The Salsa Verde Cafe is located off the beaten path, a couple blocks south of Eisenhauer on a semi-main road in the no-man's land between a warehouse district and a housing area. In other words, very few people accidentally drive past the restaurant, you have to know what you're looking for to find it.
And after you find it, the lime green color of both the exterior and interior is a little off-putting. The parking lot is small and the building is so "hole-in-the-wallish" and out-of-place on this neighborhood side street that you probably wouldn't ever eat here unless someone recommended it. I ate here after they first opened nearly 10 years ago and then totally forgot about the restaurant until I happened to be in the area today. And in all that time, my review is the very first one? What's up with that??
Every meal starts off with complimentary chips and salsa and a complimentary bowl of what I assume was some sort of Mexican chicken noodle soup. My server (the only server in the small restaurant) wasn't able to answer my question about the type of soup because she didn't speak English very well. The chips are freshly made, thick and crunchy. The salsa is very strange (it doesn't taste bad, it's just different), more like vegetable soup than hot sauce.
I chose crispy beef tacos with rice and beans off the limited menu. The refried beans were a little dry and filled with whole beans rather than the fully smashed variety. The rice was excellent. My taco shells (two per order) were thick and crunchy like my chips, with lots of fresh lettuce, ripe tomatoes and shredded cheese. I wanted a little more meat in the tacos, but I still thought they were very good.
One of the best aspects of the restaurant is that the most expensive selections on the menu (other than a special Sunday only item) are only $5.99. And please note that while the restaurant's namesake is Salsa Verde, you have to request it to get any.
I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, but if you're in the neighborhood or you work in the warehouse district, it's definitely worth the low cost. read more