El Tango Tanquira - Another Lakewood Find

So after a rough start I am finally having some success on quest for good inexpensive Mexican food in Cleveland. My latest find is El Tango Tanquira at 14224 Madison Avenue in Lakewood. This place has built a nice reputation and has gotten some great writeups online so I figured I would give it a try. The outside is nothing special, but easy enough to find. Once inside I was struck by the decor, kind of a funky Southwest feel, with a nice tile floor, wooden tables and wrought iron chairs and plenty of colorful decoration. A really fun place and kind of has the feel of the places I find in Western ski towns, funky but clean. Instead of heading to a table in the small dining room on the left, you head over to the counter in front of the kitchen on the right and place your order. Once you have picked your food and paid you sit down and from there you get table service with full plates and silverware. The menu is not overly long, but the items on it appear to be very good. I ordered the Green Chili Stew with Vegetables and the Burrito with fish added to it. All items were fresh and made to order. The stew came out first and it was exceptional. A thick bright green chili stew was studded with vegetables including onions, squash, broccoli and beans; and to add a suprise and extra flavor note there was a wedge of fresh pineapple as well. The flavors were excellent, well seasoned and complex with just enough heat. I would highly recommend this. The fish burrito was next, good sized and filled with Spanish Rice and beans; the fish were very nicely grilled pieces of a Snapper. All of the ingredients were very good, but as a whole the burrito didn't come together. It needed a sauce or salsa to get everything to combine. It also seemed a little too simple in the food combination, I would like to see some vegetation (onions, peppers, tomatoes and/or lettuce) and some cheese to make the burrito complete. Now for my mini rant, El Tango does not put out the chips and salsa, it is $4.95 for them and they looked good on a nearby table. They do not have water by the glass and they do not have hot sauce, at least not in a bottle, they were willing to sell me some of the salsa for $1 extra. While the food here is very high quality, well prepared and reasonably priced ($4.50 for the chili stew, $6.95 for the Burrito plus $1.00 to add the fish) I start to feel like I am less a customer and more of a income source when I have to pay an extra charge to make the meal suit me. I can understand the chips and salsa, but not serving water or having any sauce included in the burrito does not seem right to me. Now that is just me, I generally don't like to pay the high price for drinks when eating out, unless I am having something alcoholic and I like to be able to doctor the flavor of my food, but that is me, your mileage may vary. Overall a very good place, fun decor, good service, high quality food, some of which is exceptional (try the Green Chili Stew), at what should be reasonable prices until you start having to pay for all the extras. If this was closer I probably would visit again and try the Fish Tacos, but I am just bugged enough by the extras issue to not make a special trip across town.