I wrote off Tortilla Grill after the tortilla chip incident of '99--a painful stab in the mouth that soured my experience there... But on December 22nd, after a long day of wrapping up my Christmas cookie sweatshop and driving to my parent's house, Justin and I needed margaritas and Tex-Mex food and Tortilla Grill was the only place still serving at 9pm (what is up with that, by the way? Â I am so spoiled by city livin', I guess). Â
Let me say that this was a very odd experience. Â We walked in and noted that while AC/DC was blasting (interesting choice for a Tex-Mex restaurant), there were only 4 other patrons in the entire cavernous place, which made me even more surprised that it took a few minutes to be seated. Â We ordered our margaritas (first couple sips, good; rest of the drink, watered-down), enjoyed the chips and salsa and placed an order for some good old queso. Â Not authentic queso fundido, mind you (although that is on the menu)--we're talking melted Velveeta and Rotel tomatoes. Â Low brow and mighty delicious. Â Justin thought the chicken in his taco and enchilada was very good and I liked my little bowl of "drunken beans" (pintos) and rice. Â Our server was nice to us even though it was so close to quittin' time and the AC/DC made a smooth transition to Marvin Gaye, so the experience, while certainly a bit unusual, ended up being a pretty good one (3.5 stars). Â I'd go back for the beans and the queso the next time I'm jonesin' for Tex-Mex and in the area, but I'll pass on the margs, thank you very much.