Broomfield Restaurant Reviews

Habanero’s is a little Mexican quick service restaurant now located where Tacqueria mi Barrio and Tacqueria Tamayo used to be.  I’ve been there 3 or 4 times now, and have enjoyed it every time.

They have a larger staff than before.  Although the main cook who used to work at the previous two places is still there, there’s now a boss lady and a man who works the counter.  And they’re fully bilingual, unlike the cook, who has a little difficulty in English.

The menu changed, too.  Instead of just tacos, now they serve burritos, tostadas, tortas, and a few other things.  I especially like their breakfast burritos and egg plate.  Also, if you go, be sure to try their charro beans; they’re delicious!  Each day there are typically about 3 specials.  For example, today they had menudo (it’s Saturday), fish ceviche tostadas, shrimp ceviche tostadas, and fresh made guacamole and chips.

Since the remodel, the place is definitely updated and cleaner.  And they’ve always got the big screen TV turned to Spanish language channels.  Prices for main dishes are very good, but the side dishes are a bit steep.  For example, a side of charro beans is $2.50.  You get enough for 2 or maybe 3 people, though.

Todd’s briefest restaurant review so far: Little Anita’s now has a store in Broomfield, where the Burger King near Miramonte and 287 used to be.  It’s a chain of New Mexican restaurants.  I like the food, and they serve Mexican Coke.  I don’t like that they switched to full service.  For a place like this, I’d prefer to just order at a counter and save the tip.

Best item: huevos rancheros

Worst item: carnitas

1080 US 287
Broomfield, CO 80020
(303) 465-3011

There’s a new Mexican restaurant in town, on 136th.  It’s Corona’s.  I went there for lunch recently with some coworkers and tried a few things.  But I haven’t been back, so this review is going to be a bit short.

First, they have a website, though it’s still under construction as I’m writing this.

They don’t have a special lunch menu, but their menu does list 9 different types of chile (which they spell as “chili”) on the back.  They’ve got hot, medium, and mild green “chili”.  And then they’ve got salsa verde, pico de gallo, salsa especial, chile colorado (which I’d call enchilada sauce), and salsa roja (which they serve with chips).

I was also pleased to see they have horchata and jamaica on the menu, so I ordered a glass of jamaica.  But it was so incredibly sweet – sweeter by far than any jamaica I’ve had in Mexico or the US – that I couldn’t stand to drink it.  So I traded it in for a glass of horchata, which was just fine.

To eat, I ordered a half size torta with carnitas, plus a bowl of medium green chile (excuse me, I should say “chili”).  The torta was pretty good, though I think I like them more without lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.  If it were up to me, I think I’d just put guacamole and sliced pickled jalapenos and meat on the sandwich, possibly with a thin layer of mayo.  The medium chile was tasty, but too spicy for me to eat as a soup.  If I get it again, I’ll order the mild for sure.

Service overall was so-so, I guess.  We sat outside because the weather was nice, so I can’t speak to the ambiance inside the restaurant.  But I sure appreciated the al fresco dining option.  And I thought the prices were a little high; the bowl of chile was $5.65, and the horchata was $2.65, with regular Coke type drinks selling for $2.25.

I’d go back, but next time I want to try something that may be more in their sweet spot, like the carne asada plate.

Corona’s Mexican Grill
303-466-6600
2255 West 136th Ave. Suite 172
Broomfield, CO 80023

Can you believe there’s a Mexican restaurant in Broomfield that I haven’t reviewed?  There is, and it’s called Chico’s Mexican Food.  I’d seen the place for years, but I always thought that side of the street was considered Westminster.  But it’s Broomfield.

So I went in recently with a coworker for some lunch, and was served by none other than Chico himself.  He founded the restaurant over 20 years ago.  I don’t know if it’s always been in this location, but it’s currently near the corner of 128th (which is also Midway) and Lowell, right next to the 7-Eleven store.

Chico’s is a small, unpretentious place.  I think he has only about 4 tables in the whole place.  When we came to the counter to order, the proprietor encouraged us to put something on the one table that was free, so someone else wouldn’t take it.  Also there were a few regulars, a couple kids on summer break, and a pinball machine.

One of the regulars was hassling Chico about the green chile not being hot enough.  Chico turned back to the window leading to the kitchen and yelled, “Hey Ma, Mike says the chile’s not hot enough.”  And then Chico told the guy (Mike, I guess) that he only gave him half mild and half hot because he didn’t think he could handle the hot.  After this back-and-forth, you can imagine I had to order the hot.  Specifically, I ordered the “Tamale Plate” with hot green chile on top.  I think I said “tamales plate” since I couldn’t figure out if the overhead menu meant “tamal plate” (in which case I’d get one) or the “tamales plate” (in which case I’d get more than one).  I wanted more than one, so I said “tamales.”  Anyhow, Chico snorted and gave me the “tamale plate” which is really just one tamal plus rice and beans and chile.  Not wanting to get into a Mexican grammar argument with a Mexican-American, I just shut up and ate.

