Rants & Raves

Salt & Pepper Mexican Restaurant/Starbucks

A visit to Salt & Pepper tonight was accidental more than anything. We had a favorite mexican restaurant (Chico's Tecate Grill), but unfortunately it has closed down due to staffing shortages. So, onward we trudged down Macleod Trail to find something that could measure up. We found it, almost. It had an excellent atmosphere, very friendly staff who gave great service. The menu, at first, was confusing. I, unfortunately, have only mastered one language, that being English. So, to start, we went with something familiar: chips and salsa. It was called something completely foreign, yet beautiful on the menu, but none the less, the translation I deduced was true. Out came hot tortilla chips, with a fresh, finely chopped homemade salsa. Another item that caught my eye, and that was included in the starter, was a pickled veggie mixture. It was tasty, but I avoided the pickled jalapeno peppers. The salsa was mild, with a bit of an after-bite. Entree wise, I ordered the chicken enchiladas. You have options on sauce, I chose the brown mole (pronounced mo-lay) sauce. It was different, but good. Apparently mole sauce has chocolate/cocoa in it, which made for a different twist on a traditional mexican dish. He had the taco platter, which was a heaping plate full of 3 meat fillings, a fantastic guacamole, and other various taco toppings. He enjoyed it, probably because of the variety. All in all, Salt and Pepper restaurant offers good food, reasonable prices, and a nice atmosphere for family dinners or casual lunches. They do have great looking margaritas too. Make sure to try the guacamole, it's the best I've tried yet.
Review (out of 5 $'s)
Food: $$$$
Service: $$$
Atmosphere: $$$$

Salt & Pepper Mexican Restaurant 4351 Macleod Trail Southwest (403) 243-3173

A quick trip to Starbucks was also in order tonight. Needed a bit of a boost, and yes, I'm a bit of an addict. I have been trying to be as creative with drink concoctions there, so as to not get bored with their limited menu. So, a tip for all you Starbucks junkies out there. For a sweet treat that will break the wallet a bit, try either a mocha frappucino or a java chip frap with 2 pumps of the valencia orange syrup. It is fantastic, and resembles a Terry's chocolate orange. Raspberry syrup is a good twist on the original too.

Until next time, keep the comments coming, and let me know of any places that you tend to rant and rave about.... I can post them here for ya.

posted by Ranter @ 9:38 PM