What an experience this place turned out to be. I stopped by with my wife for lunch on a weekend and we found we had the place to ourselves. We received some salsa which was obviously freshly immersion blended and also got a free queso with a yelp check-in. You have to get the queso - my wife will attest I am not a big queso fan, but I could not stop eating this as it was the best queso I may have had in my entire life. Seriously. We went on to order the fajitas and split them along with a side of the tortilla soup. The fajitas came out in a decent amount of time, but the soup trailed behind a bit as they had to finish making it by scratch. I don't know about you, but that is definitely something I'm OK waiting for, especially when I already have some decent food in front of me. It was all delicious - far better than any of the other Mexican restaurants in walking distance and something I would certainly stop by and get again. We also had a fantastic experience with the staff as they were all very humble, but extremely friendly and proud of the restaurant. Keep up the great work! read more

I am proud of myself for giving this place a chance, actually multiple chances. I even waited to write a review to give this small business an opportunity. But it has become unbearable even during COVID. We have visited approximately 6-7 times and there was only one visit where there no issues. It has always been apparent that they are understaffed even pre-COVID. As they are always understaffed, they are always late with your food. It doesnt matter if they state a time, they have NEVER had the food ready for us at the stated time. Save yourself heartache and time and check out any other Mexican restaurant! read more

Caliente is located right off the Sam Houston Parkway and I-10 in the Town and Country Shopping Center. It's the perfect place in West Houston to get a bite to eat, do a little shopping or catch a movie. Well, after hearing all of my friends raving about this fine little Tex-Mex restaurant, I finally got a chance to experience it for myself. And, what an experience it was! Everyone is aware that I have a deep-rooted passion for Tex-Mex, just like most everyone born in this city. So, when I hear about a good one I haven't tried yet, I make it a point to get there as soon as possible. The first thing you notice as you walk into Caliente is the bright and vivacious color scheme. This fast-casual restaurant has me in a better mood the second I walk in! It has plenty of space to enjoy dining with a group, but it's also the kind of place I wouldn't feel uncomfortable stopping by for a bite on my own. Caliente is a very welcoming restaurant. A friend of mine who lives in the area told me I had to experience the Salsa Flight. Knowing my passion for sauces and having seen pictures in different foodie groups ... I knew this was going to be something special! We wasted absolutely no time and ordered a couple of Mexican beers and the famous Salsa Flight along with some queso - always a must! The Salsa Flight was a quick trip to paradise. They served up 5 delicious house-made signature sauces: Habañero, Sweet Habañero, New Mexico Green Sauce, Avocado Crema, and Piña de Pico. They were all very tasty, but my two favorites were the Avocado Crema and the Habañero. It is always a treat to go habañero and then do a quick switch to the Avocado Crema to soothe the palate. Ridiculous! This is such a great idea, and I am sure more restaurants will soon follow. The queso was also big favorite at our table - which really comes as no surprise. This creamy white queso was served with Pico de Gallo. White queso is a nice change of pace and a cheesy delight. It put a very large smile on my face. You can believe that. Now, we might be going a little dip crazy, but the 7 layers of goodness were not gonna miss this table for anything! Each layer of the 7-Layer Dip seemed just a little bit better than the last. My favorite layer was the one that completely covered the chip with all the layers. I could eat this with a spoon. Seriously! At the last minute, I noticed an extremely beautiful dish crossing my path. Without any hesitation, I added the Smoked Ribs to my order. Ha! Just take a look at the photography! This fiesta of slow-smoked ribs was incredible. The Chipotle Ancho Honey Glaze made for just the right touch of sweetness. Let's just say they disappeared quickly and all that was left was a pretty stack of bones. Another favorite of mine showed up just in time served with cilantro, red onion and lime! The Pork Tacos are a house specialty and it is easy to taste why. The slow-cooked pork was served with queso fresca and was oh-so-perfectly matched up with a Dos Equis Cerveza. I take a second... and take it all in. I am so happy to be here at Caliente on a Friday evening. Next, we enjoyed a little seafood. The Crawfish Enchiladas came by the twos and the spicy crawfish mix served with a Chipotle Cream Sauce was just what I was looking for. When in California, I yearn for these crawfish dishes... so I love it here in Houston where they are so plentiful. This is a dish to try when it's crawfish season. The Caribbean Shrimp was the all-around favorite of the table. The shrimp was sweet and spicy, served with Pineapple Pico de Gallo, Pineapple Habañero Glaze and Caribbean Butter. I could have eaten these things for days! We made tacos, ordered some wine and laughed... does it get any better at a fast-casual restaurant? Speaking of wine, the selection here is really nice. This will be a real surprise to most, but the owner has a great passion for wine and it shows! We enjoyed a couple of glasses of Halter Ranch Ancestor Paso Robles Estate Reserve. This smooth, full-bodied Cabernet was the perfect prelude to dessert. And now for the Tres Leches Cake I had been hearing so much about in the local foodie groups. It was music to my mouth. This creamy, sweet, soaked cake took my breath away with every bite. This is one of my favorite desserts and the Tres Leches here at Caliente definitely did not disappoint. I highly recommend you save some room for this one. Caliente is one of my new go-to fast-casual restaurants. The ingredients were extremely fresh, from the avocados to the crawfish. The Tex-Mex flavors were there, but with a pleasantly unique twist...not your everyday Mexican food. This is the type of place where you want to experience something new every visit. But, here is a tip - always get the Salsa Flight! read more

