It was one of those nights where I needed a well deserved break from the kitchen and the doc decided that we would go out for dinner! Yay me! Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, however, I needed to get out!
While figuring out where to go, we flipped between the Olympics and Food Network. The doc’s favorite shows related to food are Diners, Dine-ins, and Dives AND Man Vs. Food on the Travel Channel. And at that moment, Diners Dine-Ins, and Dives was on and my brilliant husband decided that we go to a restaurant that Guy Fieri has visited.
Uh duh. Why doesn’t everyone else do that? Not only did we move to a new state, we don’t really know that many people yet so finding places to go to can be difficult. But when you have Guy Fieri on your side … you’re in for a treat! … or so we thought.
Cempazuchi located on the hip and happening Brady Street is an authentic Mexican restaurant. The atmosphere was great. The second we walked in though, it was buzzing with people and their conversations. We spotted the owner of the restaurant and the only reason we knew he was the owner was because he was on the episode. Not going to lie, it felt a little awesome going somewhere that was on tv.
We started off with Tortilla chips and 2 kinds of homemade salsa. One was made with Peanuts, cinnamon, and sesame which was DEEEEELICIOUS! The second was made of garlic and roasted red bell peppers. It was also tasty, but it couldn’t beat out the peanut salsa.
Then we ordered appetizers: Tortilla soup and half an order of queso fresco nachos with guacamole. First off, that half order was not half, it more like a full plate! We could have finished it, but wouldn’t have room for dinner. The soup however was mediocre. I think the best tortilla soup is the one that my friend, ZQ, gave me a recipe for. (Which you’ll see soon enough! So easy to make and so so so delicious!!) And the guacamole was beyond delicious. My favorite has been the guac from Chipotle, but now it might be #2. Not kidding when I say the flavor to that guac was simple yet so amazing, I wish I could find out how they made it.
For their dinner menu selections, their weekend special was crabmeat soft tacos which were good! They were served on blue cornmeal soft tacos that are freshly made at the restaurant. However, the bummy part was the fact that they were MUCH smaller than what was served to Guy Fieri on the episode. There was pinapple salsa to go with it, the doc didn’t like it as much but I did :) So yummy!
But overall, I think Mr. Fieri over exaggerated on the Mmm factor. It was good, but not great. Not disappointed though! I still like the idea of visiting restaurants that any of the chefs on Food Network recommend, especially if you are indecisive like me!
Anyway, so someone next to us ordered something with skirt steak and potatoes. [ yes, I was snooping while waiting for my food] and it looked pretty good. That gave me an awesome idea for dinner tonight.
I made skirt steak burritos with red chili sauce! Mmm Mmm Mmm. So good. The meat was tender and shredded. I added Mexican rice to resemble Chipotle’s burrito and topped it with unlikely veggies – slithered carrots, onions, and asparagus. And topped it with Guacamole. YUMMMM.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the recipe!
– Aisha
cardamom & cinnayum 
We went to a breakfast place that was on Diners in Milwaukee – and it was just okay too – we drove 1.5 hours for a breakfast place that was just as good as the one 5 minutes from our house.
Now that peanut salsa is interesting – never heard of that before!
Where did you go? I mean, I think it was good. I just expected a lot more. They make it sound so amazing when you know there’s another restaurant out there that might be the same or better. I could be wrong though, I’ve only gone to one.
But yes, the salsa, no doubt was really good! So was the guac! I’d go back for that. :)