The house we stayed at in Arizona was very close to Cave Creek, a tiny town with one main street, several Mexican restaurants, a day’s worth of southwest-themed shopping and competing Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers bars. Although most residents and visitors have roots in the Midwest, the food hails from south of the border.
After checking out Sedona, we drove through Cave Creek, and with the help of Yelp and my iPhone, found Los Mesquites Taqueria, which, despite the unreliable source, turned out to be a winner. The restaurant appeared to have several large rooms, a bar and a travelling mariachi band. After shelling out quite a bit to pay for our jeep tour in Sedona, we were pleased to find reasonably-priced tacos on the menu.
Because I was feeling indecisive, I ordered one of each of their tacos: beef, pork, fish and chicken. They each came topped with crispy cabbage (I always forget how much I love cabbage, until it comes as a side or condiment; I really need to cook more with the stuff) and were served with the usual: radishes, limes and cucumbers. I loved the chicken and the pork. I wanted to love the beef, but found it to contain just a little too much “barnyard” flavor. The fish tacos were middle of the road.
Coming from a world where I spend the holiday months reminding people to order their Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas beef tenderloins, it was amusing to see a different sort of holiday reminder; don’t forget your Xmas Tamales! We didn’t have a chance to try theirs, but if we ever return to the area, it’s on my list.
Unfortunately, by the time the mariachi band came to our table, the only song I could think of to request was “Feliz Navidad.” Instead, we asked them to play “something upbeat” and I did my best to take good pictures of them without looking like a tourist. I failed on both accounts.
If I were a long-term resident of this area of the country, I could see myself being a regular at Los Mesquites Taqueria. I’d cozy up to the bar, buy the band drinks, and devour pork tacos once a week. And life would be good. Olé, right?
Los Mesquites Taqueria
37645 N Cave Creek Road
Cave Creek, AZ
480.488.0489
Tags: Cave Creek, mariachi band, Mexican, tacos
January 28, 2010 at 4:35 pm |
I disagree regarding the fish tacos: they were flavorful and light.
Also, this post unfortunately omits arguably the most memorable portion of this visit. Near the door to this place, there is a 5-foot tall, robotic Santa that dances and sings Christmas music in Spanish. I assume he was omitted in this post due to his overall scariness.
January 28, 2010 at 8:17 pm |
One of the best ways to eat is doing so while serenaded by mariachi. Lucky you. Unfortunately, I’ve never had a good fish taco. Never. What kind of fish was used in the tacos?
January 29, 2010 at 9:47 am |
@Jose Hmm… I’m pretty sure it was tilapia. I wanted bigger chunks. And orange zest. I agree wholeheartedly with your mariachi statement. Thinking about hiring one to follow me around. January in Ohio can be pretty bland.
January 29, 2010 at 10:52 am |
I would definitely make my next visit to Columbus sooner rather than later if there were a mariachi band involved.