Torero's Mexican Restaurant, 1837 N Harrison Avenue, Cary, NC

I know you must be thinking that I only ever go to Mexican restaurants. However, when I started this blog, I wanted to review only original restaurants found only in North Carolina. That seriously limits what I can review. Of course I've hit up Andy's since my last review but there are so many of them (though the one on Davis has better service than the one on Harrison).

So, Torero's. Up until this year, Torero's was my all-time favorite Mexican restaurant in the Raleigh area (now it's Cafe Capistrano). My biggest complaint to-date is that their salsa has a very strong cilantro flavor. So I opt for their cheese sauce. They probably give you the best bang for your buck on queso dip.

My favorite dish at Torero's is Arroz con pollo - rice with chicken. It's unique to all Mexican restaurants, I think. Chicken is sauteed in a thick mushroom gravy and served over rice. Everyone who knows me knows I don't do Mexican rice. However, served up this way, I'm all for it. They bring tortillas on the side and you can eat the dish like fajitas. Yum. Another added bonus, it always seems to be the special so it's super cheap. Regular price is $6.25 but it's usually on sale for $5.50 or less.

I've also recently had their Chicken Fajita Quesadilla. It's like a normal chicken quesadilla but the chicken is grilled like fajita chicken. Before my most recent experience, I never noticed that Torero's uses a strange sauce to prepare their fajita meat. Turns out it is also the hot sauce on the tables and it tastes oddly familiar to teriyaki sauce.

So, two out of the last three times I've gone to Torero's, they've sat my party on the other side of the bar. Somehow this becomes the "no fly" zone and we never see our waiter again. It takes forever to get our check and since every Mexican restaurant is different, we can't remember if we take our check up to the front or pay at the table. So we wait longer. Good food, long wait.

Website and menu: http://www.torerosmexicanrestaurants.com/
Speed: The waitstaff was slow to bring the bill.
Price: $5-$12/plate
Hours: Unknown
Overall Score: 4/5