Kelly the Culinarian: Food find: La Salsa

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Food find: La Salsa

My apologies for no blogging yesterday, another big storm rolled through Tucson last night and took out my Internet. The wild west ...

Today I went over to La Salsa, a Mexican-style fast-food franchise chain with holdings mostly in Southern California. The cafe itself has outdoor seating and high, bar-style tables. The food is made fresh at a bar in full view. There is also a salsa bar with a variety of chip accompaniments from mild salsa to hot habanero sauce and an avocado dip.

What I ordered you see here, which is the steak taco plate. I got two tacos in corn tortillas topped with steak chunks, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese. I also added some mild salsa and sour cream later on. It came with black beans topped with what I think was Parmesan cheese and a side of rice. There were also chips, which are fried on site in plain view, to scoop up some salsa choices. I went with the avocado dip and fresh salsa.

The tacos were great. A little messy, but the steak was tasty and the toppings fresh. The beans were nothing special in terms of taste -- no smokiness or anything else in the beans. The rice was about the same. It almost tasted like instant rice that had been darkened, but nothing was wrong with it, just a little plain.

As for the salsa, I chose wrong. The fresh salsa was too bland. The avocado dip had a runny texture. If the little cups were bigger, I could have mixed some stuff together, but they were 1.5-ounce cups. Ick. I tried to salsa bueno, which was medium, and that was a little better. If I had more time, I'd try more stuff, but that didn't happen today.

I'd definitely come La Salsa to eat again, but I think next time I'll just order a single item, not a platter, because the side dishes weren't so great. It's worth trying, though, because everything is fresh-tasting a semi-healthful.

8 comments:

Dawg said...

Have you eaten at Baja Fresh? If so, how does it compare?

I see there's a La Salsa on the west side of Indianapolis not far from my sister's house, who LOVES Baja Fresh. Maybe she'll have an opinion...

Even though it's nice to have another fresh/healthy fast-food option, the market is getting stretched pretty thin with Chipotle, Baja Fresh, Mesa Fresh, Baja Bud's, etc.

KellytheCulinarian said...

I have not had Baja Fresh, but one of my dining companions pointed out that it was similar.

Chipotle is delicious, but makes me feel horrible about myself.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

I love mexican food! We have similar chains here, and they make for a good, quick stop in between errands.

A Mature Student said...

That looks really scrumptious. Not many decent Mexican restaurants here so I normally make simple Mexican food when my kids feel like some.

Cynthia said...

Yeah, I always find the sides at chains to be less than desirable :)

tigerfish said...

Sounds like a serious storm out there but you got a good meal, that should be comforting.

People St.Clair said...

I love La Salsa, chipolte and miss good Mexican food since moving its hard to find. Great post!

Cate said...

They just opened one up in NJ recently; now I know what to stay away from. ;)