Casa Jimenez
20120707:
At some point, I thought to myself, this place isn't too busy for a Saturday night (there seemed to be more customers as we were leaving, but still not many). Now either the service was slow because the business was slow, or the business was slow, because the service was slow. Perhaps the place would benefit from a bell that's triggered by customers entering, or a bell at the cashier stand, so that the cashier/waiter/server, who often disappeared into the back, would know when he might be needed in front.
If I remember correctly, the cashier/waiter/server was in the front when we arrived, but perhaps there were no other customers there when we arrived. Maybe the person managing the front is also helping with the food in the back.
Anyhow, we saw there was an all-you-can-eat option and decided to go with that.
I wrote: "Salad. My first try at probably sunflower seeds. Seems okay. Carnitas bottom right, crunchy exterior. Almost dry, but good. Tastes like fried chicken." 7:05 PM PDT
I wrote: "Chile colorado. Top right. Delicious. Indeed nice chile flavor. Yum yum. I like the chicken taco. The meat soaked up the juices. At most three at time. Waiter confirmed whether that we didn't need more beans and rice. We still had a bunch on our plates, and we answered that we didn't." 7:18 PM PDT
Both Josh and I didn't like the refried beans. Of course, refried beans in general isn't easy to eat on its own. It's definitely welcome in seven-layer dip. Today, I was able to eat a portion of mine by mixing it with the sauce from the chile colorado. If we came back to Casa Jimenez and got the all-you-can-eat option again, then we would remember to ask if they could omit the refried beans. I might also omit the rice.
I wrote: "Beef taquitos. Average tasting. Though different from the ones I'm used to having from the frozen aisle in stores. The exterior is crunchy as opposed to soft, using the same tortilla that's used in forming the taco shell here. I don't like the beef taco as much as the chicken taco. Tamale. I didn't like the ratio of the filling to the shell. Perhaps if the exterior soaked up more of the sauce I would have liked it better." 7:38 PM PDT
I haven't had a tamale in a long, long time and thought I should take the opportunity to try one. Unfortunately, I didn't like it. There just wasn't enough meat inside to satisfy me. I recall one close call or possibly incident I had in high school was coming over to a friend's house and his mom was making tamales for dinner. I was invited to stay and I was delighted. However, the sauce had peanuts added and so I had to not eat or stop eating it. Actually, now that I think about it, it could have been neither. Maybe I was just extra cautious, because I once had mole (pronounced MOLE-lay) with peanuts as an ingredient, but his mom's tamale in fact didn't use peanuts.
For my final words, I wrote: "I'm also getting pretty full. Chile verde has a nice spice. Full... I don't like the refried beans lining the tortilla in Josh's chimichanga." 7:46 PM PDT
Actually, I summarized: "2.25 plus 2.25 for drinks instead of 2.00 plus 0.50 refill. Blah. Anyhow, 10.75 for all-you-can-eat. Not so busy a place. Slow service." 8:12 PM PDT
We finish our visit on a bad note, getting billed $2.25 for each horchata Josh ordered, when on the menu it says $2.00 for one and $0.50 for a refill. To be fair, when Josh had asked for a refill, the server said there's no refills, but we probably both took it to mean, there are no free refills. When we inquired about the charge, he explained the cost and our reference to the incorrect menu didn't mean anything.
The murals on the walls and overall surroundings are nice. But I'm not enthusiastic about the food or service. I probably wouldn't go here again, at least not for a while. In contrast, Josh expresses light-hearted anger about the incorrect horchata pricing on the menu along with some desire to return.
[20120713]
Casa Jimenez
Relevant Links:
Casa Jimenez - Huntington Beach, CA (Yelp.com)
Refried beans (Wikipedia.org)
Tamale (Wikipedia.org)
Chimichanga (Wikipedia.org)
At some point, I thought to myself, this place isn't too busy for a Saturday night (there seemed to be more customers as we were leaving, but still not many). Now either the service was slow because the business was slow, or the business was slow, because the service was slow. Perhaps the place would benefit from a bell that's triggered by customers entering, or a bell at the cashier stand, so that the cashier/waiter/server, who often disappeared into the back, would know when he might be needed in front.
If I remember correctly, the cashier/waiter/server was in the front when we arrived, but perhaps there were no other customers there when we arrived. Maybe the person managing the front is also helping with the food in the back.
 |
| Top: beans, chile colorado; Bottom: rice, taco, carnitas |
Anyhow, we saw there was an all-you-can-eat option and decided to go with that.
I wrote: "Salad. My first try at probably sunflower seeds. Seems okay. Carnitas bottom right, crunchy exterior. Almost dry, but good. Tastes like fried chicken." 7:05 PM PDT
I wrote: "Chile colorado. Top right. Delicious. Indeed nice chile flavor. Yum yum. I like the chicken taco. The meat soaked up the juices. At most three at time. Waiter confirmed whether that we didn't need more beans and rice. We still had a bunch on our plates, and we answered that we didn't." 7:18 PM PDT
Both Josh and I didn't like the refried beans. Of course, refried beans in general isn't easy to eat on its own. It's definitely welcome in seven-layer dip. Today, I was able to eat a portion of mine by mixing it with the sauce from the chile colorado. If we came back to Casa Jimenez and got the all-you-can-eat option again, then we would remember to ask if they could omit the refried beans. I might also omit the rice.
 |
| Left to right: tamale, beef taco, taquitos. |
I wrote: "Beef taquitos. Average tasting. Though different from the ones I'm used to having from the frozen aisle in stores. The exterior is crunchy as opposed to soft, using the same tortilla that's used in forming the taco shell here. I don't like the beef taco as much as the chicken taco. Tamale. I didn't like the ratio of the filling to the shell. Perhaps if the exterior soaked up more of the sauce I would have liked it better." 7:38 PM PDT
I haven't had a tamale in a long, long time and thought I should take the opportunity to try one. Unfortunately, I didn't like it. There just wasn't enough meat inside to satisfy me. I recall one close call or possibly incident I had in high school was coming over to a friend's house and his mom was making tamales for dinner. I was invited to stay and I was delighted. However, the sauce had peanuts added and so I had to not eat or stop eating it. Actually, now that I think about it, it could have been neither. Maybe I was just extra cautious, because I once had mole (pronounced MOLE-lay) with peanuts as an ingredient, but his mom's tamale in fact didn't use peanuts.
For my final words, I wrote: "I'm also getting pretty full. Chile verde has a nice spice. Full... I don't like the refried beans lining the tortilla in Josh's chimichanga." 7:46 PM PDT
 |
| Josh's chimichanga and chile verde |
Actually, I summarized: "2.25 plus 2.25 for drinks instead of 2.00 plus 0.50 refill. Blah. Anyhow, 10.75 for all-you-can-eat. Not so busy a place. Slow service." 8:12 PM PDT
We finish our visit on a bad note, getting billed $2.25 for each horchata Josh ordered, when on the menu it says $2.00 for one and $0.50 for a refill. To be fair, when Josh had asked for a refill, the server said there's no refills, but we probably both took it to mean, there are no free refills. When we inquired about the charge, he explained the cost and our reference to the incorrect menu didn't mean anything.
The murals on the walls and overall surroundings are nice. But I'm not enthusiastic about the food or service. I probably wouldn't go here again, at least not for a while. In contrast, Josh expresses light-hearted anger about the incorrect horchata pricing on the menu along with some desire to return.
[20120713]
Casa Jimenez
Relevant Links:
Casa Jimenez - Huntington Beach, CA (Yelp.com)
Refried beans (Wikipedia.org)
Tamale (Wikipedia.org)
Chimichanga (Wikipedia.org)
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