In Melbourne, Mexican food seems to mostly involve fancy restaurants with $25-30 burritos and tacos. Coming from the US, this seems insane. Tacos should be $2-3 each, and a burrito certainly shouldn't cost more than $10. There are certainly posh Mexican restaurants in the states, but 90% of Mexican restaurants are unpretentious places where you can grab a quick and cheap meal. Gringo Vibes understands this--and in the process serves better food than the vast majority of Mexican eateries in Melbourne for a fraction of the price.
I've been to GV a few times now, and in several categories they get things right that are almost never right in an Australian Mexican restaurant. First off, they use well-cooked black beans and refried pinto beans in their tacos and burritos. No sad kidney beans here. Second, both their flour and corn tortillas are never stale, always flavorful, and the appropriate size. Flavorless, dry tortillas and bland kidney beans are the bane of 90% of Australian attempts at Mexican cuisine. Burritos are finished with rice, crisp lettuce, and cheese. There is a pretty good selection of meat (chicken, beef), and vegetarian (beans & rice, chicken-style seitan) options for fillings.
The "vibes" portion of the establishment is slightly contrived, but well executed. Reggae LPs adorn the walls, and the speakers play an amazing stream of reggae and dub that is obscure enough that I'm not familiar with any of it (and I listen to a fair bit of reggae), but of uniformly excellent quality.
Finally, GV is home to a great beer value--$5 cans of Tecate, finished with a crucial wedge of lime. Drinking Mexican beer with a lime seems uncommon here in my experience, but really is the way it ought to be be done.
About the only thing lacking at Gringo Vibes is a greater selection of Mexican-style meat fillings. Al pastor (similar to doner kebab), cabeza (beef cheeks), or lengua (beef tongue) are all delicious and much missed by me. read more