The chile was indeed pretty darn spicy.  So I don’t know what Mike was complaining about.  Any hotter and it would’ve interfered with the flavor of the dish.  The beans were also very tasty, thanks to the generous addition of lard in the kitchen.

Speaking of which, my coworker wanted a vegetarian burrito, but Chico pointed out that “everything” is cooked with lard and the only vegetarian item on the menu is the quesadilla.  So, in the end, said coworker ordered his egg and potato burrito anyhow, but with red chile (which doesn’t have chunks of pork like the green).  Not really vegetarian, but the closest thing you can reasonably get, I guess.

The tamale plate didn’t fill me quite up, and I wanted to try their guacamole, so I ordered a guacamole tostada.  I wasn’t very impressed with the guac, and the tostada seemed like it came out of a box instead of being homemade.  Chico said they make their own guacamole there, but from the taste of it, I wasn’t convinced it was fresh.  So that was a bit of a bust.

The day I was there, just about everyone was ordering the Mexican hamburger.  So on my next trip, that’s what I’m going to try.

Finally, I should point out the prices are very reasonable.  The tamale plate was $4.35 and the guacamole tostada was $2.20.  A deluxe burrito with bean and beef is only $3.85.  The menu also lists a “Family Pack” which is 5 bean & cheese burritos, 5 beef tacos, and 5 bean tostadas for $21.99.

Chico’s Mexican Food
12920 Lowell Blvd.
Broomfield, CO 80020
303-469-0553

UPDATED 8/7/2010: La Casita has moved since I wrote this review.  I have updated the address below.  Their menu is still mostly the same, but they are now in a larger space formerly occupied by Lucky Four Cafe, behind Target.  It’s a very popular place for breakfast now, it seems.

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I don’t know what’s taken me so long to write something about this little gem of a Mexican restaurant.  It’s located in the strip mall across the street from Target – the same one that has the Big Dog Deli, the former Hot Shotz wings place, and the future new Indian restaurant.  I’ve gone to La Casita probably half a dozen times over the past few years.  I’m not sure what changed, but the food this past time was noticeably better than before.

It’s a family owned business, open every day except  Monday.  They offer delivery and take out in addition to table service.  Their menu says, “The Castro Family is proud to serve our customers authentic food that we prepare just like we do back in Mexico.”  I didn’t realize they’re open for breakfast, but now that I know I want to try their chilaquiles.

Last time I went, I had a torta, which was the lunch special of the day.  It was a very tasty sandwich on a perfectly toasted sub roll.  I also had a side dish of guacamole; it was tasty, but too much for a single person to eat.  It was especially too much given that the torta had guacamole spread on the bread.

The previous time I went, I had the carnitas platter.  It’s your basic carnitas, rice, beans, and tortillas.  The meat isn’t very spicy, and my only complaint was that they didn’t offer any salsas to round it out.  For $7.50, the price seems right.  Dinner prices and lunch prices are the same, since you get the same thing.

In addition to the 22 “Lunch & Dinner Plates” they also offer a variety of burritos in lots of combinations – supreme, veggie smothered, pork smothered, etc.  And they have 8 kinds of tacos: pollo, carnitas, barbacoa, buche, asada, al pastor, lengua, and tripas.

I’d also like to try some things from their “Specialty Items” menu, such as their queso fundido, a guacamole tostada, and maybe their sopes.

I can’t speak for how their delivery service is since I haven’t used it, but they say they have free deliver with a $15 minimum order, and a delivery radius of 5 miles.

Hours are:

Monday to Thursday: 8am to 9pm
Friday and Saturday: 8am to 10pm
Sunday: 8am to 7pm

La Casita de Durango
145 Nickel St
Broomfield, CO 80020
303-410-4942

I finally got a chance to try this taqueria in north Longmont. I’d seen it months ago, while driving through town, but didn’t stop. It’s not fancy, by any means, but what real taqueria is? It’s basically a fast food joint, with a couple dozen plastic booths filled with Mexican families. The menu is all in Spanish, but the girl at the counter speaks English. Best of all, they have tacos al pastor made the traditional way, with the meat cut off a rotating spindle like gyros (or shouarma in Israel).

I had sopes al pastor. The plate was so covered with shredded lettuce and queso fresco that I could barely even find the sopes, but it was all tasty. They have a nice salsa bar, with all the usual Mexican styles of salsa. And they have all the Jarritos flavors that I’m aware of, so I was able to get my tamarindo in a bottle. Hurray!

