Mi Casa Es Su Casa...Restaurant Review

Mi Casa Es Su Casa translated means my home is your home… or make yourself at home and that is exactly what my friends and I did today when we visited a newly opened Mexican Restaurant in our little community. My friend Kathy had called me up a few days ago to tell me about this restaurant…saying… you are going to love the decor, it reminds me of your home!

Ladies Room vanity

The food was mostly typical Mexican food with a few differences. For example the Captain and I visited for a breakfast meal a few days ago and I was glad to see the offering of red or green chile with my eggs….something that is normally offered at breakfasts in Mexico or New Mexico where I lived for a few years. The menu said the chiles were Hatch green chiles.

Inside Dining room

red and green chiles

Hatch, New Mexico that is. There is nothing like Hatch green chiles and I do miss the smell of green chiles roasting at special stands set up in the Fall months in New Mexico. One can always buy green chiles in a supermarket…usually only the mild variety and take the 3 or 4 chiles home and put on a gas burner to roast for a single meal.

Chile Roaster

Somehow the chiles in my supermarket are not the same as in New Mexico!

I always looked forward to the aroma of roasting chiles as I would pick out my bushel basket of green chiles, be it hot, medium or mild chiles and stand in line to have the whole bushel roasted in the spinning outdoor roaster. Sigh…..I can smell them now as I write this! The chiles would then be put into a black trash bag to be transported to my home. The drive home was an experience in itself as the smell of the roasted chiles would drive my senses crazy and I would plot what meals I would make that very evening using these wonderful chiles. I would use little zip lock bags to put little batches of chiles for the freezer for use at a later time, but that evening always meant green chile stew with fried potatoes or green chile posole…and …well you get the picture.

Later, as the chiles ripened on the vines and turned red, I would buy a pre-strung dried, red chile ristra to hang outside from one of my vigas or from the latillas. I could “pluck” as many of this wonderful dried red chile pods as I needed for my cooking that day.

Yes, this restaurant brought back many memories of my years in New Mexico. The cantina was packed with lunch customers, but we didn’t have to wait for our food and we all agreed the food was excellent. The owner, who also has a furniture company in Mexico, brought in hand carved tables and chairs. Beautiful decor. I have tried to make our home here in Florida a lot like the homes in New Mexico…adobe walls and courtyards and a definite Spanish style.