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