Restaurant and Dining Article continued.
Los Cabos Magazine article – Issue #10 – January 2006.
To bring you the latest take, follow Sandra Berry, Carol Billups, Bradley Fraser, Ann Hazard, George Landrum, and Sabrina Lear as they explore this season’s top tables around Los Cabos.
Section 3 of 7 – Hangout Café to La Cascada at Vistazul Suites
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Hangout Café
Take a walk off Marina Boulevard down Zaragoza a few blocks to the other side of Cabo’s downtown and you’ll run in to the Hangout Café. With very reasonably priced wood-fired pizzas, pastas, gourmet coffees, pastries, Wi-Fi Internet, and long distance services, this small outpost is a slice of local Cabo. Open since November 2004, owner Derrick Grahn took a tiny popular coffee bar, built his igloo-shaped wood oven practically on the sidewalk, and began serving delicious 10” pizzas and sandwiches at affordable prices. How affordable? Basic cheese is $3.30 U.S.; premium varieties like feta cheese, fresh spinach, and shrimp top out at $9.50. Pastas and calzones feature chicken or seafood, all are made fresh on the premises. A big selection of hot and cold coffee drinks from around a dollar to $4.50 U.S. and pastries from 7 a.m. make this short walk appealing any time of day. Derrick offers rock bottom rates on Internet connections and long distance calls—15 minutes of free wireless on one of his Macs with any purchase, and just $4.50 per hour or portion of to keep surfing. Wi-Fi is free all day on your own machine (with purchase). Long distance calls are free to the U.S. and Canada for 15 minutes with any purchase, $4.50 per hour or portion of after that. At Zaragoza and 16 de Septiembre, on the corner, open Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., call (624) 172-0308; cash only.—S.L.
Houlihan’s
Sometimes you just want an American-style meal in a clean, friendly atmosphere. When that urge strikes head to marina-view Houlihan’s, serving up steaks, burgers, salads and their famous appetizers. Start off with an order of s’rooms: mushrooms stuffed with herb and garlic cream cheese with creamy horseradish sauce, or potato skins topped with cheddar and bacon and served with sour cream. Or do both, hey, your cardiologist will never know. For your entrée consider their signature stuffed chicken: a boneless breaded chicken breast filled with herbed cream cheese, or their top sirloin and shrimp plate with grilled veggies. Other goodies include the Kansas City Strip steak and the Danish Fat Boy: an open face burger topped with Danish Bleu cheese and mushrooms. Be sure to save some room for their desserts. The Snickers Crunch ice cream served on an Oreo and peanut crust with melted caramel is to die for. Also sinful are the apple pie topped with ice cream and caramel, and the brownie a la mode. For the small fry, Houlihan’s offers a children’s menu and a play area. Moderately priced, entrées range from $10 to $30 U.S., and $5 or so for kids. Open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Houlihan’s has a full bar, with seating for 45 in the air-conditioned interior, 30 on the marina-view patio; and room for groups up to 80. On the marina at Puerto Paraiso, call (624) 144-3802 for reservations.—C.B.
The Iguana Restaurant
On a second floor corner across from Plaza Bonita, this casual spot boasts a good marina view and non-stop people watching with well-priced, well-prepared Mexican and continental food. The menu is easy to like with seafood cocktails and ceviche appetizers, and a good choice of salads. Mexican specialties range from enchiladas, tacos and burritos to the more interesting molcajetes, a lava rock bowl of grilled chicken or beef with salsa and nopal cactus strips. Owner Nora Alvarado recommends the Plato Tarahumara—a BBQ chicken breast and New York steak combo, or her favorite, a juicy beef filet smothered in mustard sauce. Seafood enchiladas, tequila shrimp, shrimp molcajete, and shrimp and lobster are a few of the tasty seafood selections. The Iguana has a circular bar and an upbeat mood—try the flaming Iguana-style Mexican coffee, prepared tableside, to round out your meal. Entrées from $7 to $27 U.S. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. with a Mexican trio from 7 to 10 p.m., and seating for 110. Upstairs at the corner of Lázaro Cárdenas and Zaragoza in downtown Cabo, for reservations, call (624) 143-8061 or 7670.—S.L.
Jazmin’s
If you’re looking for reasonably priced Mexican food, Jazmin’s fits the bill. Decorated in festive “papel picado” (colorful hanging cut tissue paper), and leather equipale chairs and tables with bright tablecloths and napkins, this comfortable restaurant has offered unpretentious affordable dining for 12 years. Open for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner, Jazmin’s also caters to vegetarian tastes with vegetarian fajitas, a veggie combo, enchiladas, and chile rellenos. Start with one of their large margaritas and the tasty tortilla soup or fresh tuna salad served in a half avocado. For your entrée, choose from a whole grilled snapper or fresh fish served a variety of ways, butterfly shrimp, seafood soup, lobster and shrimp or the shrimp a la diabla, warm but not too spicy. From the Viva Pancho Villa menu, the large Mexican combo features a delicious chile relleno, carne asada, taquitos, rice, beans and guacamole. There’s also the Tampiqueña for beef lovers, with carne asada (seasoned grilled beef) and large fajita platters of chicken, beef or shrimp. Or try the Jazmin’s Special, a tender boneless chicken breast stuffed with shrimp and covered in a rich white sauce. Try the homemade flan for dessert. With friendly efficient service and air-conditioning, Jazmin’s seats 50, with groups up to 100. Entrées from $8 to $28.50 U.S. for the shrimp and lobster combo. On Morelos, between Zaragoza and Obregon in downtown San José del Cabo, and open 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., call (624) 142-1960.—S.L.