Someone (the shop owners, perhaps?) were trying to sell a bunch of DVDs and CDs in the store, as there were discs in their cases piled up all along one wall. This seemed to be a hit with the kids, who thumbed through all the Mexican pop stars giddily. In one corner of the restaurant, there was a dessert bar. I didn’t check it out, but it looked like they were making fresh fruit smoothies over there, but I also saw a guy walk by with a huge bag of chicharones. At least that’s what I thought they probably were.

The food was alright, but nothing outstanding. The ambience was on the blah side. All told, if I’m in north Longmont and having a craving for tacos, I’d go again, but I don’t feel a desire to drive all the way there from Broomfield just for the food.

Instead, I’d go to Taqueria Mi Barrio, our own local taqueria. The food there is just as good, if not better. And the service is more personal. Plus it’s only 2 miles from my house, instead of 20.

2333 Main St. #A

Longmont, CO 80501

303-772-7173

Update August 7, 2010: A few months ago, this restaurant closed down for remodeling and reopened as Habanero’s.

Update February 24, 2008: The name of this restaurant has changed.  It used to be “Tacos Tamayo” and is now called “Taqueria mi Barrio”.  The cook and menu are still the same.

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I was in the mood for some Mexican food for lunch today, so I visited Tacos Tamayo. I’ve been there a couple times before. Tamayo is a tacqueria located in the strip mall on Highway 287 between the car dealership and Dairy Queen.

Tacos Tamayo is a counter service type place. You place your order, then pick it up a few minutes later at the counter, and then pay when you’re finished. The menu is pretty extensive, with six or seven dishes that come with four or five different types of meat.

It’s pretty authentic Mexican, and all three times I’ve visited, I have been the only person in the join speaking English. That said, the counter staff (a woman who takes the orders and works the cash register, and a man who does most of the cooking – maybe they’re the Tamayos, I’m not sure) speaks decent English and almost all the menu is in both Spanish and English.

Today I noticed they had a menu of daily specials on the wall. The specials are all $5.00, which is tough to beat! Today (Monday) the special was chilaquiles con huevo. I’d never had chilaquiles before, so I had to try it! The special includes a can of pop to drink, which makes it an even better deal.

It took a while to prepare my lunch, perhaps 15 minutes. It was a plate that had chilaquiles, two fried eggs, and some refried beans with grated cheese, plus a basket of several very hot corn tortillas. Don’t know what chilaquiles are? Essentially, they’re pieces of corn tortilla that have been “chile-fied” – sauteed in chile.

Speaking of which, if you’ll allow me to go off on a tangent for a moment, I learned just a couple weeks ago what “enchilada” means. It’s really short for “tortilla enchilada” which means, basically, “chile-fied tortilla”. In other words, when you infuse a tortilla with chile, you get a tortilla enchilada.

Anyhow, chilaquiles are often served with chicken or steak. But in this case, they were served with eggs. From what I know, the eggs are often served on top of the chile-fied tortilla pieces, but at Tamayo they’re served on the side. Regardless, it was obvious they should go together, so I ate them in the same bite.

I noticed the beans were nicely flavored. Perhaps some extra garlic or onion in addition to the salt and (probably) lard, but I’m not sure.

Anyhow, since the main part of the entree was tortilla pieces, there wasn’t much need to serve a big pile of tortillas on the side, but I got them anyhow, and ended up eating two or three of them.

All in all, it was a very tasty meal. I don’t give Tacos Tamayo high marks for ambience, but for five bucks it’s hard to beat. I walked out with a good lunch and a Coke for $5.41 including the tax.

Oh, one additional note. The menu says they have horchata, but I asked for it the first two times I went in and they said they don’t really have it. I didn’t want to explain – in either English or Spanish – that I thought they should take it off the menu board if they never have it. So I didn’t bother asking this time.

1384 US Highway 287
Broomfield, CO 80020
(303) 439-7921

I’d heard good things about this little burrito shop, and decided to try it out tonight. It’s in a little cluster of shops just off Sheridan north of Midway that I never knew even existed! Most of their menu is burritos, as you might expect, though they also offer tamales and tacos. As you can tell from the name, they don’t have any tables; it’s solely for takeout.

I chose a burrito with beans and pork, and then had it upgraded to the “Ultimate Plate” which includes potatoes, sour cream, guacamole, green chile, lettuce, tomatoes, and probably a few other things in there. I tell you – I’m stuffed! The ultimate plate is huge, taking up an entire full size styrofoam takeout container. I couldn’t eat it all.

Their pork is very good, and they include a large portion of it. Their green chile is pretty good, too, but apparently only comes in one level of hotness. I probably should’ve stopped there. The half of the plate not taken up by the smothered burrito was filled with potatoes covered in a bunch of stuff, and the potatoes were soft (not crispy) and bland. Plus, once they piled the sour cream and guacamole onto the burrito it was just too much. The flavor of the burrito itself, which was delicious as far as I could tell, was watered down a bit and the burrito was too “wet”.

As I’d read, the prices are good, which is probably why Burritos to Go caters so much to high school students. Next time I go, I think I’ll just get a pork burrito smothered in chile and grated cheese, and pass on all the extras.

1050 E 10th Ave
Broomfield, CO 80020
(303) 466-2164

Unrelated to the food, I found there is a YouTube videos marginally about Burritos to Go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsvzFfJ9Iw

Even though I really like eating at tiny “hole-in-the-wall” type Mexican restaurants, I think my favorite Mexican joint in Broomfield is 3 Margaritas. I’ve been there twice in the past couple weeks, and probably eight or ten times before that.

On the last visit, I went with my wife and my mother. They both ordered full size entrees, and so I decided to just get a bowl of soup and help my guests with their meals. I’ve learned from other trips that the portions at 3 Margaritas are just huge, and I figured neither Mom nor Beth could finish their meals. Well, not having tried it before, I ordered the caldo de pollo. I assumed it would be a reasonably sized bowl of chicken soup, but it was a huge bowl big enough to serve several people. I think we got three servings out of that one – I ate as much as I could the night we went there, and then Beth and I both had leftovers from it a couple days later. But it was very tasty. I don’t know exactly what caldo de pollo means, but when I saw the bowl they brought it in, I figured it must mean “cauldron of chicken”. It’s got yummy chicken broth; pieces of what must add up to about half a chicken; big chunks of potato, carrots, and other veggies; and a whole plate of extra goodies you can throw in, including cilantro, rice, and avocado.

One other meal of note is the pollo con crema. It comes on a huge plate and is big enough to serve probably 2 to 4 normal people. It’s tasty chunks of chicken cooked with a mildly spicy cream sauce. I’m sure it’s thousands of calories, but very tasty. Beth ordered that one a couple visits ago, and after she ate all she could, I had two more meals of leftovers from it.

Two things I highly recommend from the lunch menu are the mushroom burrito and the salads. They have a separate salad menu now with four different meal-sized salads. I had the one with fish one time and really like it. I’ve never had great green salads in Mexico, but the one I had from 3 Margaritas was good. And another time I had the mushroom (champinion) burrito. If you want a vegetarian option for lunch, this is a great choice. It’s a burrito filled with big chunks of well flavored mushrooms and vegetables.

So I guess my opinion of 3 Margaritas in Broomfield is that they have good food and large portions. Everything I’ve ordered has been above average to great, and it’s my top choice for Mexican food in town.

3 Margaritas
6896 W 120th Ave
Broomfield, CO 80020
(303) 410-8705

My wife and I live very close to this restaurant, which is why I wish I liked it more. Buenos Tiempos is an old time Broomfield tradition, a Mexican restaurant that existed long before we moved here and therefore longer than any other Mexican restaurant I know. Their menu is a mix of “Mexican” food and American food. They’ve got the usual Mexican restaurant combos with burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and so on. And they also have hamburgers and french fries, and stuff like that. The joint seems to be about 50/50 bar and restaurant. Sometimes when I go in the bar is very busy and the restaurant is quiet, and other times it’s just the opposite. I think the prices are good, but the food is only so-so most of the time.

If you’re willing to go with one of the combination platters, you can get 2 or 3 items, plus beans, rice, chips, salsa, and a salad all for $8 to $10. But most of the fare is uninspired. I have had two dishes that were surprisingly good. The first is on the menu all the time, and it’s the tilapia. When I had it about a month ago, I had low expectations but I was really in the mood for fish. It was really good – way different than the usual cheese smothered combo plates. I’d definitely have it again, and it is also surprisingly inexpensive. Also, Buenos Tiempos occasionally has really good dinner specials. I had carnitas there one time that I really liked a lot.

The wait staff is always friendly, though sometimes I wonder if the restaurant is a training ground for other restaurants or something. I hardly ever see the same waitress there twice, so I’m guessing they have moderate turnover.

I do have to say I really like their salsa, which they serve with a warm basket of chips before each meal. It’s very flavorful. Not sure if it’s made there or not, but I like it. Also, they have a variety of margaritas covering all price ranges. The house marg is OK and very inexpensive, while they also have some fancier ones made with top shelf ingredients in the $8 or $9 range.

Buenos Tiempos
1000 Depot Hill Rd # I
Broomfield, CO
(303) 466-6386