Mexican in Montreal

[munchcake]

Hello All.

I just joined tonight so this will be my first post, but I've quite enjoyed reading all of yours for the last week.

My question is: Is there any decent Mexican food in this city besides Fandango? Or Peruvian? Or any other Latin American cuisine for that matter. Or even Southwestern?

My boyfriend and I have scoured the city and come up with basically nothing. We love Fandango, but would like to try someplace new. We'd been living in NYC up until September and went to Chicama, Patria, Maya, and Hell's Kitchen all the time and are looking for something similar.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Lauren

[maggiethecat]

Can't help you, Lauren, but want to welcome you. Prepare to be amazed.

[riboflavinjoe]

decent mexican in montreal. hard one to answer, i havent really been to a ton of places, but id say the best one ive been to so far was either manana which is in the village, on ste cath, near, oh i don,t know, baudry or something, and then there is cactus, on st denis and mont royal. both of these places, i frequented a long time ago, and before i became a somewhat serious foodie, so i can't offer much more than that. places to avoid: three amigos (near guy on st. cat), mexicali rosas, carlos and pepe's (on peel), and la fiesta on c.d.n. i was at la fiesta a week and a half ago, and was apauled. i could not understand how these people could serve this food with straight faces. ...?

[Mme.Aimee]

There's a place that just opened up in the fall on St. Denis called "Albrijes" (maybe it's Los Albrijes, I forget) It's just above Gilford ( so, Laurier metro) on the east side of the street. It announces itself as 'fine mexican dining' but I wasn't too super wowed the one time I went. The pros were: a live, very cute band playing Mexican folk songs; an entire staff ( seemed to be one big family) of Mexicans-which is always a good sign-I even took a peek into the kitchen and was relieved to see it wasn't some teenage white boy mixing up my mole! The food was good, but not great. My enchiladas arrived alarmingly fast, but at least there wasn't a mountain of spanish rice on the side AND sour cream AND refried beans and all the other annoying "Mexican" side orders. Another con was that it was cold! Drafty, I mean. Hopefully they've fixed that problem, but it was pretty hard to get in the mood for a round of margaritas when we were eating with our coats on!

Mexico? Feels more like Montreal.

[quanneur]

Another one to stay away from is Los Altos On Prince Arthur at de Bullion. Don't be enticed by the mirror ball and dancing that takes place at night.. The food tastes like it's come straight from the microwave, mushy and near textureless.

I've had a couple decent meals at Zazium on Roy St. at St. Dominique. This place has a patio that they close in during the winter. It's got a pretty fun and energetic atmosphere and is popular with people my age (20-30). Very kitsch and colourful style. Pretty much the opposite of a fine dining experience.. The napkins are simply a roll of toilet paper placed on an old corona bottle. :) The food is pretty good, though, and fairly inexpensive, mains being in the range of $10 - $20. They also have a lot of interesting cocktails that they serve by the jug. Wish I could remember more but it's been a while.

Edited February 7, 2003 by quanneur (log)

[davemcm]

in my opinion the best mexican restaurant without a question is fandango on st hubert at the end of roy ,Ward Deal cooks very well,the apps are incredible, i always share all six apps with my g freind,the cocktails are phenomenal,best in town no question....a nice clean classy restaurant

[munchcake]

I totally agree with you on Fandango. (It's actually on St. Andre) Their drinks are amazing, atmosphere comfortable, and everything tastes so fresh. Unfortunately the responses to my original post seem to indicate that nothing else really comes close in the entire city.

[Big Grga]

I've heard good things about Coin mexicain (2489 Jean-Talon East) and La Guadalupe mexicaine (2345 Ontario East), but I still haven't tried them.

I wonder why we don't have more good Mexican restaurants in Montreal. Is it because Mexicans tend to immigrate to the US and Ontario rather than Quebec? Or is it because Montrealers are already used to tex-mex food and they think it is the real thing?

Well, at least there are many very decent Peruvian, Salvadorian and other South American places in town.

[identifiler]

fandago is truly apart from the rest in quality, the rest being neighborhood family style restaurant, you can get good brezillian at senzala on Bernard.

TRy la guadalupe mexican 2345 ontario est

la hacienda 1148 van horne

el chalan on beaubien

There's defintely a lack of this stuff in Montreal. There could be room for a fantastic Topolobambo/Fontera grill combo like in Chicago... they serve a 115$US glass of 1800 Jose Cuervo Tequila... hahahahahaha

[Lesley C]

Hi identifiler and Big Grga. Welcome to eGullet!