La Casa Country Restaurant Bar
A whole other country with a cowboy frontier spirit style all its own, the character of this authentic Mexican food is in the presentation. Take the guacamole, mixed tableside, rich and full of flavor. Or the salsa, also prepared tableside to the diners’ tastes. We started with the melted cheese with pepper strips, and moved on to our entrée, grazing our way through the goat, skirt steak, chicken and ribs platter for two, then sampled the big shrimp combination, ending with flan and Mexican coffee, flamed at the table to the wide-eyed amazement of a youngster seated nearby. Traditional Mexican flavors are paired with wicked sauces, like their pride and joy chimichurri, and rightfully so—made on the premises. All steaks are a house specialty, served sizzling from the charcoal grill. Molcajete is their rendition of fajitas, and served with a choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp. Reminiscent of a ranch house, with antlers hanging from the rafters, DJ country music, and waiters in white cowboy hats who break into line dancing, as a Texan and a Calgarian, we felt right at home. This is good food and the service very entertaining, going the extra mile catering to parties of all ages, with a special children’s menu, and entrées from $10 to $68 U.S. for the Parrillada for Two. Open daily from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. with air-conditioning, seating for 124, and valet parking. Jeans and boots welcome. On Lázaro Cárdenas, across from McDonald’s in Cabo San Lucas, group reservations suggested, call (624) 105-1999.—S.B.
La Casa del Pozo
La Casa del Pozo—The House of the Well—is a seafood and steak restaurant serving some of the finest authentic Mexican dishes around. This garden restaurant is worth seeking out. Not only is the food good, you’ll learn how to drink tequila—and not just any tequila. The pure blue agave tequila from Jalisco State especially made for La Casa del Pozo is not chemically processed, which helps in avoiding hangovers. Follow an outstanding tortilla soup with the Campesino (peasant), a traditional Mexican Revolution-era recipe made with filet of beef grilled over mesquite wood, giving it that smoky, irresistible flavor. The popular arrachera cut, a marinated skirt steak, is tender and seriously good. Fresh fish, shrimp, and lobster are served with a variety of sauces. The most popular is Damiana liquor, made from a medicinal herb growing wild in areas of the Baja peninsula. Hailed as an aphrodisiac, the liquor is used in drinks and food recipes. The specialty lobster, Passions of the Sea, with Damiana, is touted to “give you great passion,” and the lobster thermidor promises an “orgasmic dinner.” Ending with spectacular bananas flambé or crepes Suzette, prepared tableside and flaming, tops off a very special evening. With a romantic guitar playing in the background, who could ask for more? Children are welcome, with their own mini menu. Entrées from $12 to $35 U.S. for shrimp and lobster. Open daily except Sunday from 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with seating for 60. At Ave. El Pescador and Niños Heroes, across from Marina Sol Condos, in Cabo San Lucas. For reservations, call (624) 143-6569.—S.B.
La Cascada at Vistazul Suites
Restaurante La Cascada is a nice place for lunch—or dinner. Looking for a place that serves an interesting, cut-above-the-norm salad? You can choose between the arrachera steak with pear, grapes, and raisins with a Cabernet wine dressing, or the spinach, mushrooms, bacon, apple, and goat cheese with raspberry dressing. Sandwiches made with homemade multi-grain bread include grilled tuna and Cajun chicken, or you can have a burger with fries. For a light meal or the start of something more to come, select from ceviche, guacamole, quesadillas, tacos, or tortilla soup. For those needing a more substantial lunch, entrées of fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, and pork loin are tempting, some served with Chef Silvano Cruz Valencia’s famous mashed potato-banana. Still hungry? There’s cheesecake, chocolate cake, and ice cream. Sit under the beautiful palapa with seating for 45, surrounded by swaying palms and lush landscaping, or by the Olympic-sized pool after taking a cool dip. La Cascada is also a fine place for dinner. The chef stokes it up a bit with salmon carpaccio, lobster cream soup, grilled Black Angus steaks, lamb, tuna, and stuffed chicken breast with chipotle chile sauce, shrimp, and crab. An apple Tatin a la mode would top off any of the fine entrées that run from $15 to $35 U.S. At Km. 3, just outside Cabo San Lucas in Suites Vistazul, on the service road, south side; for reservations, call (624) 144-4727.—S.B.
Dining Article and Restaurant Reviews
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