See all

Still one of my favorite restaurants bang for buck. It gets five stars not only for the quality of the service but the quality of the food. ive always said, it's tough for me to give five stars. People expect it to be a fancy place but the highest quality and great service, we'll sometimes if it's just that good. The steak and the chicken fajitas are amazing we've had the guacamole, queso, chips; everything is super fresh. We've never been disappointed read more

I didn't even get the opportunity to try the food because the restaurant was so dirty we decided to leave. When we walked in we noticed immediately that there were several tables (about 7-8) that were filthy. It was self seating so we literally had to look around to find somewhere to sit. When we found a clean table and went to sit down we noticed that the chairs had food/drink spilled in them. Out of frustration I said, "Let's just go. This is ridiculous."I think the thing that pushed me to the point of wanting to leave was that the restaurant wasn't busy at all. There were only like 5 tables occupied. So, what is the staff doing to have left so many tables dirty like that? Because they certainly weren't tending to the customers either. When we left we also noticed that the patio area was dirty. read more

My office manager and I were out delivering Christmas gifts around the city when we stopped at Caliente for lunch. I'd been here before with my wife, and we had liked it. It did not disappoint on the return visit, either. My office manager got a bowl of the poblano soup and I got the combination plate of chicken and beef fajitas and diablo shrimp. Yum. Ask for Gene when you're there, he'll take good care of you. read more

Caliente - Beef and chicken fajitas and diablo shrimp - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

