Yesterday we drove I-5 to LA and in our neverending quest to find something descent to eat on the road, we stopped at Cazuelas, a Mexican restaurant in Coalinga. We’d never been there before, so we had hope. It was slowly dispelled.
The restaurant actually looks better from the outside than the inside. The architecture of it is fine enough, but the twiching fluorescent lights and ugly vinyl chairs and formica tables gave it a definite dive look, though most of its customers were Mexican families.
There were only a few tables occupied when we got there, but service, still, was very slow. It took over five minutes for us to get seated, and we waited for a long time to get our food, the bill, etc.
Still, our culinary experience started well. The tortilla chips and salsa were actually good. The chips were crispy and only slightly salty, and not in the least oily. The salsa had the right note of spice and lime.
The menu featured standard Tex-Mex items (no cazuelas) at average prices (~$10). Mike decided on that night’s special, a tostada combo ($6) while I went for a carne asada torta (sandwich) with french fries ($8). My sandwich was OK. It would have been much better if the meat had not been oversalted. A slice of avocado and chopped tomato helped with this, however. It wasn’t very substantial, however, and I expected more for $8. The accompanying french fries were quite good, though a little on the soft-side for Mike’s taste.
Mike’s tostada was a whole different deal. To begin with it was a small shell with a tiny bit of chicken, some cheese and a whole lot of shredded lettuce. It came served with tasteless rice and watery, thin refried beans. He could not have been more disapointed on his dish. Unfortunately, it was very memorable. He woke up the next day with a bad case of food poisoning. As I’m pregnant, I’m extremely thanksful that I didn’t eat any of his food.
Our drinks were OK. I had a fountain coke and it was mostly flat but it tasted OK.
In all, we’ll be avoiding Cazuelas in the future as the plague, which it may just be 🙂
Cazuelas Restaurant
179 W Polk St
Coalinga, CA
(559) 934-0751
Leave a Reply