All I ever really want is to sit in a Mexican restaurant, eat chips and salsa, and sip on a giant cup filled with ice and crisp Diet Coke.
If you gave me the choice between a tasting menu from the world’s most Michelin-star decorated chef or an enchilada taco combo with rice and beans, a mound of chips and salsa and a chilled DC, I’m choosing the latter every time.
Which is why it’s so frustrating that I’ve had such a difficult time finding the right place near me to enjoy such a culinary experience.
That’s not to say I’m starved for Mexican food. Though I did suffer heartbreak when Hector’s in Millcreek closed and I had to say good bye to my weekly, sometimes bi-weekly chicken taco combo. But there’s still an embarrassment of riches in terms of drive-thru options.
My go-to has long been Lone Star Taqueria in Cottonwood Heights. They have magnificent thick and salty chips, dynamite fish tacos, and a salad that I’m ready to declare the best in the state. But they have very limited seating. The patio can accommodate my family of five in the summer, but finding a table inside during the colder seasons is a blood sport. It requires looking either so pathetic that someone feels sorry for you and gives you their table or looking so mean that they believe things will get violent if they don’t hurry, finish their meal, and relinquish their seat in five minutes. It’s also an order-at-the-register and fill-your-own-drink establishment.
And sometimes I just want to sit in a booth, have someone ask me what it is I’d like to eat, and bring me a Diet Coke while I eat 15 pounds of chips and wait for my meal. I need a regular place where I can do that and also bring my children who are relatively well behaved but still children.
So I took to the internet asking for recommendations. I got so many enthusiastic responses that I have no choice but to make this journey to finding the perfect sit-down Mexican place near me a series.
To start, I have three very strong contenders.
El Cholo
El Cholo is located in the heart of Sugar House at 2166 S. 900 East near Este Pizza and across the street from Smith’s.
I’ve been to the Los Angeles location, and loved it, but had heard the Salt Lake location had had a bit of a rough start when it opened last year.
My personal philosophy for restaurants is the same philosophy I have for TV series — you have to give them at least a season to click into place and really start working.
And I’m glad I held off and waited before making my first visit to the Salt Lake El Cholo because they seem to have ironed out any kinks and me, my husband and our friends had an excellent dining experience.
Our waitress brought our chips and salsa out immediately, and they were the kind of chips and salsa you can eat a whole lot of. Really thin, perfectly salted chips and light, soupy salsa with just a hint of heat and sweetness.
Our waitress also made our guacamole tableside and my only complaint is that there wasn’t more of it. I ordered the enchiladas suizas, made with a green tomatillo sauce, that arrived on a platter larger than my head. They were delicious.
With the guacamole, two sodas, and two entrees, our total for two people came out to about $85 plus tip so It’s not one of the cheaper places to get a taco, but the vibe is fun, the food is good, and it’s just casual enough that I feel comfortable bringing my kids.
Sol Agave
There are two Sol Agave locations nearly equidistance from my house — one in downtown Salt Lake City at 660 S. Main Street and one in American Fork at 749 W. 100 North. I prefer the American Fork spot simply because there is ample parking adjacent to the shopping center Sol Agave is a part of.
This was not my first time visiting Sol Agave, but it was the first time I ate through the journalistic lens to determine how it compares to other sit-down Mexican places.
The menu is seafood-forward, which I had internalized to mean fancy. But the prices are actually comparable to El Cholo. The choices are just different from what you would find at a more traditional Mexican restaurant and arrived garnished with microgreens.
The small bowl of complimentary chips are served with beans. They are good, but probably my least favorite part of the Sol Agave experience because inevitably I end up asking for more. Which is humiliating.
My order is usually the enchiladas de langosta, or lobster enchiladas for those of us who barely passed high school Spanish. It’s one of the pricier options, given it’s lobster, and it’s very rich. Which I just wasn’t in the mood for during my most recent visit. Instead I ordered the tacos del mar — mahi-mahi tacos with chipotle aioli, mango relish and greens. The mango and chipotle combination created a flavor that was both rich and bright and I may have found my new favorite order. Or at least my second favorite order behind the butter cake served warm with vanilla ice cream and chocolate mousse.
I would hesitate to bring my kids to Sol Agave, even though the menu includes a kids’ menu, only because most other parties at the restaurant at any given time are there for an elevated night out and children don’t typically match that vibe.
Del Barrio Cafe
Del Barrio Cafe at 7777 S. State Street in Midvale has a location that’s easy to remember because it’s just down the street from The Shane Company, which anyone who has listened to the radio in Utah knows is on the corner of State Street and 7200 South, open Monday through Friday til 8, Saturday till 5, closed Sunday.
Del Barrio Cafe does not look like a sit-down place from the outside. But there’s some sort of sorcery at work here because when you walk into the tiny building there are a number of booths and tables and if you go early enough, you’ll be able to sit in one of them. My family and I arrived just before 6 p.m., and as we ate, more and more people piled in, which made it clear that we had unearthed one of Salt Lake County’s best-kept secrets. Or maybe everyone else already knows about this place and I’m the last to learn. Hard to tell.
I ordered both a Diet Coke and a habanero lemonade. When I ordered the latter our waitress looked at me with not a small amount of incredulity and said, “You know it’s spicy, right?” I do not blame her. I absolutely do not look like someone who can handle anything with habanero in the name. But I can and I did and I loved every drop.
I ordered the birria tacos served with the consommé. This was a really good decision on my part. But my husband made an even better decision and went with the cheesy asada tacos, which are almost the exact same thing but the beef is grilled sirloin steak pieces instead of shredded. I preferred that texture just a bit more but both taco orders were transcendent.
My kids ate nearly their entire orders of tacos, chicken quesadilla and cheese quesadilla, and our order came in around $100, which seems high but I did get a little crazy with two drink orders and my husband got the horchata and honestly food is just expensive now.
My one gripe is that the chips didn’t arrive sooner at the table and are a little too heavy on the chili powder. But it’s hard to care when such amazing birria comes after.
We will be back. To all of these places, actually, and hopefully others as this journey continues.
