Castillons family Mexican restaurant - Fort Collins Colorado

May 31, 2012

I felt like Mexican food again which is a normal occurrence for me.  I knew I wanted a chile relleno and thought why not try a new place.

We arrived about 12:30 and they said they would be with us in a moment, so in a moment they took us to a table and I think gave us the biggest one they could find for my mom and I. 

Not right away but in a few minutes the waitress brought a basket of chips and a bowl of salsa, I thought it was pretty good, nothing wild or different than a basic salsa.  But I also really like chips and salsa just about everywhere.  So we enjoyed the chips and salsa as we looked over the menu.  This didn’t take too long to decide what to get.  They had their lunch special in the menu, which was pick two items and came with rice and frijoles borachos (drunken beans).  We both ordered this with a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada (5.95) as well as two cokes which we ordered at the same time as the food and not before.   Right after our waitress left she was back with the cokes just in time since I just hit a hot spot in the salsa.  They were huge cups and I wondered how much they charged since I didn’t look.  I did find out later it was only $ 1.95 which I thought was a bargain and I definitely did not need a refill.  It didn’t seem to take too long until our waitress came back with the food. 

The chili relleno was an egg roll wrapper type relleno that was fried and crispy which is how I like them.  This was smothered in green chile, which tasted pretty good.  It had good flavor but wasn’t too hot.  The cheese enchilada was basic the enchilada part anyways, but the sauce was quite different than a normal enchilada sauce.  It was chili con carne and also tasted good.  I can’t remember ever having any kind of sauce with meat on top of enchiladas before, but it was the best part of the cheese enchilada.  The rice was good and the beans were actually more of a soup than the beans at most Mexican places.  They also had bacon in with the beans they were really quite good.  I put mixed some of my rice into the beans after a while and thought that was really good.

 

 

4010 South College Avenue  Fort Collins, CO 80525

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Stuft a burger bar - Windsor CO

I decided that maybe I should check out some of the local restaurants especially in Windsor.  My dad and I headed out wanting a nice burger.   We were very excited about this place after reading their menu online and seeing how many different options you had to build your own burger. We were on the late end of lunch, there were still some tables full but by the time we left it was pretty empty. 

 We were seated and the waitress came and explained that we have to fill out the form with all the choices we have and if we had any questions.  We thought we could handle it so we looked over our choices. I filled out my form choosing a third pound ground chuck burger with smoked cheddar, tomato, onions, pickles and green chilies along with chipotle ketchup which came on the side and I did not put it on the burger.  I got onion rings to go with it with buttermilk ranch. My dad had his burger with french fries so we could try both of them. The waitress came back with a highlighter to mark our selections and to make sure they were what we wanted and asked if it being cooked medium was okay because that's what they recommend. I typically would want my burger cooked more, but I thought since they recommended it that way I would try it out.

 Not very long after, out came the burgers.  I started out trying to pick up my burger up trying to eat the whole thing but I was having trouble getting my mouth around it, so I cut it in half which made it easier to handle. 

I thought the burger was okay but not really anything great, but I really liked the smoked cheddar and thought it was really good combined with the green chilies.  The other toppings were just ordinary toppings. If I would go back I would have them cook my burger well but that's just a personal preference. The onion rings I ordered were kind of hard to eat, when you would bite them the onion would pullout and the breading would crumble all over the place.  These did taste okay, not the best or worst but they were a little hard to eat. My two sauces I had were the buttermilk ranch which was a good ranch dressing and the chipotle ketchup which was what I was really excited about was just okay.  I thought it tasted alright but I didn’t taste much chipotle and seemed like it could use some more chipotle.  

 The French fries were also okay but I didn't think they were all that special. My dad said he thought the burger was pretty average he also thought he would like to cook more. He also didn't like how they didn’t have salt on the table and you have to ask for it. They also didn't really ask if we wanted refills, but I didn't really want one anyway.

1294 Main Street Windsor, CO 80550

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Sol de Jalisco - Windsor CO

3/28/2012

I had been here previously when it was a different restaurant and I was kind of wondering if they just changed their name or if it was a completely new restaurant. When we got there my dad and I figured out quickly that it was a completely new place. They brought out chips and salsa as well as a bean dip right away.  The chips were okay but nothing special and I thought the salsa was all right but definitely not the best salsa ever had.  My dad really didn't like it at all nor did he like the bean dip which I also didn't care for. We both decided to get the beef enchiladas plate with rice and beans. I really didn't like the enchiladas too much and the rice and beans were not too exciting either. We did have a coupon for five dollars off which made the meal quite cheap ($15.03 w/ tip for 2) but we also did not like the meal very much. Our waitress was nice and did a good job. I was quite disappointed that they didn't just change the name because I thought the previous place was really really good and this place not so much.

