Mexican Restaurants. Part 1 of 3.

Tuesdays are Mexican for lunch for me. I wonder why since none of the places I frequent have Taco Tuesdays deals.

If a "Mexican" place doesn't have Chile Verde on the menu, are they really Mexican?

It seems very common these days not to give you the lunch menu, even if it's available on the website. I know why they do it, but it seems dishonest and deceiving to me.

Taqueria El Amigo in Waltham. No website. Plato Loco ($13.95). "Choice of two meats served with rice, beans, onions, coriander and green sauce". I kind of expected black beans, but I was delighted with the well-seasoned refried beans. For the meats, I picked Al Pastor and Chorizo. Both were really tasty and packed a bit of heat. The salsa verde was an excellent addition. This is such a lovely place, and they still only have three four-tops and one two-top. Prices have increased, but you can still get 4 tacos for $8.95. 9.3/10

Herradura Vieja in Chelmsford. Nice place with good food and excellent service. You get thin fresh chips with an OK salsa. Lunch Special #4 ($10.95) "Chile relleno, taco, rice & beans". Taco with ground beef, please. A good amount of non-greasy beef. The Mexican rice is good, and the beans are delicious. It's a good-sized poblano that was deseeded well and had a thin batter. I got lucky today and got a spicy one. Not really SPICY, but it had a hint of heat. The tomatillo sauce was excellent, tasty, and a little tart. 9/10

Rosa Mexicano Burlington. Brunch CHORIZO AND EGG QUESADILLA ($16). "Two eggs, chorizo, chihuahua cheese, crema, pico de gallo, cotija cheese. Served with rice and beans". It was four gigantic slices of quesadilla. It was delicious, and the cheese was melted. I wasn't very hungry for some reason, so I had one slice of the quesadilla with rice and beans, and I was done! It was true crema, not sour cream, so they get points for that. Both the rice and the beans are excellent. No complimentary chips and salsa. 8/10

Taco Tuesday is back at Temazcal in Lynnfield! It was a great deal, half-priced Tacos from opening to 6:00 PM. Unfortunately, it has changed to 2-5. The manager let me have the deal anyway! You get warm thin chips with two salsas and an excellent bean dip. Today the chips were stale and staler. The Tuna Tacos are no more. I went with the Fish Tacos ($21) (blackened). Despite being blackened, the fish was still moist and flaky. The rice is excellent, but the black beans are outstandingly good. 8/10

Mi Mexico Lindo in Methuen. Chile Verde ($10.99). From the takeout menu, "Pork loin braised in a green sauce of special fresh Mexican "tomatillos" green peppers, onions and spices. Served with tortillas". The tortillas never materialized, but it was such a generous portion that they weren't missed. The last time I had this, there was absolutely no acidity, but it was a delicious dish this time. You get a dollop of guac on top. Warm chips and mediocre salsa arrive quickly. 8/10

Mexicali Cantina Grill in Danvers. Lunch Pick 2 ($10). A Chile Relleno is hiding underneath the red sauce. Perfectly cooked and not a seed left in. Tostada with Chile Verde underneath that mound of lettuce and cheese. Isn't the tortilla supposed to be deep-fried and crisp? This one wasn't. The Chile Verde is excellent here. Cold ships with a nice salsa complemented the meal. 8/10, despite the tostada that wasn't.

Torito Mexican Restaurant in Danvers. The choice of one Chile Relleno for $9.99 or two for $10.99 wasn't a choice! The poblanos were appropriately cleaned, and not a seed was present. The batter was very heavy this time, and I had to lift it off. The beans and rice were good. This is another place that gives you a plate with refried beans to go with the excellent chips. I now get a lunch menu when showing up. Nobody else does. 8/10 due to the heavy batter.

Casa Vallarta in Saugus is a small chain with seven locations on the East Coast. They had a lunch menu, then they didn't, and now they have one again, but you have to ask for it. I really don't like it when they do this. Dishonest. One big draw here (for me) is that you get a plate of refried beans with your excellent thin chips. Lunch Huevos Chorizo ($12.99). "Mexican sausage scrambled with three eggs, tomatoes and onions". The tomatoes didn't make it, nor did the onions. Thinking about it, not a lot of chorizo either, and what was there was bland. Plenty of refried beans and rice. A hefty serving of huevos. Dues to the missing ingredients, 7/10. They refused to give me a lunch menu on a follow lunch visit. One less customer to worry about.

Taqueria Mexico in Waltham. No Website or lunch menu. They have parking behind the restaurant. This is the Chiles Rellenos ($15.99). "2 chili peppers stuffed with cheese or picadillo (ground beef with potatoes) with melted cheese and sour cream on top. Served with rice, beans and tortillas". "I'll have them with the picadillo, please". So, of course, I got picadillo and cheese. The picadillo was pleasant. It was a couple of good-sized poblanos. Unfortunately, there were quite a few seeds left inside. Both the rice and the beans were really excellent. There were plenty of warm tortillas. The thin (cold) chips were good, and the salsa was perfect. It should have been 8/10, but with the seeds, it's 6/10. I'll be back to try other dishes.

"I was smiling yesterday, I am smiling today and I will smile tomorrow. Simply because life is too short to cry for anything."

- Santosh Kalwar