Julio's Mexican Grill

A new location for this local chain.  We came in the other night for a family dinner.  Ordered the carne asada fries, the shrimp and veggie skillet, poblano chicken, and steak tampiqueno.  Finished with a banana chimichanga for dessert.

There were some definite high points.  The beef dishes were very good--the steak tampiqueno was tender and juicy even though it was done through, and had excellent flavor.  The carne asada fries are an appetizer, and would work that way but were also good as an entree.  The carne asada beef also had great flavor (different seasoning from the tampiqueno, so they have some range) and was very tender.  A good topping for the fries, along with the cheese, guacamole and sour cream.  I would get those again anytime.  The yellow rice is a favorite of mine and theirs was fine.  Special shout-out for the charro beans--usually these are quite forgettable but these beans had excellent seasoning (more cumin than usual made them stand out) and we ate most of ours.

The poblano chicken was very mild, as expected.  The meat was tender but the flavors were pretty subtle.  OK but maybe not one to repeat.  The shrimp and veggie skillet was not too good.  The shrimp was overdone and kind of mushy.  The rice burned to the hot fajita skillet it was served on.  They should put this on a plate, both issues might have been avoided.

The banana chimichanga is banana mashed with some flavoring, wrapped in a pastry shell and fried.  It's a large portion served with a generous helping of ice cream and whipped cream so very shareable.  But I have to say we didn't like it much.  Heating banana brings out sourness and it wasn't countered.  The pastry was pretty doughy.  Didn't eat much of it.

The service was polite but pretty slow.  This may be a training issue--the restaurant was not that crowded, they just waited too long at the end.  The interior is a cosmetic update of El Meson, the previous tenant.  The bathrooms were clean and ready, though I don't know if the fittings are going to hold up.  I can recommend it but it isn't going to displace favorites. Try the beef dishes if you go.

My Yelp Review

Cinnaholic

Came in the other day for an afternoon snack.  The website has various attractive dressed cinnamon rolls, but they also have in-store suggestions made up and I ended up with one of those, the Texas Two-Step. Cookie dough, chocolate chips, oreos, and chocolate sauce with lots of icing on a cinnamon roll.  Washed that down with some iced coffee.  The coffee was nice and strong, just like I like it.  They are vegan and dairy free, so only soy and almond milk on offer, but that was fine.

In the end I liked what I had, the toppings were very good on the roll.  It's about 1200 calories and $9, which is a hefty snack, but quite good.  The least impressive part is the cinnamon roll.  For a vegan roll it's not bad.  But is it fresh?  A sign on the counter said "Fresh baked yesterday".  The owner tells me that these are rolls that are packaged for eating later, and yes they are fresh.  Don't be confused!

They have many other vegan baked goods on offer.  If you're specifically looking for a vegan sweet snack option this is pretty good.  If you don't care so much about that you're overpaying.

There is seating inside but the interior is very plain, it is intended for takeout.  The single bathroom did look to be clean and ready.  Overall I wish them well.

My Yelp Review