My wife, mother and myself were on the home leg of a road trip and just happened to be in The Dalles at lunch time. It has become sort of a tradition that when we are on road trips to sample the differences in Mexican food from state to state. Our experiences have ranged from outstanding, mediocre and even a couple of once was enough. So not wanting to break tradition, we decided on Mexican and our GPS found Casa El Mirador and we punched it in.
We should have known better since it was lunch time and there were very few cars in a rather large parking lot. The exterior of the building was nice so we decided to risk it. I now have a new bottom of the Mexican Food on the road list. The food was horrible, atrocious, disgusting and did I fail to mention down right bad. I have never eaten Mexican food that was so bland and ill prepared. Even their salsa that came with the chips was horribly bland with no spice. How hard is it to screw up salsa?
My Wife and Mother ordered of the menu and I decided to try the buffet. There was absolutely no difference in food quality...both were horrible...I never knew that chicken fajitas had pineapple chunks as a primary ingredient. The fajitas could have had sweet and sour sauce poured over them and they would have been perfect in a Chinese Restaurant although the chicken pieces were not deep fried. Oh...I will allow that they did have good iced tea....
Even if the food had been acceptable, the prices for a lunch menu were on the high side and there was really no value for the money. The service was also not outstanding.
I do believe that I figured out their niche though, After we arrived a table of 7 arrived and sat next to us and one of them proceeded to ask for the ""mild""salsa......how could it get any milder?????? So if you have no taste buds and love your food bland, this is the place for you.
Avoid the Casa El Mirador. Save your money and find a Taco Bell. You will be happier...
Pros: Great Ice Tea
Cons: Read the review
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