Hiya readers!
HAPPY OCTOBER! The month of my favorite holiday-HALLOWEEN!
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! :) So you all know how I've repeatedly talked about finding the perfect chile relleno here in Atlanta? Well, trying to continue my search, my friend brought me to a restaurant that I've probably driven by a good hundred of times on Jimmy Carter Blvd called El Norteño. Not just looking for the most scrumptious chile relleno, but looking for ones as authentic as some of the ones I've had in Texas (home of the BEST Mexican food outside Mexico) a few years back, in addition to tasty enchiladas, fajitas, burritos, you name it! See if I end my search here......
Let's get started:
★El Norteño's sign
★Exterior shot of the restaurant
★Self-serve chips, salsa & condiments bar
★Interior of the restaurant
★Menu
★Such a wide variety of items to choose from
★Chips & Salsa
★Combination Plate #9-One burrito, one enchilada, one taco ($4.95)
★Combination Plate #10-One burrito, one chile relleno, one enchilada ($5.25)
★FOOD (3/5): I really liked the fact that there's a self-serve chips and salsa bar. Personally, I eat my weight in them especially when they're paired with delicious salsa and are unlimited! The red salsa was a mild, but still flavorful nonetheless. The green sauce, not a salsa, was actually my favorite-very tasty and just a tad bit spicy, it really brought out the rich corn flavor of the chips. The not so good-my friend enjoyed her dish, especially being that they're prices are pretty darn awesome! Everything in the combination plates are served with ground beef, but if you'd like chicken, it's $1 extra. Compared to lots of other places, El Norteño is one of the very few that allows you to substitute the kind of the meat you'd like. My dish, which was plate #10 was a huge disappointment. I've been on the search for the best chile relleno in Georgia and still have yet to find it-whenever I see it on the menu, I have to order it, no doubt about it. I'm especially NOT a huge fan of the chile rellenos stuffed with ground beef and that are fried to a pulp-I like the ones stuffed with meats and are slowly baked allowing the fats from the meats to soak into the tender skin of the chile poblano. Theirs was the kind I especially dislike-while they offer a very generous whole poblano pepper, it was completely soaked in oil as if it had not been allowed to drain. In addition, the two red sauces on my plate aren't Mexican sauces, that's marinara sauce-like the ones from a jar or a can. As soon as I tasted it, I immediately shuttered. The only thing I actually enjoyed on my plate was the enchilada, but everything else was not that good. Again, while their prices are highly affordable and inexpensive, the food itself didn't seem to compare.
★SERVICE (2/5): Upon entering the restaurant, we waited around to be seated. It wasn't until one employee who's TV show went to commercial finally stood up and seated us. Throughout the course of the meal, the two waitresses were friendly and helpful and even offered suggestions, but a perfect 5/5 wasn't given because they failed to refill our water glasses, were busy watching TV at the table next to us, and did not acknowledge to bring us our checks after we had already packed our leftovers and had been waiting for them to come around.
★DECOR (3/5): From the outside looking in, you probably wouldn't have thought the restaurant was opened, especially since the "OPEN" sign doesn't face the busy Jimmy Carters Blvd. road. I've driven down this road a million times and had never thought of dining here until my friend had mentioned this place. The decor is somewhat plain, but it's very open and spacious. In addition, there are colorful little additions such as neon colored chairs, colorful booths and various little artifacts around the restaurant. And did I mention-the self serve chips bar?! Yum! That's probably the best part of the place!
Overall, I'm not absolutely sure I'd make a trip out here again, especially when there's such a wide selection of other restaurants on this road. As much as I love to eat on a budget and save money, I'm not a huge fan of any Mexican restaurant who uses marinara sauce in place of a homemade sauce for burritos or chile rellenos. Maybe if I'm out of other options when I'm in the area (which may be highly
unlikely), I'll stop by and give them another shot (since I really dig the unlimited chips and salsa bar).
P.S. To answer my question in the beginning of this post, my search CONTINUES :(
Thanks for stopping by,
-Sandy
FTC: I was not paid or compensated for this review. All reviews and opinions expressed are my own.
If you'd like to invite Bella Vivere to cover & share your restaurant's media events, tastings or parties, feel free to shoot me an email at bellavivere@gmail.com-Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment