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View the Los
Güeros Grill Menu
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The
big barn-like structure has been converted to a hacienda-like structure |
Tortillas are handmade and delivered warm to your table |
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Fresh
guacamole with your choice of ingredients can be ordered tableside |
The
kid's bean and cheese burrito |
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Carnitas chimichanga |
Jaime's Special |
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German Chocolate cake |
Bananas cooked and sauced |
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DOT COM DINING A Look At San Gabriel
Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
Los Güeros Grill Opens in Pasadena to Provide
Quality Mexican Food
This restaurant is
now called Castaneda's Grill
By Bill Coburn
Los Güeros Grill had its grand opening at 45 N. San
Gabriel in Pasadena on Monday, April 26. Located between Colorado and Foothill
on the west side of San Gabriel, Los Güeros Grill is the latest venture by Jaime
Castaneda, who also owns Los Güeros Sports Bar in Monrovia, and Los Güeros in
Barstow.
As Jaime says right on the
front of the menu, “It is often said that the heart and soul of Mexico resides
in Guadalajara, the country's second largest city and culinary capital. For
centuries, in Guadalajara's grand restaurants, Mexico's rich culture and menu
traditions have come together in a wondrous combination of food and festival.”
Jaime has done his best to create an authentic expression of a grand Guadalajara
restaurant. And I think he’s done a very good job of it.
Before you even enter the
restaurant, you can sense that this is a place that’s going to provide you with
a good time. There is valet parking available (for those of you who, like me,
are too embarrassed about how dirty and cluttered your car is to go to a valet,
the former WAMU building on the northwest corner of San Gabriel and Colorado is
vacant at the moment, with lots of parking spaces). As you walk up to the
building, there is pottery everywhere, and fountains with water trickling, and a
good sized outside seating area. When you go inside, it has the feel of a big,
open hacienda. Polished Spanish tile, Mexican artwork and curios hanging on the
wall, and more pottery. The front half of the building is good sized, with
roughly half of it used as an entrance area with some dining tables, while the
other half is comprised of offices, restrooms, wait stations and kitchen. But
the back half of the restaurant is twice as big, with extra high ceilings that
the front half doesn’t have, because the front half has a loft-like area that
can also be used for ceiling. This place was designed like a barn, but
definitely feels like a hacienda.
Everything about Los Gueros Grill says fresh. As we
walked in, we saw a tortilla station, with fresh tortillas being made to be
delivered to your table fresh and hot. There is a portable guacamole station,
and you can order guacamole to be made at your table, using the ingredients you
select from the station. Folks, I sold avocados as a kid, (to give you an idea
how long ago that was, we sold them for a dime apiece, three for a quarter), but
I have never liked them. I don’t eat avocados, I don’t eat guacamole. But we
ordered some, since Katie will eat it. I decided to try some, expecting to hate
it as always, and I ended up eating it right up until our dinner arrived. Just
what I need, now I like guacamole.
My son ordered the kid’s bean and cheese burrito,
Katie ordered a carnitas chimichanga (fried burrito with pork, prepared carnitas
style), and I ordered Jaime’s Special - a large flour tortilla filled with
grilled chicken, spinach, mushrooms and melted cheese, smothered with enchilada
and tomatillo sauce, and according to the menu, the owner’s favorite.
We all enjoyed our meals. One of the things about
the meal was not just that it tasted good, but that it looked good. Extra care
is given to the presentation of each dinner. You don’t get a little ramekin of
sour cream on the side, you get a dollop of sour cream on a slice of green leafy
lettuce, squeezed from a pastry bag with a swirly dispensing tip, to give it
that fancy-schmanzy appearance. The radishes are cut with a tulip cut, the
beans have a little white cheese sprinkled on top for color, there’s chopped
parsley on the rice and the entrée for color, the sauces on my entrée were split
evenly giving it a painter’s palette like appearance, with grated cheese added
for color and taste. You can see that attention to detail in the presentation
in the full color pictures on the website. There was plenty of food, as the
portions were all good sized, and it was all delicious.
Now, we went in on Tuesday the 27th, because I had a
prior commitment that kept me from making the grand opening. So we were there
for the second night, and naturally, when you have a place that’s that new,
you’re going to expect to experience a glitch or two. Here’s ours: when we
first sat down, I tried to order a beer, but was told that the section I was
sitting in was alcohol-free. Jaime said that the liquor license didn’t cover
the added-on back portion of the building, but that it has been applied for and
should be granted in sixty days or so. Katie tells me that the hostess was
asking people when we walked up if they wanted beer or wine with their meal ,
but that the person who walked up when we got there didn’t ask us, so if you
don’t get asked, you might want to check with them, if you want a glass of wine
or a beer with your dinner. BTW, yes, we did move, and I enjoyed a nice cold
beer with my meal.
For dessert, we ordered a slice of German chocolate
cake that we were going to split three ways, but Jaime insisted that “I’m going
to order you something that you’ve never had in a Mexican restaurant before.”
Well, we got a delicious piece of cake (and gorgeous, too, as the sauces were
swirled all over the plate to make the presentation as exquisite as the
presentation on the dinners), but then we got Jaime’s contribution. Cooked
sliced bananas, with three sauces, a condensed milk sauce, a caramel sauce, and
a chocolate sauce. Again, the presentation was impressive, with sauces covering
the bananas just so, a swirling dollop of whip cream (how about that, I got to
use the word dollop twice in one review), and a fresh mint leaf. And it tasted
as good as it looked
All in all, I had a great time, the food was good,
the staff not only impeccably dressed, but courteous and polite. You can find
the menu for Los Güeros Grill online at
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/losguerosgrill, and while you’re there, why
not download a coupon good for a free entrée with purchase of an entrée? The
food is certainly worth paying full price, but it never hurts to get if for
half-price, now does it?
For those of you living in the Temple City area, you
might be interested to know that we have just signed up Pizza Cart, so if you’re
looking to have a pizza delivered, or some pasta, you can find the Pizza Cart
menu (plus 8 money-saving coupons) online at
sangabrielvalleymenus.com/pizzacart. Pizza Cart is the 106th
restaurant to post their menu on the website, from 19 San Gabriel Valley cities.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a
restaurant website featuring dozens of restaurant’s menus, as well as
downloadable coupons. He has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant
business, and has been eating for much longer than that.
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