This is my first time visiting restaurant, and I considered it a real find thanks to Groupon. We had an extremely polite, attentive waitress, LaDonna, and our dining experience started there. After identifying ourselves as Groupon and first time visitors, our waitress was actually excited that this was our first time visit instead of looking down on us for using a Groupon. She then proceeded to explain to us that this is a chef driven restaurant and the concept of farm to fork. She indicated that the place does not even have a freezer, and that the food was fresh. Based upon the dishes that we had, I felt like that it was made by a personal chef living at the house. The chips were thin and crispy and served with a smoky chipotle sauce. It was medium, but I understand that there are other sauces available such as a sweet Habanero (maybe next time). We started with the appetizer trio with a seven layer dip, white queso, and fresh guacamole. It was obviously made with fresh ingredients as the guacamole had small chunks of avocado as proof that it is not bagged avocado. The queso was thick and cheesy and the seven layer dip was seasoned properly and topped with fresh sour cream. My only recommendation is that the thin chips were not able to hold up to the queso and dip, so they may consider using thicker chips for the appetizers and possiby warm corn tortillas for the queso. I ordered beef fajitas julianne with onions and bell pepper with Monterey Jack melted on top. The beef was beautifully seasoned and was delicious. The cilantro rice and refried beans were homemade and awesome . My wife ordered the Enchiladas Verde , which were made with all white chicken and used a wonderful cilantro cream sauce instead of a tomatillo sauce. The cilantro cream sauce was probably the best I've ever had. Enchiladas were made with flour tortillas, so if you prefer corn, then you should probably indicate this at the time of ordering. We fnished our meal with a tres leches, which was a special on this PI (3,1415) day. Fresh made cake with fresh creams. One of the best I have had. Service was great and the food was exceptional. I am not going to deduct a star for ambiance as another reviewer had done. The food and service were excellent, and it is obviously before you walk into this restaurant that it is more of cafe-style restaurant. They had table service in the ambience was fresh and clean so I find no fault in that. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who appreciates a CHEF that believes in fresh ingredients and putting out quality food without the premium price of other restaurants with the farm to fork philosophy. read more

Caliente - Appetizer trio- 7 layer dip, white queso and homemade guacamole - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

First time visitor.... will definitely be back! The food was outstanding, the rice was AMAZING!! The service was fantastic, great dining environment and experience. Highly recommend! read more

I was wanting to try this place for so long and now that I have, I have no regrets! I absolutely loved the customer service! Our waiter was so nice and helpful with our orders and helped my friend make accommodations with his food allergy! I ordered the cheese enchiladas and they did not disappoint! I asked for onions in top just for my personal preference and they tasted amazing! The parking was not a problem! This place is such a calm and relaxing place to have a lunch or dinner! Definitely will be coming back soon! read more

Caliente - Caliente Enchiladas (veggie) - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

Regardless of my 4 stars, you have to try this casual Mexican restaurant. It is THE freshest Mexican food I have ever even come close to having. They don't even have a freezer to keep frozen food! The food is FRESH FRESH FRESH!!!! I had the quesadillas because the other pictures of fellow yelpers looked delicious and they were EVERYTHING. I also had the dip trio and each dip was perfect. I wished I had a gallon of each. They are only short one star because the service was a little slow. If I drank, I wouldn't have even noticed and would have just enjoyed! Great happy hour and fajita specials! read more

Welp... came all the way over for the famous white queso, but picked up my order and it was yellow! Employee explained they were out. I told her I wish she would have told me before I drove all the way over here. Then I was not able to redeem my free queso for checking in on Yelp, said she thinks it was expired and I said no, I just looked this place up. Wanted fajita beef empanadas, all they had was picadillo. I decided to try them... another failure.. they were damn neared burned and greasy! Needless to say I paid for food I didn't eat. Did not like the YELLOW queso. Ended up going to a different taco place down the street... I got everything I wanted there. 1st and last time at Caliente! read more

There is no doubt that at least with my dish, the food was as good if not better than Pappasitos. I got the Cabo Combo for $12.50 off the lunch menu, and subbed out the chicken for the pork in the sour cream enchilada recommended by our waiter Travis (who was FANTASTIC btw). The sauce on the enchilada was nice and creamy, and the THICK (deliciously amazing) flour tortilla housed some very large chunks of the pork. The fajita was fresh off the grill and still sizzling as my HOT plate arrived. The beef fajita was divine, tender and had perfect seasoning (not Lupe's perfect, but thats a different breed altogether). The cilantro rice was soft and fluffy, and the refried beans were so good. I should have been full but i just kept dippin my chips in the refried beans cause it was delish. Pros: The food and service were great! Cons: When you walk in the first time, you really have no idea what to do. My companion and I walked up to the counter and were told we can just take a seat anywhere. We saw multiple groups come in and do the same thing. There should really be a sign that says "Please seat yourself" or something to that effect. The other con, is that my plate took about 15 minutes to come out, which i found odd as this was touted as a "quick" service restaurant. It was fine with me because i had the free chips and salsa to munch on while waiting. Travis, the other waitress, and the owner all came over at various times to let me know it would be out soon, which i found humorous yet comforting. Something probably went wrong in the back... who knows. They were communicative and thats why i didnt give a strike. I will be back often. read more

