You keep going back to Guadalajara Grill. It's always there, the same half-lit neon strips on the ceiling, some plastic ferns, the comfy booths and the certainty of a trusty combination plate: an enchilada and a taco, a tostada and an enchilada, a tamale and a chile relleno. There are families with kids, businessmen, large groups of friends, some solo diners reading the paper; for all of us, Guadalajara Grill, tucked in a small corner way out on Cerrillos, is home. But though it inspires confidence, Guadalajara is never tired-a selection from the mariscos section of the menu always has its little surprises. Take the Guadalajara shrimp plate, with the delicate, if a little dry, carne asada, topped with the Grill's famous shrimp and some sautéed bell peppers and onions. If you take a warm corn tortilla, slather it with the refried beans, the sour cream, a drop of guacamole and a little bit of the salsa that was brought with your tortilla chips, then wrap it around a slice of carne and a shrimp, you have entered into an impressively variable world of flavor. Wash it down with a tamarind Jarritos or a good old Mexican beer and you're really home.
3877 Cerrillos Road, 424-3544. Open daily for lunch and dinner. $$.
SFR Pick:
Camarones à la diabla.
Santa Fe Reporter