I don’t think of myself as a food critic. I’m not even a fan of the reviews I see on Yelp or similar sites. Sometimes you’ll read a really rotten review and you know the person writing it has an ax to grind. I remember one lady giving a one star review because she couldn’t get an extra napkin during a busy lunch rush. It’s a little crazy to be that extreme , everyone has a bad day from time to time. Just a little tip, if you find you need another napkin or you dropped a utensil and can’t find any staff, get up and walk over to the waiter station where all that stuff is kept and get it for yourself. I’ve done this numerous times. It does depend on how fancy the restaurant is though. Every restaurant is going to have a bad day ,at least once, especially a place that has been open for over 50 years like El Molinito . I have been going to El Molinito for family gatherings for as long as I can remember. It was one of the go to places for Authentic Tucson style Mexican food on the East side of town. When I say Tucson style I mean Sonoran style Mexican food, which is from the Northern state of Sonora in Mexico. The food tends to be a little spicier with meats of different kinds and lots of fresh chilis. There’s a traditional taco where the meat is fried inside the corn tortilla, my favorite! The green chili is made from beef not pork and isn’t a stew like it is in New Mexico. There’s more but I got sidetracked! I’m here to tell you of my experience at the El Molinito on 22nd street.
As I have said it’s been a go to place in my family for years. Recently I stopped by and used their drive-thru window to get a green chili burro (burrito). The food was only ok, the flavor of the green chili wasn’t there and the tortilla seemed old. Then a week later a friend told me they went in for lunch and the food just wasn’t up to par. I had to give them one more try and see what was going on. I went for lunch and ordered the combination platter which had a cheese enchilada, ground beef taco, 2 mini chicken chimichangas (deep fried burrito) and green chili with a tortilla. The first thing I noticed was the chicken in the chimi’s was old. You can’t hide old poultry taste no matter how much you fry it or put hot sauce on it. The ground beef taco was only ok, the shell was thick and it to tasted like it had been fried in old oil. I was hoping for redemption with the enchilada, but it too was only ok, the sauce didn’t have a kick and the corn tortilla was old and hard. The restaurant had plenty of business so I don’t understand why they’d had to use old, probably frozen items. The only thing that was tasty was the green chili and refried beans.
I have seen this kind of thing in restaurants before, especially ones that have been open for many years serving the same menu over and over again. It can become fairly easy to slip into a place of not caring and just going through the motions. The thing that is making me sad is the fact that the Mexican food in Tucson is shifting to more trendy styles like Mexico City street tacos , which is ok but there is a place for tradition. It’s almost like doing to France and eating McDonalds. El Molinito has 3 other locations and I can only hope their food is better. I don’t like to give bad reviews and usually give a place a few chances, but we all work hard for our money and there are many other places where you can get authentic Sonoran style food that’ll knock your socks off! I’ll be writing about a few of them in the future and I’ve done an older post with a good list here.
As always if you have any comments or questions please post them in the box below. Until next time Boone Appétit!
