Viva La Bamba

I'm hard-pressed to pass up a fajita Friday.  So fortunately, Viva la Bamba (this time the location on Grand Ave, there is also one in Urbandale) stood up to the challenge.

Unfortunately, Viva La Bamba is one of the restaurants losing a lot of business because of the bridge closure at 63rd and Grand since it's location just over the bridge, on the Des Moines side.

Another interesting tid-bit is that, this summer a chain in Chicago called the owners and told him the name was infringing on their Mexican food chain's name copyright and he had to change it.  They agreed to change the name to just "Viva Mexican Restaurant", but the signs still boast Viva La Bamba for now.

So, today, I took detour around the construction and it was totally worth it.  I just love the Mexican restaurants who serve bean dip along with chips and salsa for an appetizer.  Honestly, I could probably just eat the whole basket of warm chips with their chunky (and very fresh) salsa and bean dip for lunch and be a happy camper.

But, alas, it was Friday (so fajitas were a must) and they'd probably not appreciate it if I only ate the free stuff and left.

Anyway, These were some darn good fajitas.  A huge portion of good quality chicken and fresh veggies accompanied by the familiar rice, beans, salad and tortilla that most restaurants serve.

A solid fajita Friday at Viva la Bamba.  Give them some love, especially since the bridge will now be closed until at least the middle of December.  Prices are great and they have margarita specials often!  They need our support!

Isla Cozumel

Usually when I'm in Urbandale for lunch, I end up at Sam & Louie's Pizza and a lot of times  Incredible Pizza (which has pretty good gluten-free pizza actually) because of the kiddo.  But I decided to try something new and headed over to Isla Cozumel.  It's in the same plaza as Taki in the former Mama Lacona's location.  I was struck by the sign that boasted $5.99 lunch fajitas and $6.99 dinner fajitas and I knew that's what I'd be trying.

It's easy to identify that you are in the former home of Mama Lacona's, but it does a good job making a Mexican joint too with some added decorations.

The menu was varied as most Mexican restaurants in town are and included most of the local favorites like enchiladas, tacos, burritos, etc. I always appreciate when ethnic restaurants include American choices for the kids because as much as I thought my child would be the kid that inhaled curry and exotic cuisine like it's his job, alas, he is a typical picky 6 year old who wants grilled cheese and french fries at every meal.  I digress...

My fajitas were good.  A great portion size for the price. well-seasoned chicken and your typical sides of re-fried beans, rice, salad &guac.

The service was great and fast.  Friendly waitstaff and a clean restaurant.  I'd dine again especially for their daily specials.  Kids 9 and Under eat free on Mondays.  $2.99 margarita's on Wednesdays.

If you like most of the other Mexican restaurants in town, you'll like this one too!  Always nice to have another option in Urbandale.

Raul's

I drive by Raul's Mexican Restaurant on 8th Street in WDM all the time and finally stopped in.  The sign out front for the lunch buffet sign caught my eye.  Tuesday thru Friday they offer an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet from 11-2 including salad, corn and flour tacos, enchiladas, pizza, rice and beans and more.  For $7.95 it didn't look like a bad deal.  But since it was my first visit I wanted to order something off the menu.

The decor was impressive and the restaurant was bigger than I'd expected from the outside.

I was greeted by a friendly server and presented with warm tortilla chips and salsa.  It wasn't my favorite salsa, but I was hungry and it was good with the warm chips.

The owner also stopped by to say hello and make sure my drink order was taken.  I definitely felt welcome.  The were a lot of "Regulars" that came in for the buffet since I heard a lot of statements like "good to see you again" and "back again!"  It was nice to see that the staff appreciated their customers.

I was excited to see that they offered a full gluten-free menu and they had kids meal specials on Tuesday and Wednesday nights where kids eat for $1.95.

I ordered the 1/2 order of chicken fajitas for $7.95.  The chicken was sauteed with plenty of fresh veggies and came with rice, salad, sour cream and gauc and tortillas.  Everything was very tasty.  I especially liked the fresh gauc.  Even though I like guac, I often skip it in restaurants because of the sketch factor.  but not here, I happily applied it to my tortillas and enjoyed.

I'd certainly return again to try some of their other menu items.  I was totally stuffed after my fajitas so I didn't get a chance to sample more, but I'll update you when I do!  I'll be back.

Abelardo's

 

So I had a chance to stop in to the Abelardo's on Ingersol the other day.  I knew there were a few locations around the area, two in WDM and one in DSM.  I didn't realize they had locations in Nebraska, Kansas and Washington as well.

Abelardo's is basically a fast(er)-food version of the sit-down Mexican restaurants we have all over the area like Monterrey and Cabo Sol.

It was pretty neat to just walk up and order and then hit the salsa bar before picking a seat and then being called up (in a matter of minutes) to get my food.

Combo choices included tacos, burritos, chimichangas, fajitas, etc.  I ordered the combo fajitas and was really impressed with the fresh, house-made tortilla that came with my meal.
The size of the meal was impressive but I was a little disappointed with the quality of the chicken.  It was mostly thigh meat and I'm a white meat only kinda gal.  The shrimp was tasty and the veggies were a-plenty.

