Mi Jalisco--2256 S Garey Ave

My meal Cost: under $8 with tip. Health Rating A. 4.5 stars on Yelp

This Mexican restaurant is located in the same shopping center as Tacos Mexico and Pho Noodles & Grill. At 12:30 it had a few customers but was not by any means crowded.

On my arrival, the waitress brought a basket of chips and a small molcajete of salsa to the table and asked to take my beverage order. Very pleasant. The chips were not warm, but were good, not greasy. The salsa was a thin salsa with a good amount of heat, Mrs. C would not have been able to handle it, but I like things a little hotter. Again, my personal preference for a salsa with chips is something more akin to a pico de gallo. A little chunky and a little more mild. But this was pretty good.

The menu is fairly standard Mexican with combos, tacos, fajitas, burritos, etc. When the waitress returned with my drink (iced tea), she asked for my order. I told her that I was thinking of a combo and she informed me that the Chili Rellenos where not ready (??? at 12:30?). I ordered a combo with a taco and a tamale. The combos come with rice and beans. For my taco, I ordered a street taco with lengua (finally got a tongue taco--that wasn't available last week at Tacos Mexico). The taco came with a little sauce, lettuce, and crema. I have had deli tongue in the past and been unimpressed (mostly due to texture). This taco was good. The tongue is a mild flavor and it was quite tender. Again, mild flavor so I probably would prefer carnitas or carne asada, but this was good.

When going to a new, to me, Mexican restaurant I like to judge them by their rice and their tamales. A good tamale and rice ranks high with me. The tamale here was shredded beef topped with cheese and a small amount of a red sauce. The maza was excellent, light and fluffy, not too dense, just the way I like it. The beef was well seasoned. My only comment is that there wasn't enough sauce, so the maza was a little dryer than I would like. However, adding a little of the salsa made it perfect, if a little spicy.

The rice was adequate, nothing special, but OK. All in all, a pretty good meal, and an excellent value for the money.

NEXT UP: Pizza Hut--Same center.