El Rio Grande–Mayfield Mexican Cantina

You may have noticed that the large restaurant behind Golden Gat

e Plaza has undergone another transformation, becoming a Mexican restaurant (ironically enough the building originally housed a Mexican restaurant).  I notices a $5 off coupon in Scene magazine, so I figured I would give it a try.  I arrived early on a Friday evening and the place was nearly empty, but had a very festive décor with bright primary colors, hand carved chairs and tables.  With enough people to fill up the large space this could be a fun and happening place.  The décor and menu are similar to that at the local El Rodeo chain, but there is a El Rodeo about 1 mile down Mayfield. 
As usual out came the chips and salsa, the chips were ok, the salsa bright, but a bit too mild.  Easily fixed with some hot sauce, but noting special.
The menu is generally what you would expect from a Mexican restaurant, plenty of choices, but a lot of the same ingredients.  The Seafood section is a bit better then some other places.  I had the Chili Rellenos dinner, which was two cheese stuffed peppers fried and topped with sauce.  The peppers were ok, although the cheese seemed a bit underwhelming, the dish could have used more sauce, but the sour crème drizzle was a nice touch.  The rice and beans that came with were ok, but once again nothing special.  Overall the food was decent, but not anything that I am going to hurry back for, especially if I have to pay full price.
I think El Rio Grande has a chance since the décor is good and the service was fine, but the food is just OK.  There are plenty of other places to go for Mexican food and if you are going to open a new place, especially one this large you need to make sure that the food really is something special. 
Give it a try if you grab one of the coupons, otherwise there is much better ways to spend you dinner dollars.

Tucky's - Nice Place to get a bite

I've stopped by the Mayfield Tucky's a couple of times in the past couple weeks and I was impressed.  Tucky's is a local chain based around hot dogs, burgers and fries.  They have locations downtown, Parma and at 6232 Mayfield Road, Mayfield (map is here) where they have taken over a small storefront that has gone through a couple of different restaurants in the past couple of years.

Going in, the counter and kitchen is on one side and the nice neat dining room is on the other.  The appearance is modern and warm with browns and beiges set off with metal tables and chairs.  The memorabilia  and flat screen add a nice friendly touch. 

The menu is straightforward and caters to the carnivore, although there are a couple of chicken dishes and a veggie burger.  The first time I was there they had a fish sandwich as a special and the second time I had the Wednesday special of 2 fish tacos.  Prices are not cheap, but Tucky's uses quality ingredients and prepares food to the order, so value is pretty good.  In addition, they offer kids under 5 a free meal and kids between 5 to 12 eat for 1/2 price, so there is some added value there.  One thing to note is that this is not fast food, since food is cooked to order, therefore you will wait about 5 minutes or so to get your food.

Both the fish sandwich and the fish tacos had the fish nicely fried with a crisp crust and firm fish in the middle.  For $6 you get two small tacos (they cut the large fillet of fish in half) and a bag of black bean salsa chips.  The tacos were good, as an American version of one of my favorites, although even cut in half the fish needed a bigger taco shell as it tended to push all the other ingredients out of the shell.   The lettuce and cabbage was crisp and the salsa was bright, but very mild.  The chips included were not bad, but I am not a big fan of flavored chips and would have preferred having a choice.  The fish sandwich was also good and my buddy Danny liked his Cheeseburger.

One of the things I really like at Tucky's is the condiment bar which allows you to add the sauces or condiment that you want to your food.  Some hot sauce, banana and jalapeno peppers spiced up the tacos and the tarter sauce made with the Chicago fluorescent green relish helped the fish sandwich.  A good idea that I would like to see more places adopt.

Tucky's does a number of interesting variations on the hot dog, including what looks like a pretty good version of the Chicago Dog (poppyseed bun, sport peppers, fluorescent relish and celery salt are some of the items).   I have asked my friend Mindy who is a Chicago native and hot dog expert to stop by Tucky's and render judgment on the Chicago dog, but that will have to be a an update to this post.

Tucky's is a nice local chain that serves quality food, keeps it restaurant clean and neat and the prices may be higher then fast food, but you get value for your money.  Not a place that I will seek out, but certainly a better choice then the fast food places nearby, especially if you have kids with you.  If you want a dog or some fries, give them a try.