Caliente - The Cabo Combo, a steal for $12.50. Perfect fajita, and subbed pork for the chicken in the enchiladas. Divine! - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

Friendly staff, clean and good atmosphere. I ordered shrimp fajitas (pic) and my wife ordered vegetarian tacos. The food was tasty but took very long to make/serve, nearly 25 minutes. My wife finally had to request her entree to go as it took so much time. The reason I am still giving it 3 stars is that we were told that the food is prepared fresh and they do not even have a freezer. We will visit again and hopefully, then, the service will be quicker. Edit Nov-6-2017: The owner reached out to me just after I posted the original review and wanted to make up for the service. I have not had another chance to visit this place, but I am upgrading to 4-stars because of the concern shown by the owner. Also, overall the food was good. read more

Caliente - Shrimp Fajitas - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

Updated review: Still just as good as the other times we went. Only difference is (obviously) covid. Upon walking in we immediately found the hand sanitizer and saw that everyone in the place was wearing masks and distancing as required. They were also doing a lot of extra cleaning to ensure the safety while dining in. Food wise we were very pleased! The crawfish enchiladas were delicious and my wife thoroughly enjoyed the poblano chicken. We'll definitely be back again! read more

Judging by all the good reviews I must have came on an off night. We came at 6:30pm, a group of four. Our food took longer than a traditional Mexican restaurant to come out AND the quality was so sub par. My enchiladas had cheese inside that wasn't all the way melted. Everything looked pretty frozen. It's a weird concept it's like Mexican fast food except it's not fast but it's priced like a restaurant. Wouldn't recommend it especially with cyclone Anaya's right around the corner read more

This was such a treat! Great tex- mex food with a really cute atmosphere, nice for a quick lunch date. My boyfriend and I shared one of their two combo choices, a cheese enchilada along with flank steak, rice and beans. The enchilada was ok we got a cheese enchilada with white queso on top, I know what you are thinking "that sounds like a whole lot of cheese!" Yea it was haha but that was our fault next time we know to add some type of meat. The flank steak was tender and well seasoned on top of cilantro rice, with a side of refried beans. The beans had a pork flavor to me, so if you do not eat pork I would suggestion asking if it is an ingredient. We also enjoyed a strawberry and peach frozen margarita and they were delicious! They didn't taste artificial and like a ton of cheap alcohol was poured into it. Which we appreciate lol After full bellies we took home tres letches and a giant recess pieces cookies which we devoured. All in all it was delicious and we will be back! read more

See all

Had a neighborhood gathering yesterday and ordered catering for 10 with delivery! The food was on time, professional delivery from Pedro, and delicious! So glad we have Caliente close by! read more