1345 Water Valley Pkwy #300

Windsor, CO 80550

Harrys Roadhouse - Santa Fe, NM

March 13, 2012

We were headed back home and thought we would just eat lunch in Santa Fe.  This Place was featured on Diners Drive Ins and Dives. I knew it was right off the interstate and not too hard to find. When we got there they said it will be a little bit of a wait. While we were waiting more people kept coming in behind us and getting their names on the waiting list. It actually took quite a while to get a table because there were limited tables that were easy to get a wheelchair to. But while we were waiting a manager looking type was kind of actually quite entertaining to watch him talking to employees and to other customers. After we were seated it seemed like the service was kind of slow but not necessarily bad. It took a little while to figure out what I wanted to from the menu. There were choices on the menu from vegetarian and vegan type things, which if you read my blog often you know that I'm not going there, to choices with meat, light choices to more filling items. I did finally decide to get the half grilled cheese sandwich which I added ham along with the chicken noodle soup.  My mom had the same thing without the ham. My dad decided to try the turkey Reuben which I was kind of surprised by that, but he wanted to see if it would be any good compared to a normal Reuben which is one of his favorites.                                                                                 

The grilled cheese sandwich also had caramelized onions in it along with Tillamook cheddar this sandwich was really good.  It tasted kind of like French onion soup in a sandwich and the ham was a nice addition to it. The soup was really good as well.   It had a very good broth with noodles and vegetables which included peas which I thought was a little different but was still okay.

My dad thought his sandwich was good, but would prefer a traditional Reuben.  This place felt a lot different than most places I’ve been, but the food tasted really good.

My parents both decided to get pie, a piece of lemon meringue and a piece of chocolate cream pie.  I tasted both and thought both were pretty good, but I think I liked the chocolate slightly better.  They were both good pies but I think the crust could've been better.

If you can handle a long wait this would be a place for a very good meal.

96 Old Las Vegas Highway # B  Santa Fe, NM 87505

Macayos - Phoenix AZ

March 12, 2012

This was our last night in Phoenix and I still hadn't had my chimichanga. And I knew this place was supposed to be famous for their chimichangas and said they were the home of the chimichanga. When we went in which was early we were seated right away. The first thing I noticed was all the bright colors red orange yellow blues greens and a couple of fake parrots sitting around.

They brought our drinks and a bowl of chips and with two bowls of salsa (both the same). This wasn't all that great but it was all right and definitely the worst of the trip. All three of us decided to get the chimichanga dinner special for $8.99 which came with choice of beef or chicken and one side.   For a higher price you can get two sides. I had the chicken chimichanga and I think my parents have the beef. My mom and I both got rice and my dad had both rice and beans.

We all thought the chimichanga was good but not the best chimichanga ever but was a pretty solid one. This was also topped with what they called relleno sauce. I don't know if I really liked this sauce it was kind of like a tomatoey sauce that was a little different than I've ever had on a chimichanga. The chimichanga was nice and crispy even with the sauce.

This was a good chimichanga not the best, but good.  I also liked how you didn’t have to have rice and beans, unless you want both.

1909 West Thunderbird Road Phoenix, AZ 85023

Grimaldis Pizza - Peoria AZ

March 11, 2012

After spring training game in surprise Arizona we thought we would stop at Grimaldi's pizza. Last year we went to the location in Gilbert which was really good. We got there at the time when the fire is stoked, so we could be seated and order salads and put in our pizza order, but they weren’t actually cooking the pizzas. So we were seated right next to the kitchen where you can see in. This I thought was really interesting to just watch them make the pizzas and how fast they were doing it. We decided to get two large pizzas a sausage and mushroom and a pepperoni. We did have to wait a little bit before they started making the pizzas, but it wasn’t too bad.  When the pizzas came they  were both really good.  Even though I normally don't like sausage on my pizza I still thought it it was good.

I thought the pepperoni pizza was really great simple but great. 

With a good thin crust that was a little charred, tomato sauce and mozzarella along with really good pepperoni.

9788 West Northern Avenue #1440  Peoria, AZ 85345

Nicks Diner - Surprise AZ

March 11, 2012

We were headed out to a spring training game in surprise Arizona and breakfast sounded good, so I did a quick Internet search before we headed out.   This place was kind of crowded when we got there all the tables were full and there were a handful of people waiting. They said it would be about 10 to 15 minute wait, but I think we got in before that long. I decided to get the breakfast sandwich with scrambled eggs and bacon with cheddar on sourdough. I can't quite remember what my parents got but I think it was kind of a basic breakfast which they really liked.

My sandwich also came with breakfast potatoes which I didn't think they were all that good but not terrible. My sandwich was rather basic and not too exciting. I did think the bacon was pretty good. I thought this place was not very exciting, but was an all right breakfast and it was cheap and was a very good value as well.

15693 North Reems Road  Surprise, AZ 85374