While I wouldn't say I'd pass up a trip to Tamale's Industry, Tequila or Dos Rios to come to Abelardo's.  It was certainly a good stop for a quick, filling meal that wasn't anywhere as low on the totem pole as a Taco Bell or Taco Johns, but even has a drive-thru and really quick service.

The drive-thru is open 24 hours a day and the prices are good.  Drive-thru for a midnight snack or anytime you need a quick Mexican fix and don't have time for a sit-down full-service joint.

Interview with Chef Sam from Tacopocalypse

<------  Just take a look at Executive Chef Sam Auen from Tacopocalypse and you can clearly see he's ready to battle.

After getting its start at the Cumming Tap three years ago, Tacopocalypse is already ridiculously successful in its new location in the East Village.

Sam and his crew serve hundreds of hungry customers, innovative taco, burrito and nacho creations each day.  If you've read my blog before you know how awesome I think Tacopocalypse food is.  You can read our review about Brunchpocalypse here.

But his story doesn't begin there.  He's been cooking for himself since he was a little kid.  However, a bout of the stomach flu kept him away from eating tacos for about 5 years!  I couldn't believe someone who stayed away from tacos for so long can cook up some of the best around.

Chef Sam has chosen to compete in Battledish Des Moines 2013 because he has no doubts that his food can stand up to the best.  He is also excited to try some new recipes out on the Battledish attendees.  There are no guarantees, but Battledish goers might just get a chance to sample some of the first Tacopoca-noodles!  (I just made that name up, but I think it's pretty ingenious.)

Sam is a pretty interesting guy.  For a long time he was Vegan. He had a big impact on the Vegan restaurant scene in Des Moines as he worked in a ton of local restaurants and introduced his creative elements to lots of them.

Sometimes Sam is underestimated, like when he was hired at Centro to be a salad guy and was promoted within weeks to Sous Chef because they admitted they made a mistake.  But Sam has a style of his own.  He taught himself to make sushi and was highly successful as Executive Chef at Zen until its closing.  He didn't last long at Miyabi 9 though because he just wouldn't conform to someone else's style of doing things.  Sam feels that the best food isn't going to be found in the most expensive restaurants, but maybe in a gas station in Louisiana, or a taco stand at a bar in a town of 50.

I asked Sam where his drive comes from to take Tacopocalypse to such a high level in such a short amount of time and to open two restaurants at the same time.  Sam says he's just crazy about food.  He just can't stop thinking about it.

We can't wait for the battle!  But if you can't wait either, you can always stop into Tacopocalypse on E 6th street in the East Village any day of the week!

Interview with Chef Mike from Dos Rios

We got a sneak peak at what Chef Mike Holman, Executive Chef at Dos Rios is going to be serving up for competition during BattleDish on October 5th!  We are already fans of their regular menu, lunch specials and happy hour appetizer and drink specials, but Chef Mike is cooking up something new for the Battle.  Read our review of the lunch menu here.

Chef Holman has been cooking professionally for over 17 years.  After figuring out early on that he wouldn't be using his degree in Finance, he went back to school at The Iowa Culinary Institute to pursue his real passion.  After working at a cafe in Ames for 7 years, he's had much success in his culinary endeavors such as being the Executive Chef at Americana at it's opening and also at Tartine.  He's now had the opportunity to be the Executive Chef for Dos Rios and Big City Burger and Greens.  Look out for some big news coming soon this fall too!

For the competition he's featuring an Argentinian beef tenderloin with fire roasted peppers, pickled onions, boiled eggs, mango vinaigrette and arugula served on homemade French rolls.  YUM!  It will be paired with a South American sangria cocktail with cachaca, absinthe, orange liquor, Mexican brandy, fresh fruit and topped with pino, wow!  This is going to be some fierce competition.

We are totally impressed with the lineup in this competition.  They are featuring the Executive Chefs from BOS, Liberty's, Alba, Tacopocalypse, Proof and Gusto!  Here is more info about Battledish and how to purchase tickets.

Chef Mike enjoys his job because it is never the same two days in a row.  He's excited about Battledish because he loves a good competition. He knows his food can stand up to the best, and on October 5th we'll see where he stands!

If you can't make it on October 5th or just can't get enough awesome food, check out Chef Mike's Tequila dinner on October 17th! A 5 course meal paired with hand-crafted tequila cocktails.  There will be giveaways, guest speakers from Silvercoin Tequila and more.  Don't miss it!

Don't Fight it..Eat a Burrito

Fairly new to Downtown at 309 13th street (just) off of Locust street is the Ames-originated Fighting Burrito.  The concept is the same as Qdoba, Chipotle or Pancheros where you pick a burrito, bowl, salad or tacos and then pick your toppings.  They have a few pre-constructed ideas for you too if you'd rather not think that hard.

We started off with some chips and queso that were tasty and similar to other quesos you'd find at local joints.