A took Me, M and W here because A had got a Living Social deal here. OMG - it was such a great deal. I believe it was three appetizers and four entrees for like 50 bucks or something like that. We ended up sharing the following items: Queso - Our famous white queso served with pico de gallo garnish - gosh, I miss a good queso. And the chips, were like paper thin and warm and so damn good. LOVE IT. Nachos - Chips piled high with refried beans, cheese and your choice of Beef Fajita, Chicken Fajita or Picadillo. We add sour cream, guacamole and our signature sweet habanero sauce. Whoa, this thing is huge, and I couldn't believe this, because this was such a good deal that A got from Living Social. We got the beef and this filled us up. Quesadillas - Your choice of Beef or Chicken Fajitas served with guacamole and sour cream This was good too. Texas Chili Enchiladas - Our beef enchiladas served with our Texas chili sauce. I thought this was okay, only because I am not a huge enchiladas lover. Texas Raised Outside Skirt Steak - Marinated and cooked over a 500 degree grill. This was okay too, because I don't really like steak that's cooked more than medium rare. Caribbean Shrimp - Served with a pineapple pico de gallo, pineapple habanero glaze and our Caribbean butter. I didn't like this one as much as the other shrimp dish. A thought it tasted like Asian style, because of the pineapple, but I thought it was too sweet. Hugo Caliente Shrimp a la Diabla* - Shrimp sautéed in a chipotle infused butter served with black beans and cilantro rice. *¡Es Caliente! This dish looks identical to the Caribbean one, but I prefer this one better. The sauce tasted better and it had a nice kick that I really enjoyed. This lunch was a nice surprise and of course we couldn't finish all the food here. read more

Good food. But sometimes it can be a bit cold. Friendly staff Otherwise nothing unique

Thank you. The tex mex food is amazing and the mixed drinks specially Moscow mule and the mojitos thank you again will definitely going back the wife was really happy and your truly too. read more

Friendly and delicious My husband and I eat here tonight and were visited at our table by the owner who was very nice! The wine list looked nice and prices were reasonable, but I wanted to try the margarita and the husband got a beer. They had a few craft beers, but it would be nice to see more in the future! We shared a nacho appetizer - caveat emptor it is HUGE! Definitely enough for 4-6 people to share. Super tasty though! Had pico, guac, sour cream, fajita meat, refried beans, queso, and a yummy sweet habanero sauce. We both ordered enchiladas - me sour cream chicken and him verde chicken. They come with cilantro rice (that could use a touch of salt) and beans - both the charro and refried are really good. The enchiladas were also both good - but we were so full from nachos we only had a few bites. We took a doggie bag though so we have lunch tomorrow covered! The owner also brought us a house made tres leche - man it was top notch. The texture of fresh tres leche is soooo much better than others!! read more

Caliente - Verde enchiladas - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

Great food! Great prices! I love the Cabo Combo, the 7 layer dip and the 3 leches dessert!! read more

Caliente - Tres leches! - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

Tried so hard to make this work, confusion if breakfast was still being served, determined that is was. Okay, wanted breakfast tacos, out of bacon :(, then ordered two of the cinnamon rolls, out of them:( was told that the waffles also have cinnamon. Perhaps they are having a bad day, will try again. read more

Loved the hand made corn tortillas and the mango habanero salsa! Had fun trying the salsa flight and margs! read more

Caliente - Salsa flight; Strawberry mango margarita - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

I don't know why I never stopped in to eat here before. I ordered the lunch enchilada and taco, but it was definitely not lunch a portion for me, just a lower price which I appreciate. I didn't even finish it. Initially I was looking for some authentic Mexican so I didn't expect much from a Tex Mex spot when I ordered a quick pickup meal, but everything was beyond AMAZING. They packed some to go tortilla chips in there as well. I ate my meal so fast I didn't even get to take a pic lol. read more

Not the best. I don't understand how the reviews are this good. I was so excited to try this place- good food, great taste, amazing environment? Well, let me break it down for you. We came here on a Friday night, about an hour and half before closing. I'm assuming some of the staff called in because there were only two staff members, and a civilian was weighing tables- who gave us our waters. When the server finally approached us, he immediately mentioned, in a hurry, "I'm letting y'all know right now you're not getting your food no earlier than 45 mins" and walked off. Not sure if he was already trusted with the short-staff situation or what, but I didn't appreciate the approach. I wanted to try different salsas, so another server recommended the salsa flight. I don't think it's worth $7. We got our food about 40 mins after. Nothing special at all. NOT AUTHENTIC AT ALL. I'm not sure who got the idea that this is an authentic place. Super Tex mex, which I assumed initially, but after reading the positive reviews, I was convinced there was some type of authenticity to this place. 2 stars for most of the salsas. Unfortunately, a disappointment. read more

