Saturday, February 12, 2011

Acapulco Joe's

365 N Illinois St
Indianapolis, IN 46204

We were rushing downtown to grab a bite to eat before your Indiana Pacers took on the Minnesota Timberwolves. We narrowed our options down to Acapulco Joe's and Dick's Bodacious BBQ. Joe's won. Partly because it was stuck on my mind. This is one of my oldest friend's (who will so forth be referred to as, ABW) favorite restaurants. I personally, have only eaten there on two previous occasions. IMHO, it is the best  Mexican restaurant downtown, for the price you pay.  You can have a better Mexican meal at Adobo Grill, but you will pay for it. Also note, it is not your "authentic Mexican" food. It is very Americanized.


As you can see, the chips and salsa are not served in your typical fashion. Yes, those are squeeze bottles. Some people may view this as low class, but I like the change. You are have the control of how much salsa is going on your chips. The dreaded "double dip" is also removed from the dining experience. There are three types of salsa. Two red and one green. The green is more of a vinegar base, and is very runny. It does not come out of the squeeze bottle clean. The red salsas are both on the sweet end of the taste spectrum. One is has a more smoky flavor than the other which had a little more heat. They aren't labeled, so you are on your own to try them all. Also, they aren't very fresh tasting. You'll have that when the salsa comes in a squeeze bottle. PJB decided to order queso. They offered us regular queso and chili con queso (queso, red sauce, jalapenos) . We went with the latter. Let's just say it was the most difficult queso I've ever had to work with. GBG described it as, "if you were to just put the cheese from a mozzarella stick into a bowl." It wasn't actually mozzarella, but he meant, it was very thick and difficult to get onto a chip. The chips themselves were corn tortillas cut in half and fried, so they were on the large side. 

Entree time. Out of respect to ABW, I ordered the 6 nachos. As you can see, they are six chips, loaded with beans, beef, and cheese. ABW described them as, "open faced nachos". Well, he wasn't lying. Were these the best nachos I have ever eaten? No, but I was a fan of the ingenuity of the dish. What is the biggest issue with nachos? Each bite does not incorporate all the toppings. The nachos at Joe's are layered perfectly. Each bite contains meat, cheese, and the musical fruit. What the nachos lack is color. You can add salsa, but maybe next time I will ask for a side of guacamole. GBG ordered the chicken quesadilla, MWF had the chicken burrito, and PJB had the Monterey Special (one hard taco, one soft taco, Mexican beans). All enjoyed the meal, but I don't think one of us joined the clean plate club. The servings are very generous. After the Pacer game, we all were still pretty stuffed. 

As for the service, it was very average. I wasn't disappointed, but then again I have had better service. I enjoyed eating on the patio when it was nice out. Inside wasn't anything special. It seems like they haven't changed the decor in years. At the end of the day, I can see myself returning to the Acapulco Joe's. I couldn't find any major knocks on the place.

Make my words today sweet and tender, for tomorrow I may have to EAt them.

Acapulco Joe's Mexican Foods on Urbanspoon

2 comments:

  1. I have yet to EAt at Acapulco Joe's. It sounds good. Might I suggest a trip to Mongolian BBQ soon? I hear they have an awesome bday club...just ask KJM i believe. (I think J? not sure)

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