El Cajete

Pretty solid Mexican joint for Northern Indiana. Stopped in with the fam and had quite the enjoyable experience. Service was fair throughout; the fresh chips and salsa were quickly devoured, but quickly replenished. The sides of guac were better than most, fresh, perfect amount of salt and lime. Tried some tacos; tongue and carne asada. Well-seasoned, but a couple pieces of grisel in the steak had to be spit out. Tongue was cooked properly, and the cilantro and onion were fresh cut. Chicken fajitas were run of the mill, which isn't a bad thing. Everything you want, great seasoning, green peppers, caramelized onions, and smoke and sizzle on the way out. My daughters quesadilla was average, maybe less cheese than most. Everyone seemed to enjoy their accompanying beans, rice, and side salads. Consistent wait staff, consistent food, consistent prices.... sounds good in my book. I'm a fan.

This place replaced the Santoyo's (Mexican buffet) that used to be here.  

Recently someone said to me you can tell how good a Mexican restaurant is by their chips and salsa.  The salsa here is great.  You can also get a hot version of the salsa, and it's got a nice smokiness to it.  The chips appear to be made of flour tortillas instead of corn, which is fine.  It's different and that's nice.

I went with a group of 5 people, and 2 of us got the special of the day (Torta, rice and beans), one guy got a burrito, and 2 people got steak nachos.

The steak nachos are more of a "appetizer" but you can try and tackle them on your own.  They are fully loaded and really could be a meal for 2 people.  The burrito my friend got was also huge, came with lettuce, guac, and other toppings.  He said it was good.

The Torta was huge.  I was expecting a homemade bun, and this appeared to be homemade - it was definitely fresh and didn't look or taste processed.  The bun or roll was the size of a small loaf of bread they sometimes bring you at steak or other fancy restaurants.  I got mine with milanesa, a breaded flat steak.  It was loaded with some refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avacado, jalapenos.  I mean, it was LOADED.  It was the special, so it was $6.99.  A more than fair price.  I was so full after eating here that I didn't eat dinner that night.

I would give this 5 stars if there was a bit more ambiance to it, but it's a clean restaurant, the waitress was great, and the drink cups are HUGE. You can't go wrong with this place.

Went to this place with a local who had a recommendation from a Mexican friend.  We had a good experience and perhaps the last review was a wake up call to the owner.  

Our waitress was extremely attentive and friendly first of all.  They do NOT have a liquor license to serve but do have other traditional Mexican drinks (and Mexican Coke).  My mother-in-law, whom I was with, said she thought you could byob, but I would double check on that.

Chips and salsa was brought to the table and the salsa was watery (not terrible) but watery.  We asked if they had other salsas, and they do, which are fabulous!  One is a tomatillo and the other was red, spicy and flavorful.  Both were in like a plastic ketchup bottle with the tip cut open wide.  I have had salsa served like that before so I was not taken aback by it.  I wonder though if it was something from the "line" in the kitchen, but whatever the case it was much better than the first salsa.  The chips were a little different texture (almost a little flaky) but were salty and good.

We ordered the guacamole as a side and it was plenty for both of us.  Very good and fresh.

My mother-in-law's friend said to ask for the dish NOT on the menu, CAJETE.  WOW, WOW, WOW!  This is a beautiful vessel of fajta style meats and veggie layers served with tortillas, rice and beans, guac and sour cream.  You really need to share this with a friend and just order extra tortillas.  Shrimp, chicken, steak, chorizo, grilled cactus, peppers, onions, tomatoes all perfectly cooked and seasoned.   Beans and rice were also good.

Maybe if this dish is asked for enough they will put it on the menu.