La Casita Mexican Restaurant

There are 2 different types of Mexican food establishments in the HD. The first is "Restaurant Mexican": A place where you and your family can sit down and be greeted with chips/salsa, and have a nicely plated and mildly greasy dinner, also acceptable to take someone out for a date. The second is "Fast Food Mexican": A place where your preferred attack is to go through the drive-thru (most are open 24/7), get your full pound burrito or quick taco fix, and head home with a greasy bag and a soon to be happy stomach. There is nothing wrong with either of the two establishments, it just depends on what your preference is that day. La Casita falls under the category of "Restaurant Mexican", they offer plenty of seating and a well decorated restaurant full of nifty Mexican arts and crafts. First thing served to us was the chips and salsa, the homemade chips were fresh out of the fryer and had a great crunch to them. Unfortunately the salsa left much to be desired, I don't want to be mean about this, but the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with chopped onion. I hoped for a better offering from the main course.

On this blog I will always try whatever the specialty item is on the menu, in this case it was the "La Casita Grande" burrito. The burrito looked to be around a couple pounds, drenched in green sauce and cheese. The burrito was loaded with green chile verde, carne asada, rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo. The burrito looked like a small burlap sack, I immediately felt intimidated but I wasn't going to back down. At first bite I was greeted with a soft tortilla, a mild green sauce, and a large punch from the perfectly cooked green chile verde. The contrast between the pork chunks in the chile verde, and the somewhat overcooked carne asada, made the burrito somewhat of a chore to eat. At times it felt like I was eating a burrito with beef jerkey in it. The guacamole was simple and clean, and the rice/beans complimented the burrito nicely. If the carne asada would've been cooked correctly, this burrito would've been killer! The taste was still great from everything else, but I just couldn't get past the poorly cooked carne asada.

Here is a look at the inside of the burrito, definitely a fork and knife dinner that required plenty of napkins.

In the end I had to hoist the white flag in defeat!

My wife ordered the Steak Fajita platter, here's a picture. She let me try some of her food, the steak and veggies were cooked well, but didn't have any flavor beyond that. I was hoping there would at least be some type of marinade or seasoning, but there was nothing. Lucky enough for La Casita the homemade corn tortillas completely saved the platter, they're thick, flavorful, and had a mild crunch to them. Next time I go back I will definitely be getting an order of Chile Verde with some more of their homemade corn tortillas! In the end, La Casita is worth a second trip, but when it comes to "Restaurant Mexican" food, there are much better establishments in the HD. The service and atmosphere make for a delightful dinner, and the ticket for my wife and myself was just over $30 ("Restaurant Mexican" also comes with a heftier price tag). I will recommend La Casita if you live close to one of their establishments and don't have to go out of your way to get there. A restaurant can't be completely judged by one visit, La Casita shows plenty of promise and the potential for greatness can be tasted in the food, and plenty of HD residents swear by the place (explaining why they're always busy). The lack of attention to detail in the cooking process is what hurt the visit this time around, I will go back though if i'm in the area and want Restaurant Mexican food. I visited the La Casita located at 14977 Palmdale Road in Victorville, there is another location at Spring Valley Lake located at 12170 Spring Valley Parkway in Spring Valley Lake.