but they were fresh and warm.  My Texas Fajitas were da bomb, with perfectly sauteed onions & peppers, relatively tender skirt steak strips, and bigger-than-average shrimp and pieces of chicken, and the little woman's Nachos Supreme had especially well-seasoned ground beef and cheeses. All in all the food was GREAT!  ... and not too expensive, either!  Oh yeah, the draft Dos Equis beers were good and cold, and only $3.99 for a 32-ounce mug.  !Vamanos alli!

Old Meridian Pub-- A New Old Standard

The Old Meridian Pub, at Old Meridian Street and Epler, recently opened in the building that for years was Smith & Dale's, then SmithDale's, then Mann's Tavern, although you'd never know it after the complete update it received this time.  The old place was dumpy but small and cozy.  After many years, Smith & Dale's' owner fell on hard economic times and sold out, after which it went through a couple of new owners who each renovated it, but not in a good way as far as I'm concerned:  It went from comfortably well-lit to a dark and grungy little place that you only went to at the the end of your night (see a review of The Green Door for more on this phenomenon).

Now, however, I think I've found my new go-to place:  The new owners are somehow related to famous old bar owner Red Taylor (of several Red's Corner(s) and The Hideaway fame) but apparently don't suffer from Red's cheapskateness (cheapskatery?) and completely gutted the place.  They removed the drop ceiling, tiled the bar area, and carpeted the dining areas so it has a modern, comfortable, airy feel.  The bar area is lit by cool hanging light fixtures that resemble old radio vacuum tubes (ya see, boys and girls, before there were transistors, the radios all had tubes. Huh?  What're transistors?  Oh, never mind!  I'm old, okay?).  The old game room is now an extra dining/party room.  There are 6 big-screen TV's around the place, and the new sound system is GREAT!  They had one of DirectTV's music channels going, and it made the new computerized juke box seem for a time unnecessary.

I'd heard a nasty rumor that the drink prices were sky-high, but they were quite reasonable:  pints of domestic draft (which were good and COLD, other lesser bars TAKE HEED) cost $2.50 and glasses of Santa Angelita wines, of Chilean vintage, were $3.50 (Schneider's TAKE HEED!).  We'd just eaten so we didn't order a meal, but Jeanie the bartender shared her cheese balls & ranch dressing appetizer with us.  It was deeelicious, perfectly cooked (Yes, Virginia, you can screw up deep-fried cheese-- I've seen it done, but not here, thank Heaven).  I really can't say enough good things about this place, although it sure looks like I've tried given the length of this post, huh?  I just hope they advertise and get the word out so all those nice renovations don't go to waste....

UPDATE, 07/21/2014:  Old Meridian Pub closed, dangit, but it has been bought and rechristened The Corner Pub.  The old place had like 6 owners or something, one who was drunk all the time and as I understand it got barred out of his own bar, and as I understand it, the rest apparently couldn't agree with the managing partner on anything. There is just one new owner, so we'll see how she does with the place... fingers crossed!

UPDATE, 08/14/2014:  I'm happy to say the Corner Pub is basically the Old Meridian renamed.  Most of the same employees are back, including Steve the chef, so the food and booze is still good and reasonably priced.  Hallelujah!

Mexican Buffet & Grill-- Mongolian No More, or is it?

I used to be a big fan of this place's predecessor, Oriental Buffet & Grill/Mongolian Barbecue, in the Wal-Mart Center in the 7200 block of S. US 31-- The old place had all kinds of food, not just Asian, and my wife especially liked the crab legs, which were as good and cheaper than most seafood restaurants'.  Imagine my horror, then, when I drove by the other day and saw that "Oriental" had been replaced by "Mexican" in the name on the sign.  A few guys in my office coincidentally went there the other day and were likewise shocked by the recent conversion, but they ate there anyway and were quite pleasantly surprised, especially this one pragmatic (see "cheapskate") individual who was ecstatic about the value for the money spent, something like $6.99 for the lunch buffet. 

With that glowing review, we just had to go and see for ourselves, the Little Woman being a big fan of Mexican food.  As we entered we were greeted by the same Asian hostess that had seated us when it was Oriental, and many of the servers were the same folks from the old place as well, including several Hispanic employees.  Some of the food on the buffets (the food bars are still huge) were suspiciously similar to the previous establishment's, too:   Their "Chile Lime Chicken"  looked and tasted very similar to General Tso's, and the "Burrito and Asada Barbecue" appeared to have the same meats as the old Mongolian Barbecue, minus the bean sprouts and water chestnuts.  Hmmm, I had a professor once that said that native Mexican peoples were descended from ancient Asians who crossed into North America eons ago when there was still a land connection between the two continents....   Could this be the source of the mysterious similarities between the old and the new, here?  Is that perhaps why you often see large numbers of Latinos gathered at the local Chinese buffets?  Or is it just because both cuisines are cheap and plentiful?.... You decide!  Anyway, the food was decent but not outstanding in my opinion, but I'm not the connoisseur of Mexican food my wife is--  Heck, I was IN Mexico for 26 days once, and when I got back I swore I would never again eat any RED or GREEN food ever again, but of course that wore off, eventually.  The Divine Mrs. Barfly reeeeally liked the taco bar they had there as well as the Burrito & Asada Barbecue, so who am I to disagree?  You certainly won't mistake this place with a nouvelle cuisine restaurant--  The decor is showing its age even with the added Mexican touches, but there's plenty of food for your dollar, for sure.

All American Hot Dog Co-- A David to the King David Goliath

The All American Hot Dog Co.  is located at 5558 Madison Avenue.  I give the exact address because you might miss this little place if you don't know exactly where it is, in an ancient little string of shops (too old to be called a strip mall, even) next to the Big Lots store. There is a kind of sandwich-board guy who stands out front trying to get your attention during the day, but he simultaneously waves signs for three different shops on the same stick, so as you drive by you might see only the sign for Chad's Barber Shop or Cash for Gold and completely miss the one for AAHDCo.  It doesn't have the big-city ambiance of King David Dogs downtown, but it has the same high-quality of meats and variety of topping combinations that KD does, and at a lower price. There's no dining room, but there are two umbrella tables out front where you can sit when the weather's not too bad.  The Cajun Sausage dog was new to me;  it had a nice (not hot)spiciness, that the proprietor said was close to a Cincinnati metwurst, but the metwursts I've had were never this good.  My wife had the Chicago dog, which was as good as any we've had in the Windy City, and  finally, the proprietor  (I think he said his name is Dave) is as nice a business owner as you'll ever meet.  I came in right at opening time t'other day, and he'd been late getting in, so he was still cookin' up his first batch of dogs for the day.   He apologized for the wait and gave me a card for a free meal!  Oh, and don't get me started on the TATER TOTS!  I dunno how he fixes 'em but I've never had restaurant tater tots (or any other tots) that were so danged gooooooood, just like everything else I've had there. I know hot dogs ain't exactly health food, but maybe that's why I like 'em so much-- guilty pleasures are the best ones!

UPDATE 12/18/2011:  THIS PLACE HAS CLOSED, DANGIT!   MAYBE HE'LL OPEN UP SOMEWHERE ELSE-- WHERE ELSE CAN I GET MY BOUDIN DOG???