Review La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
This is a review of La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant at McHenry Ave, Modesto CA. The wife and I had a few errands to run on a weekday and like most times she decided to add lunch to our itinerary. I asked her what she wanted to eat and all I got was Mexican food. Now we haven’t been to a sit down Mexican food restaurant in quite awhile. So we have found that all our regular places have closed over the years and its left us with having to find a new favorite restaurant in the Mexican food category.
Store front La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
Let the search begin
So with the category picked by my wife, it was time to start looking. I drove to the start of McHenry Ave. Two of our errands were going to be located on that street. It’s a long street with a lot of commercial buildings and I was hopeful that a Mexican restaurant would pop up that would pique our interest enough to warrant a stop and possibly grazing. We kept passing closed restaurants that we had frequented. It was starting to look dismal, even if it was very early into the search.
As we were nearing McHenry Village, I thought I remembered a restaurant in the village shopping center that served Mexican food. As we got to the place I found my memory had failed me. It definitely was not Mexican food. We continued on with my intention to leave the village and continue the search down the Avenue. But as we rounded the building I noticed a sign on the corner of the building.
On the corner of the building under the sign was a painted “57” Chevy. I asked her(my wife) if she wanted to try it. You know the old adage “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush“ We did a quick Yelp check and it was time to go in.
Read Cynthia N.‘s review of La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant & Bar on Yelp
Getting a seat
We walked in at just the right time. The lunch crowd was leaving and tables were opening up. We were greeted by the hostess and had our choice of dining room or bar. Dining room it was. She guided us to a table and one of the staff brought over a bowl of chips with salsa and bean dip and took our drink order before the dust could even settle. Great service, check. This is starting to look very promising.
Chips and Salsa La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
The environment
The dining room appeared very pleasant and very clean. It was not noisy but half of the room was being blocked off by a large curtain divider because of the low number of diners at this time. So I didn’t get to see the back half of the room. The music played over the sound system was at the right volume. Not so loud that you couldn’t hold a conversation and not so soft that you would have to strain to understand the song.
We were looking over the menus. There were the usual tacos and burritos. There was also a good number of specialty items(I usually call these signature pieces) along with a lunch special by the weekday type menu. Our server came over to the table.
Christen from La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
Knock my socks off!
Our server was Christen. I explained to him that this was our first time at his establishment.
Now when I first visit a new restaurant I always ask the server for their take on what would be a good item to order to “knock my socks off” and guarantee that I will definitely want to come back. What this does for me is to let me know how well the server is acquainted with the menu. Also if the item is a signature piece I know that I’m going to get the best of the best on the menu.
Enchiladas La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
Enchiladas Caseras
Christen suggested the Enchiladas Caseras. But he suggested that I order it the way that he does which is to split the meat into two enchiladas of one kind of meat and the other two enchiladas with another kind of meat. He listed off the meats available and I picked a standard beef and a not so standard pastor for the other two.
My wife gravitated to the nachos fiesta. She ordered them with the meat option. She chose chicken. So we were all set for our taste test.
Nachos La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
It seemed like we had just ordered when the order came to the table. It took me by surprise it was so quick. Super fast service, check. A server who knows the menu, check. Also, he knows what will best show off the culinary talents of his business, check.
The food arrives
The enchiladas were not your standard type of enchilada. A normal enchilada is a rolled corn or flour tortilla stuffed with filling covered in sauce with cheese sprinkled over the top. These were not those.
These were four light sauce dipped corn tortillas, folded in half, that held the meat(optional) from spilling out enchiladas. Not your everyday baked enchilada. A layer of sliced cabbage greens with some thinly sliced avocado topped them. Also, some cheese sprinkled over the enchiladas provided the finishing touch. A small dollop of sour cream was on the side.
The experience
This was the best experience I have ever had eating enchiladas. The beef/pastor was tender, the tortillas were soft. The pastor was well seasoned. The sauce was not overpowering and brought everything together beautifully. But it was the greens and avocado that really made the dish. The added greens and avocado added a lightness and freshness to the entire dish.
Now, normally I prefer flour tortillas on enchiladas. But I must state that these corn tortilla enchiladas were the best I have ever had. The feeling I got was that this was a special experience as if I were having them for the first time. I could not stop eating them.
To Christen, consider this post my official recognition of having my socks knocked off, check. I have found a new Mexican restaurant and it is my favorite for enchiladas.
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(Mybusyretiredlife.com All Rights Reserved)
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