Restaurants
They are all pretty much standard.
1/2This chain covers Phoenix, Tucson, and some locations in California. They sell the very best burritos and Mexican food in the area. Most of the restaurants have an eat-in area, but a few are strictly drive up. For $2.75 you get a gigantic burrito (almost too much for one meal). For $5.00 you get Super Nachos which comes in square styrofoam clamshell that holds more meat, beans, guacamole, cheese, sour cream, and sauce than you can scoop up with the chips you get. We haven’t eaten anything from there that wasn’t good.
When we lived in Illinois, we used to shop at a small Mexican grocery store where they made their own chorizo (spicey sausage). Since we left there, we haven’t had good chorizo—until now. This small restaurant is owned by a woman whose sister runs the local tortilla factory (which by the way puts out the best tortillas we have eaten anywhere, short of our own.) It is an amazing find. The size of the servings is huge and the taste is outstanding. Their refried beans are better than most we have had outside of Mexico, their Mexican rice is almost as good as mine, and their chips and salsa are great. They of course use fresh Ochoa tortillas. They serve our favorite Mexican beer, Bohemia, and the staff is very friendly. The restaurant has a kind of famaily air about it and we will indeed go here often.
This is a chain buffet that was recommended by a friend. They had a pretty good-sized selection, although it was kind of difficult to figure out where to go when we first walked in. Their Bourbon Street Chicken was the best item they had that day. For buffet, it was OK. We thought maybe we might go back sometime for their Friday Seafood Buffet.
This place is something like a Sizzler because you go up to the counter and order your meal and then while you are waiting for the entree, you can go through their gigantic buffet/salad bar. The food was pretty good, the service was friendly and the tab was fair.
The restaurant is located in a neighborhood full of houses—not where we would have looked if it hadn’t been recommended to us. It kind of looks like a fancy restaurant in Mexico from the outside—big pink wall surrounding the place with lots of cactus and a few palm trees around the outside. The cactus garden is in their patio area which is in the center of the restaurant. The menu is unusual. They have appetizers like crab stuffed mushroom caps, quesadillas, and nachos. Entrees include steaks, chicken in a cilantro cream sauce, and Mexican lasagna. I wouldn’t exactly describe it as neauvou Mexican, but that is as close as I can get. The portions are very generous and the food was excellent. Their dessert tray included a number of delicious-looking cream style pies and cakes. I had a peanut butter and chocolate, Gary had a warm apple cake and my brother and his wife shared raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake. The person who recommended this restaurant describes it as “fine dining in Casa Grande”. That’s fair. We will definitely go here again.
Yet another Mexican restaurant in Casa Grande. Can you believe we found another good one? (Well with as much as we like Mexican food, I guess it makes sense.) This restaurant is in Oldtown Casa Grande and has an atmosphere that is different from Ochoa’s. Where Ochoa’s is definitely a family style place, Cynthia’s seems more like a business lunch place. The food is just as good, but different and a little more pricey (but not that much). The portions are gigantic, the service is friendly and the walls are decorated with stencils that are very reminiscent of Mexico. This is another place we will definitely go back to.
Groceries
