Ixtapa Lexington

I used to go their location in Woburn when I couldn't figure out where to go for my lunch and they have a $5.99 lunch special and the chips and salsa used to be good, but I haven't been there since I started the blog. Today I decided to visit the Ixtapa Mexican Cantina and Grill in Lexington. This family-run local chain now has four locations in NE.

They are in a small shopping mall just up the road from Taipei Gourmet.

Interior is nice and fairly bright from the front windows.

The chips could have been fresher and the salsa was mostly liquids.

I wanted the Choose Two ($8.75) from the lunch menu and much confusion ensued. I picked the Chile Relleno and then the Mazatlan Enchiladas (seafood) and the manager explained that you could only select between cheese, ground or shredded beef, chicken or pork. OK, so I picked the Mole Enchiladas with chicken, that should work, right? When this arrived, I asked where the Chile Relleno was and it turned out that neither of us understood what was ordered. The manager was very gracious and said I'll have the Chile out in a couple of minutes. The Mole Enchiladas was very good with a really rich mole sauce and tender chicken. The rice was light and fluffy and the refried beans were also very good, after adding salt. The little salad was nice and fresh.

The Chile Relleno did arrive and was, in fact, very good and the chile had a little bit of heat to it. It was not very busy at lunch and I was impressed by how graciously the manager handled my screwup.