I'd have to vote for Fandango as well. They're in a league of their own. And I really respect the way Ward Deal (Fandango's chef/owner) changes his menus and offers special menus for Mexican celebrations.

It's interesting that no one has mentioned Casa deMateo. I stormed out of there a couple of times because the service was so bad. But I have, on occasion, had some OK food there. Notice I only said "OK" food.

[Mme.Aimee]

I wonder why we don't have more good Mexican restaurants in Montreal. Is it because Mexicans tend to immigrate to the US and Ontario rather than Quebec? Or is it because Montrealers are already used to tex-mex food and they think it is the real thing?

This sounds like a great business opportunity to me.....opening Montreal's finest Mexican restaurant...we could ask M. Daignault to grow some tomatillos...and invest in a good tortilla press.

[identifiler]

Mexican can easily be souped up to be a wonderfull focus of ingredient for a new restaurant. I actually know a tomatilla organic grower, they keep very long but that skin, yicks, got to rince these suckers real well or the skin keeps a really strong soapy taste !

[cheekycook]

Fandango Is #1 in this category, they are in a class of their own.

Stay away from Manana, the food is terrible. I had the misfortune eating there once and ordering a "Taco de Res", it was a combination of overcooked Campbells Chunky Beef meets Alpo Dog Food. YUUUCKKK

If you are looking for good Mexican Fast Food in Montreal ( and no it's not Taco Bell) check out Taqueria Mexicana on

St-Laurent corner Marie-Anne. If I can't eat at Fandango and crave Mexican, I'll eat there hands down before I go to any other "Wannabe Mexican " dives. Trust me, there is no shortage of those in Montreal

[food_dwarf]

I would definitly have to agree with you cheekycook!!!

Fandango is the best you can get in Montreal hands down!!

Dave, I have to agree with you on the coctails!!!! The best!

[eat2much]

Emergency!!!

We wanted to try Fandango this weeknd after all the rave reviews. Tried calling them last night (526-7373) and there was no answer. Today there is a "no service to the number you have dialed". Did they close or is there a problem?

[cook-em-all]

Fandango is closed.

There will be something new opening in 4-6 weeks.

It will not be Mexican.

More info to follow.

[Lesley C]

WHAT!!!!!!!

Jesus. Are you sure it isn't just closed for the holidays? They sent me a menu two weeks ago.

Cook-em-all, do you know if the same owners are involved in this new project?

[munchcake]

That is so strange. We just ate there last Saturday and there was no indication that they might be closing. Business seemed to be booming. Every table was filled and there were large parties ordering lots of drinks.

Please do update if anyone knows where the owners might be headed next.

Lauren

[davemcm]

they sold to new owners that we all know,very excitng ,good luck sincerly ,davemc

[Lesley C]

That is a tough neighborhood. That locale has always seemed a bit lost. There is absolutely no parking down there.

Thank God for that new lot on the corner of St-Denis.

So where did Ward go? Hopefully opening up elsewhere in the city?

[cook-em-all]

I'll agree parking is trouble, but where is it not.

It is a nice neibourhood, as far as it being tough, we will see...

Also, thanks Dave-for supper and the support.

Edited March 7, 2003 by cook-em-all (log)

[Ward]

I thought I would use this forum to express my warmest thanks for people's continued patronage of Fandango.

When Diane and I created Fandango three years ago, our goal was to introduce fresh, innovative regional Mexican cuisine to Quebec, and to create a warm atmosphere where we could share our vision with Montreal's discriminating clientele. The response from reviewers and loyal followers was oustanding. and we thank you for contributing to Fandango's success.

Tuesday night, we dimmed the lights on Fandango and said goodbye.

We hope you will join us in our next adventure.

Stay tuned,

Ward

[Lesley C]

Wow! Welcome to eGullet Ward! I hope you will visit often.

I also hope you will be setting up another restaurant in Montreal. We need you... desperately!

Please keep us all informed of your plans. We will all be back at Fandango II with bells on.

[NetRodent]

My wife and I are very sad to hear about Fandango closing. We had only discovered the place about a month ago, but it had already become on of our favorite restaurants in the city. The chicken cosume was amazing. We were hoping to go there tonight.

[shiv]

Say it ain't so!! :(

My husband and I just found Fandango a few weeks ago and it quickly became one of our favorite restaurants. Although Montreal offers a great selection of excellent restaurants covering a wide variety of cuisines, Fandango was definitely a stand-out.