We read some of the positive reviews and were looking forward to our experience, but Caliente did NOT live up to the hype. I was in a party of 4. Service was extremely slow even though there was only one other table with guests in the restaurant. The waiter brought out the entrees one by one as they were prepared, leaving my mother-in-law for last after at least 15 minutes had passed since the first plate came out. Of course none of us started eating until her food arrived, so all of our dishes were cold when we started eating. The waiter blamed the long wait time on her steak...which was about 3 oz and couldn't have taken more than 6 minutes to properly cook. My burrito was smothered in cheap-tasting queso, though the menu said nothing about that ingredient. All in all this was an extremely sub-par experience and a waste of time and money. Check out one of the many other great restaurants nearby instead! read more

Pork enchiladas are fantastic! Love the flavor and the heat! My husband loved his chicken enchiladas. The meat is generous and extremely tender. read more

The food here was okay, but there was so much that went wrong. We asked for two drinks and received them within a reasonable amount of time, but we didn't get any straws for about 5 minutes. We ordered the couples combo fajita, without onions because me and my husband can't eat them. We received our cold chips and salsa and the salsa was so watery we could hardly hold it on the chip. What do you know, our hot plate of fajitas came with onions. We also received flour tortillas with our meal and they were literally raw. We also ended up asking for another basket of chips and salsa, and the salsa then tasted spoiled... like i don't even know how... I had to ask for two more orders of tortilla cooked well. So we had to sit there for a while just watching our food lol. Needless to say once we finished eating our fajitas we realized there was a pool of oil on the hot plate, how revolting and sad. The cilantro rice that came with it was okay but the refried beans were cold and salty. The waitress was slow, and we will not be returning. read more

Caliente - Combo Fajitas - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

The food wasn't really good. Expensive and not really worth it. I would recommend go else where for Mexican food.

Was in here to pick up a to go order... Not sure if I'd want to stay here and eat though. Tables were dirty the whole time and the only waiter was cussing when tables sat down. Mind you there were only 3 tables in the restaurant with people at it. I could tell he was pissed when the tables came in. read more

Caliente - Dirty table - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

They food was amazing and the service was great. Definitely coming back to this restaurant. FYI they had good music on. read more

Caliente - Poblano Chicken - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

I ordered shrimp quesadillas and shrimp fajitas through door dash.The food is great! A little salty but great nonetheless. As I tackle my shrimp fajitas and notice I don't have any tortillas. I call the restaurant back to tell them they left out my tortilla for my fajitas and Berta tells me I can come up there to get tortillas (I ordered through door dash. That defeats the purpose) then tells me next time I come in I can get the tortillas . Who the hell just wants tortillas. Then Berta asked me what do I want her to do. My reply was that's for you to figure out. You guys fumbled the ball. How are you going to recover? I didn't like the conversation so I asked for the manager and received a separate number to call that was faulty. I'm far more upset with the lack of recovery of the matter than the tortillas,I'll eat my now fajita bowl and be fine,but please do better with customer resolutions. read more

The hours are listed as 7am-9pm. That isn't the correct hours at all. This morning I came at 730, they were still not open. This has been the case so many times. If your coming before work.. It takes a long time for them to make a breakfast taco. Every single time. Just go elsewhere. read more

We have rarely eaten out lately but had to venture into Houston on business, so chose to go here based on it's reviews. It was the waitress first day and hopefully last. I lay the one star on the review firmly at her feet. A two year old would have been more competent and attentive. The chips were stale, the salsa had too ripe veg in it, that gave it an aftertaste of rot. The queso was good. We left after 45 minutes still having not been served our meal. read more

