My journey to find the perfect place near me to eat chips and salsa and sip a crisp Diet Coke continues. I visited three more Mexican restaurants in the past month and am ready to report my findings.
As a reminder, my rubric for this mission is as follows:
- I’m looking for a sit-down restaurant. Meaning, I want a place where a hostess will lead me and my party to a table, hand us all menus and set out chips and salsa.
- While chips and salsa are what I’m focused on most, the entrees obviously need to be good, because if I’m going to return to this place often I want to have a great meal every time, not just a great appetizer.
- Even though my personal go-to will need to be in Salt Lake County, where I live, I’m trying spots all over the state to best inform readers, wherever in Utah they may live. For the greater good. For the benefit of mankind. It’s truly a selfless pursuit.
Anyway. Since we last met, I’ve tried one Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City, one in Cottonwood Heights and one in Orem.
El Chihuahua
El Chihuahua is located next to A Bar Named Sue on Highland Drive. I mention it because the name “A Bar Named Sue” has always made me laugh and I was delighted to actually see it for the first time.
We took our children to El Chihuahua on Valentine’s Day because we’re incredibly romantic people. When we walked in, we walked into a party. The giant space was full of patrons, many of whom were drinking brightly colored drinks from fish bowls adorned with rubber duckies. Despite the crowd of couples on dates, we were seated immediately and handed a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa.
The chips were pretty standard tortilla chips but the salsa surprised me. It contained celery. Which is not an ingredient I would ever have thought to add to salsa but it worked and now I’ve found a new use for the celery that I for some reason always buy and inevitably end up throwing away uneaten after it’s turned brown and soggy in the forgotten crisper drawer.
I ordered a taco and enchilada with rice and beans. The taco was not my favorite because it came in a pre-packaged shell. And that’s on me. I should have asked if hard shell meant Ortega or homemade. But I really enjoyed my chicken enchilada, which had a layer of grilled fajita vegetables between the tortilla and cheese.
Our children enjoyed their chicken fingers and fries, my husband enjoyed his food and the rest of my taco he willingly ate, and our total came out to just under $80 including tip.
But the best part of our El Chihuahua experience was the attentive service. Our waitress was friendly, quick with the Diet Coke refills and patient with our kids, the only kids in the place.
Mama Chus
Mama Chus is located in Orem at the mouth of Provo Canyon and I think people forget it’s there, because it’s a bit of a strange spot for a restaurant, across from Will’s Pit Stop at 1555 E. 800 North.
The last time I was at Mama Chus was the night before my wedding almost 15 years ago, and I was a little distracted with the whole getting married thing, so I’m not sure I paid any attention to the food. Therefore, I went into this revisit completely blind as to what to expect culinarily. The small parking lot was already full when my mom, my two daughters and I arrived at 5:30 p.m., and as we sat at our corner table, an increasing number of diners trickled in.
Of all the salsas I’ve tried so far, Mama Chus is by far the spiciest. It’s not so spicy that it’s inedible, though. It just packs a punch in a way that turns the appetizer into a fun challenge — to see how much of the salsa you can eat before experiencing real pain.
I ordered the chicken taco and chicken enchilada combo. They were both way better than I was expecting from a hole-in-the-wall next to a gas station. The flavors and textures were distinct but harmonious. “This is really good,” I told my mom a few bites in. She said her food — the chile relleno and enchilada combo — was also really good. My daughters chimed in to say that their tamale and taquitos were also delicious. I don’t know why we were all so surprised? But we were and we swore to not forget about Mama Chus moving forward.
The total for the four of us was $75. For quite a bit of food. That we really enjoyed.
La Cocina
The minute my family and I walked into La Cocina in Cottonwood Heights, I immediately knew that all the other diners in the restaurant were longtime and frequent customers by the way they looked at us with surprise. Like we were new blood.
But before we walked in, we took in the remarkable, bright yellow exterior adorned with metal palm trees and lizards. It looks as though it was transported from some tropical location to a Salt Lake City suburb.
La Cocina (pronounced La Cosina for the gringos) is tucked just off of Fort Union Boulevard at 6965 S. 2300 East, only a few doors down from Lone Star Taqueria.
As soon as we sat down, our waitress brought chips with red AND green salsa. I preferred the red over the tomatillo but appreciated the option to choose. The chips were sturdy but not too thick. We did end up adding more salt to them, but that’s a personal preference. The Diet Coke was exceptional, and served with an entire bowl of quartered limes, which is an absolute dream come true.
I ordered the Mexi Platter, which was an absurd amount of food for $13.49 — a cheese enchilada, taco, tamale, and rice and beans. I was foiled again by a taco shell from a box, but the tamale was great and the enchilada sauce was a dark, rich red and it was delicious.
For five meals and five drinks, the total was $72, making it one of the most affordable options so far.
Each of these spots has something unique to offer to residents of their cities. I don’t know if any of them will ultimately be THE spot for me personally, and I won’t until this journey’s conclusion. Which will be a while yet, because the recommendations keep hitting my inbox.
And so the hunt continues. I’m not complaining.