Cafe Capistrano - 2250 Gathering Park Circle, Cary

After driving through a subdivision and past the music school, we reached this Mexican oasis. Hands down, this location has the best Mexican food. Cafe Capistrano describes their fare as "California Style Mexican Cuisine." The setting is fairly elegant but the outside seating is divine. You can actually see grass from their outdoor patio, not just a field of concrete like most restaurants. Outside, you feel as if you are at a neighbor's house.

The waitress brought the standard chips and salsa to the table but there was nothing standard about either. The chips taste different than most tortilla chips somehow. But the salsa is where the real magic happens. The website says they make their salsa fresh twice daily and it really tastes fresh. In fact, today, the owner apologized that it was a little spicier than usual because the "jalapenos got away from me." By far, best salsa I've had in the Triangle.

For lunch I got the Mexican salad with chicken. You won't believe this but my salad, from a Mexican restaurant, was green. Most Mexican salads are anything but green and they usually have a giant tortilla shell as a bowl. However, Cafe Capistrano knows what a real salad is. The salad is a bed of greens topped with black beans, rice, your choice of meat, cheese and pico de gallo. It is served with California lime dressing or santa fe (spicy ranch) dressing. I opted to use the salsa on my salad instead of the dressings. It was fabulous.

Mexican Salad

This restaurant really takes pride in the quality of their food. They use olive oil to sautee and canola oil for frying. No animal fat is added to the beans (they offer "smashed" rather than "refried"). The chicken is always chicken breasts and the beef is quality angus.

For queso dip, they offered a selection of "Clasico" or "Blanco" and we opted to try "Clasico," which I did not find very appetizing. I will have to give Blaco a try next time.

Website and menu: http://www.cafecapistrano.com/
Speed: The time to get the food was pretty decent considering they make everything fresh. However the waitstaff was slow to bring the bill.
Price: $8-$12/plate
Hours: Mon-Thurs: 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-9pm; Fri-Sat: 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-10pm

Burrito

Quesadilla

El Rodeo GRILL - 7420 Six Forks Road, Raleigh

Now don't be confused. This restaurant is not part of the El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant chain. Yes, it is Mexican food and yes it is owned by the same family that owns El Rodeo. But this restaurant is more like a fancy Mexican restaurant and no one calls you "amigo."

I went with some friends and we tried a full spread. So I think we have a pretty good variety to critique the menu. First, the atmosphere though. The restaurant definitely felt classy with frosted glass separating the bar from the rest of the restaurant. There is a stylish ramp that leads from the hostess station to the seating area, too. We went on a Sunday evening which may have contributed to a low clientele. There were only a handful of other tables full.

The standard chips and salsa were brought to the table. The chips weren't that special but the salsa was tastier than most Mexican restaurants. The website says they make their salsa fresh daily. It had large chunks of onion and didn't reek of cilantro so that's a winner for me!

For the meals, the waitress recommended the fajitas, the burritos and the fajita quesadillas. So, here's what we ordered:

The chicken fajita quesadilla ($12.49): The quesadilla was quite tastey. It was loaded with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, chicken and CHEESE. The mushrooms were succulent and the cheese was different from most other quesadillas. Quite tastey. The rice was nothing to write home about and that green lettuce stuff was loaded with cilantro. The guacamole was pretty yummy, too. No idea what the white stuff was on the quesadilla.

Carnitas ($11.99): Quoted as "the pork was trying to seduce my mouth." The pork was very tender and full of flavor. Not to mention that it was a huge hunk of meat. It was served with rice, refried beans, slaw and tomatillo sauce. The slaw was more like cabbage mix with some vinegar dressing. Also, the refried beans had some extra flavor which was a nice surprise.

Fajita Trio ($13.99): The statement made about fajitas was that the vegetables were not cooked long enough. The vegetables were still crunchy and not blackened in any spot. Cheese and guacamole were offered as "extra" and it was not understood that the cheese would be melted on the meat, but that was a great bonus. Also, a great quantity of meat was expected based on other Mexican dining experiences.

One thing unique to El Rodeo Grill is that they offer Charro beans which were pretty freaking good. They taste like pinto beans cooked with chipotle peppers - smokey and with some spice. Yum.

El Rodeo Grill also offers homemade sangria. The sangria tasted a little sour, like it was made mostly with cranberry juice and very little real fruit flavor. Not what I consider authentic sangria.

Final weigh-in: If you're a fan of Dos Taquitos, this place is WAY better, has better hours and atmosphere. If you have a favorite local Mexican restaurant around the corner, it's not really worth the drive past your local Mexican joint for a classy $12-per-plate Mexican restaurant. El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant has a menu with greater variety but definitely not the exact same offerings as El Rodeo Grill.

Website and menu: http://www.elrodeogrill.com/
Speed: Not bad, slower than a regular Mexican restaurant though and it took a long time to get the bill and then send it back to be separated.
Price: $10-$15/plate
Hours: Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm, Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm, Sun: 11am-9pm

Tres Magueyes - 9605 Chapel Hill Rd, Morrisville

Today I had a craving for Mexican and a last minute choice led us to Tres Magueyes. I've eaten there a few times but have yet to figure out what a Maguey is. All I can think of is Gizmo from Gremlins but I'm pretty sure it's one of those plant things on the sign. There are tres of them.

So, I decided to go wild for lunch and try something new. I had a hankering for something fried so I tried a chicken chimichanga. I thought we could rock out with the standard chips and salsa on the table but the salsa seemed to be really off that day. Or maybe it's just always bad but it tasted like straight up tomato sauce. There were some green flecks in there but I sure couldn't taste them. So I resorted to my fail-safe: queso dip. It was mmm-mmm good.

The chimichanga was pretty boring. It was served with guacamole and sour cream so I buried it with both. No vegetables were on my plate to eat with it. Even the beans were pretty flavorless. So I stuck with my trusty queso dip and called it a day.

I reminded myself that I was excited when my office moved locations and was now closer to my favorite Mexican Restaurant, Torero's. I'm not sure why my last minute decision took us to a new place but I think I'll boycott in the future.