La Condesa

Last night, Alex, Sasha, and I ate at La Condesa at 1001 N. Ashland. (Interesting note: Every review of La Condesa I found--TOC, Metromix, Trib--all gave only this address for the restaurant. But once we got there, we saw that it was a chain, with several locations on the west and southwest sides. 1001 N. Ashland is in a rapidly gentrifying area, while these other places remain largely working-class Latino neighborhoods. Hmm.)

Anyway, we went there because it was on TOC's list of the Top 5 margaritas in the city. The other places on the list either didn't serve food or served rather expensive food (or rather expensive margaritas), so we went to this one. And the margarita was really good. It definitely used fresh lime juice and had a good balance of flavors, though it was probably on the sweeter, less alcoholy side. We ordered a pitcher because it seemed more cost-efficient, and we certainly got a pitcher. In fact, we got three full glasses plus a beer-sized pitcher. The pitcher had a decent amount of ice in it, which probably saved us from really feeling the effects.

The food was really good too. I ate chicken flautas, which came with rice and beans and sour cream and guacamole. I really like the deep-fried goodness of flautas, but I wasn't really a fan of their chicken filling. It was kind of stringy. I think that always happens to me when I order chicken at Mexican food places, though, so I should learn to just not do it. Everything else, though, was excellent. The guacamole was relatively smooth and not too full of cilantro, just the way I like it.

Alex had cheese enchiladas. I had a moment of panic when I first looked through the menu and couldn't find anything vegetarian, and the seafood options were pricey. But then I spotted the enchiladas and felt much better about life. They had several varieties of sauces for the enchiladas. Alex got the Suiza sauce. We don't know what that means, but it was good. The enchiladas were loaded with cheese and cream and more cheese--I think several different kinds of cheese. Yummy.

Sasha had beef tacos. She said they were really good, but I didn't try them. Sasha and I both really wanted ceviche, so we split an appetizer of their shrimp version (Alex had some too). It was pretty good; I especially liked the addition of avocado to the fish and tomatoes. I think I prefer non-shrimp ceviche, though. I think it pickles better and has a better texture.

The chips and salsa they gave us at the beginning were pretty delicious too. I'm not a big salsa person, since it's usually too spicy for me, but I really liked this one. It had nice big pieces of tomatoes and onions, good for piling on a chip.

I think the margaritas were the best part though. They were really good.