Reviews Mexi Cali

Mexicali, Handi, Simon's Kitchen, Sushi Inn, and Riya's no longer exist. The whole east side of the block is under development.  Also gone are Subway, Jak's Beer, etc., and Subway. Progress?  I don't think so.

This is a casual Mexican joint located on Dunbar, a couple of blocks away from King Edward Avenue. In addition to a regular menu, they also have a couple of All Day Special combos, consisting of an entree, a side of Mexi Fries, and a choice of drink, which includes Slushy Limonada. The service is pretty minimal: you go and order at the front counter and they'll bring your food to your table (if you're eating in). I had their Beef Redondo Roll-up Special (with a Slushy Limonada) and Enchilada en Mole Poblano. The food was fine but not great: I enjoyed their combo special, but found their mole to be pretty bland. Their prices were a great bargain however: their all day specials are just around $10 and are quite a generous portion. This is definitely worth checking out.

Enchilada en Mole Poblano ($11.95):
3/5
This consisted of two chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce and is served with rice and beans. This is the first time that I've had mole (which is a chocolate, chile and peanut sauce), so I don't know what it's actually supposed to taste like. I can only say that, unfortunately, I wasn't really a big fan of the mole here: I found it to be quite bland. The enchiladas themselves however, did have a pretty good amount of chicken inside, which was tender. The beans and rice were just standard; I could have done with a bit more seasoning.

Beef Redondo Roll-up Special ($8.50):
3.5/5
They have several different all days specials, which comes with Mexi Fries and a choice of drink: I had their Beef Redondo with a Slushy Limonada as my drink. The redondo consists of a grilled tortilla stuffed with ground beef, cheese, vegetables, and sour cream. The tortilla was nicely grilled and had a great crispiness. There was quite a generous amount of filling inside. I did find the beef to be a tad dry, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the seasoning. I did really enjoy the mexi fries though, which were essentially tater tots, and were very crispy on the outside. The limonada slushy was also tasty, and had a great tanginess.

Summary:
Food: 3/5
Price: 4.5/5
Service: N/A
Overall: 3.5/5
Recommendations: Beef Rendodo Special

Mexicali = awesome!. I've been going to Mexicali for over 10 years now. It is by far my favourite Mexican place in town. I first started going when I was a starving student because of the low prices. Now I can afford the priciest restaurants in town, but I would still rather go to Mexicali anytime.

I'm really surprised of the reviews here. First of all, it is not a waited restaurant so don't expect a waitress to come to you. Order food at the counter and pay up front. This type of food service it is not customary to tip, but I still tip because I love it so much.

To those who say its not authentic. Ya maybe they use lettuce instead of cabbage like you would find in Mexico, but it's not supposed to authentic Mexican it is supposed to be tex-mex! These people must think that mucho burrito or taco del mar is authentic lol as if! That stuff is also tex-mex. There is a serious lack of good Mexican places in Vancouver and I'm so glad whenever in the neighbourhood to visit Mexicali.

Americanized Mexican food is just good in its simplicity. It's just tortilla, meat, cheese, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, beans and rice. So simple yet so difficult to get perfect in the right proportions, but Mexicali nails it with perfect consistency every time I go there. It is just so delicious in its simplicity. And Mexicali uses nice clean white chicken meat free of any grisle, so chicken quesadilla is amazing. For more authentic Mercian flavour be sure to get shredded beef instead of ground beef it's worth it. I tried the prawn redondo the other day that's good but a little runny would be better in an enchilada (which are also really good here).

You Get What You Pay For. Short: Fast, casual food at decent prices.

Long: It's a simple no frills Mexican restaurant that has won over many just simply by delivering on what it shows. There's no bait and switch and it's pretty delicious stuff. It's not super authentic, but given a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon, this will absolutely be a top choice over your standard fast food fair in the area.

Would I go again: Absolutely. The prices may have gone up, but the quality hasn't changed. Good to kill some time in, and it's located in a beautiful neighbourhood

The food is really good. I can't believe how good the Taca salad is and it costs less than $6.00. The rest of our meal was excellent!!!!

Strange But Great Value.... Certainly not authentic, and a little cliche when it comes to the decor, but for straight up decent tasting fast food, Mexicali gets no complaints from me. With filling menu items such as quesadillas, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc generally priced in the $3~$9 range, value is a given. Seemingly popular with families with young children and the teenager crowd, the location is a bit hard to spot from the street. A sunny proprietor who likes to mention his specials of the day.

Cheap eats, authentic taste. I've been twice - had beef soft tacos first time with a refreshing lime slush (they aren't licensed). Was good, but I could see their microwave and part of my meat was cold, so they could do better by having food warmed on stove. Second time, had a chicken mole enchilada dinner. Would have been outstanding - white chicken, beans, etc. if they'd cooked it differently. Their guacamole is delicious. Good value overall. Owners really work hard to keep restaurant clean.

First introduced to me two summers ago by a friend. Cheap tex-mex eats guaranteed to fill you up for under $10. The strangest thing is that it’s owned and run by a Vietnamese guy called Lee. He’s really nice.