Villasenor's

Tried this restaurant and thought it was marginally good overall. The atmosphere was comfortable and old fashioned. The service was trying, but a little low on the amount of staff present. Menu was large, and prices, for Mexican, seemed pretty high.

Ordered a combination with some beef taco and tamale, rice, beans, all that. The beans are definitely pretty heavy... I'd skip those next time.  The rice is okay. The tamale and taco were of a well shredded and pretty well seasoned beef variety. The tamale was topped with some good, not at all greasy cheese and lots of a pretty neutral sauce. While the food was definitely not too exciting in terms of the spice level, it was still good tasting and satisfying enough.

Oh, the chips. ... those. The chips tasted fresh made, but tasted a bit "off." Maybe it was old oil, maybe it was burnt oil, maybe it was oil someone just fried fish in. Whatever it was, it did not help the chips. The salsa that came with the chips was unremarkable. The mild salsa was more like a watery tomato sauce with some random vegetable chunks in it and the hot was similar but with some extra spiciness; the hot version was tolerable.

I am reflecting about this place as we drive up to Olympia, Washington and I listen to Teenage Fanclub.

(+1) I believe they might have been the only place in the city with liquor.
(+1) Signs saying they have great horchata.
(-1) They were out of previously mentioned horchata.
(-1) Lard in their beans... veggie sadness.
(+1) Great salsa and endless chips!
(+1) Super nice wait-staff. Fast, nice, good service.

The lard thing though, no compromise there. It was heart-breaking.

Decent food, and nice atmosphere. Good, quick service.

I got the tacos and they were good, although they were of the hard variety, not the soft as I expected. Rice and beans were tasty and it seemed that the restaurant attracted a good amount of locals and some touristy people. I thought that the prices were a little higher than other locations, but it does have a full sized restaurant and some entertainment.