We both ordered bowls and picked our own toppings.  White rice, no beans, chicken, grilled veggies, spicy corn salsa and lettuce for him.  Wild rice, black beans, beef, cheese, sour cream and Jalapeno peach salsa for me.  I have to note that the portion sizes were significantly smaller than than the other concept-similar restaurants.

Hubby said his was tasty and the spicy corn salsa was the highlight.  I really enjoyed the marinated shredded beef with the peach salsa combination.  It was unique and probably could have eaten 3 times the portion size.

So all-in-all, a great choice for a quick, downtown lunch with a lot of taste.  Order a large/extra topping if you have a big appetite.  The staff was friendly the restaurant was clean and family-friendly.  If you're a burrito-lover, check it out and see what you think!

Ps. Kids under 10 eat FREE all day on Sundays!

1, 2, 3 Tequila!

The word on the street was that Tequila Mexican Restaurant in Des Moines has some darn good Mexican food.  I would have to agree!  

We checked out Tequila for lunch the other day and it was very accessible right off of 235 at 2825 Easton Blvd. in Des Moines.  It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the inside is clean and well-decorated.  The $1.99 margarita sign caught out attention right away.

We ordered 2 original margaritas (.51 cent more for a frozen, but still well worth it, flavored margaritas were extra) and started browsing the huge menu.  Familiar favorites at very reasonable prices.  We tried the chicken enchiladas and some chicken tostadas.  The little guys had a cheese quesadilla with fries which came out hot and fresh.  We were impressed with the wide selection in the kids menu as well as the regular menu.


I appreciated the fresh salsa with real (not canned, diced veggies) and that it wasn't the pureed stuff you get in some restaurants, it was chunky with a kick and great with the warm chips.

The enchiladas were reminiscent of most Mexican joints in town.  Good but not particularly stand-out-ish.  The tostadas however were excellent with fresh lettuce, tomato, guac, beans and crema. Very good and very inexpensive.  


We saw a lot of guests ordering the fajitas and will certainly order those on our next visit since folks were raving about them.

If you're looking for a Mexican restaurant with good service, yummy food and great prices, check out Tequila Mexican restaurant and make sure to order a margarita!

Tacopocalypse

UPDATE 8-18-2013 Tacopocalyse is opening a new permanent location in the East Village at 621 Des Moines Street. You can find them there now!

Hopefully by now, you've had the chance to try a delicacy by Chef Sam, but if not, here is the low-down. 

Let's start with Brunchpocalypse on Saturday and Sundays at their new location in the East Village at 621 Des Moines street.

Chef Sam uses local ingredients to make fantastic creations.  Korean chicken & waffles, breakfast nachos and tacos are just a few of the offerings.  Chef Sam's passion is Vegan fare so you are always sure to find something if that applies to you.  You can interchange brisket, pork, chorizo and whatever other special fillings he chooses that day into most of the dishes as well.

My meal of choice this Sunday was the breakfast nachos (top right photo).  A heaping portion of crispy fried tortilla chips with cheese, eggs, bacon chorizo and slaw.  At first glance I was worried that the slaw would overpower this dish, but it didn't. It was perfectly balanced with the chorizo and mild cheese sauce. Love.

We had our kid with us this day, and being a picky 5 year old, I had Sam put his nutella whipped cream on the side, so the picture doesn't do this waffle justice.  While the vanilla porter waffle was amazing by itself and my kid ate the whole thing in less than 5 minutes, I found myself spooning the nutella whipped cream (that he whipped together by hand that morning) into my mouth, it was that good.  For more exciting photos of their waffles and other offerings, check out their facebook page. 

Now that they are in their permanent location they are open every day for lunch and dinner during the week too.  Some the most amazing, creative tacos like Korean Chicken, Bacon Chorizo, Lemongrass pork, etc.  Sam started out working in a Korean restaurant when he was very young, so there is a lot of inspiration in there.  Everything is so good!  You just have to try it for yourself.

Cabo Sol

You may have driven by one of the newest Mexican restaurants in town, Cabo Sol.  It's located right off of Mills Civic in West Des Moines.  It's a welcome addition since the recent closing of Los Cabos in West Glen that we really enjoyed.

I knew I was going to like this place when we were greeted with our chips and salsa and $3.99 margaritas in fun flavors like mango, watermelon, peach and lime.  The watermelon was really good!

The restaurant is clean and welcoming with bright colors and friendly staff.

The food was typical of what the Mexican restaurants in the area offer.  Lunch and dinner specials including tacos, enchiladas, tamales and fajitas.

My mom and I shared fajitas while my hubby got a combo plate.  The fajitas were good.  Not the most well-seasoned that I've ever had, but I appreciated that they weren't swimming in grease like you find at some other places.  The heaping plate of sides helped make it a satisfying meal.  Josh enjoyed his combo platter although they brought him a beef enchilada when he ordered chicken.  He said the tamale filling was excellent and the pork was very spicy like he likes it.

I'm excited to have another lunch or dinner option in WDM that isn't just another chain.  So if you are looking for a tasty, filling lunch or dinner, check out Cabo Sol.  And try a frozen margarita!