I came in here with a friend for happy hour. It looked empty so I initially was a bit hesitant. But when we walked in our waiter, Gene, greeted us. He was informative as this was our first time here and patient. I appreciated that he continued to check in on us as Im usually picky and it takes me a while to choose what to eat and I ask a lot of questions about what's in the food. We ordered the salsa flight to start with and the queso. I loved the pineapple one. I got the tortilla soup and that was good too (maybe a 3.5 out of 5). My friend got the street tacos and she could only finish one as they were very filling. The tortillas are handmade which she loved. read more

Caliente - Salsa Flight - Tex-Mex Near Me - Houston, Texas

God's gift to Tex Mex. Be warned, this is much higher concept Mexican food than you'll find at most places around town. If you're the type that gets beef fajitas for one every time you go Tex Mex and never branch out, this may not be the place for you. That being said, if you enjoy Mexican flavors and aren't afraid to see how far they can be taken, step right in. Also, sit down. You'll be confused by what appears to be an ordering counter when you walk in. Ignore it and grab a table. Let's get to the food. 1. Salsa flight - (4*) I'm a salsa and all-things-spicy fanatic and this is a beautiful array of flavors in which to dip your overflowing basket of perfectly thin and salted tortilla chips. The habanero is nice blast of heat but nowhere near too hot. Chase it shortly after with the avocado crema to relieve the burn. Follow that up with with the New Mexico green sauce which is just a really solid salsa verde. Then chase it all with the delicious pineapple pico. You might notice I left off the sweet habanero. That wasn't an accident. If that was left off the flight, sitting in the terminal and the price was dropped from $6 to $4.50, I'd be back at least twice as often for this alone. 2. Beef quesadilla - (4.5*) Perfectly marinated and cooked steak inside an excellent flour tortilla and loaded with amazing cheese. Everything you'd want from a quesadilla other than the price. I'm not kidding when I say that at $14, it might be the most expensive quesadilla that I've had in Houston. 3. Pork sour cream enchiladas - (5*) I don't even know where to start. It's the bullet train to Flavortown. They're also huge compared to your typical enchilada. Just get em and thank me. 4. Cilantro rice - (5*) This stuff is mind blowing. Let me preface this by saying that when I normally get rice and beans as a side, I take a bite of each just to see if there's anything interesting going on with them and the rest stays on the plate. Most places seem to make the exact same rice and beans. Not here though. Sure, the refried beans won't blow your skirt up but the cilantro rice just might. If you love the flavors of garlic and cilantro, be prepared to hunt down every last grain on your plate. And, if you happen to pair that rice with the sour cream sauce, you might just have a religious experience. To summarize, this is an excellent lunch spot although not the easiest to get to. The prices are above average but so is the food. read more

Had a Groupon deal at Caliente (formerly Hugo's Caliente before being sued by Hugo's) so got some takeout. I've dined in once before so I won't touch on service here and focus on the food instead. Caliente is a weird hybrid between a quick service Mexican restaurant like Chipotle and a sit-down restaurant. They're having an identity of crisis here but the food is fresh. Went with the Caribbean shrimp which comes in a pineapple sauce with cilantro rice, tortillas, and beans. This is all accompanied by free chips and salsa. The salsa has a smoky flavor and is quite tasty while the tortilla chips are great! I'm a huge fan of tortilla chips and always appreciate a restaurant that does it right. The food was good and made a nice meal. The sweet pineapple sauce which I forgot to mention also includes pineapple chunks are great if you're a fan of sweet sauces. My only complaint is that there wasn't a lot of shrimp so wish the portion size was bigger with this entree. read more

Wonderful flavor! Great service and ready early (Hot & Delicious)!! A little more flavor than a Chipotle & the meat was so so tender! Very pleased with my lunch visit! read more

Wow. I heard the original owner sold this, and MAN can you tell!!! Worst food! Worst service! A hard NO THANK YOU EVER AGAIN! Don't know who bought it, but clearly they have no idea how to run a restaurant. We won't be back! Icky read more