Luciana's

The space that was previously occupied by Taverna, an ill-fated restaurant near Boogie Burger on Broad Ripple Avenue (but nearer to Keystone) has turned into Luciana’s Mexican Cantina. I was intrigued. The place appeared busy from the parking lot. People were telling me it was good. A friend told me it was very comparable to La Hacienda. I was ready to check it out.

I met a group of friends there for a weeknight meal. The parking lot was nearly full and the restaurant was busy—not totally full, but doing a good business for just a few weeks open. I was looking through the menu thinking it does look similar to La Ha, but then I was thinking—don’t a lot of Mexican menus look very similar?

They brought out the usual chips and salsa. I would say this salsa had just a touch more heat than most standard salsas set on the table at Mexican restaurants and I liked it. It was maybe a little watery, but it tasted good. The chips were large and thin and just fine.

Anyhow, it was cold, and I was still trying to be remotely healthy, plus it’s one of my favorite things to get at La Ha, so I ordered the chicken soup ($7.25). Oh, and a Texas margarita (starting to sound more and more like La Ha huh?). The soup was very good, and very similar to what I get there. It’s a chicken broth base with a few tortilla chips in it, some rice, and hunks of chicken. It’s topped with some avocado, some pico de gallo and cheese. I really love this soup, especially when it starts getting cold. The broth is very rich and just a little spicy and I love the sort of creaminess you get a bit from the rice, and even more from the avocado and cheese. This is a comfort soup with a kick—a little heat from jalapeno and pico de gallo.

I had a little bite of a friend’s chicken fajitas and another friend’s “steak a la Mexicana.” Both were decent, even though they’re not typically the kinds of things I order. I feel like the meat tends to be a bit on the dry side with dishes like these. The steak was tasty—it had a real kick to it and I really enjoyed the sautéed onions. There were a fair amount of jalapenos in there too.

The margarita was very good—I love the Texas version here as well as at La Hacienda. It has triple sec added to it I think.  They are tasty. And large.

Our server was very nice and offered her suggestions. The food was good. Again, I don’t know that I have ever had spectacular Mexican food in Indy, but this place is really really solid. And since it’s about equidistant from our house as La Ha, we’ll probably be frequenting both. And so far, this place doesn’t have quite the wait that La Ha does. I know I don’t usually do such a comparison between two restaurants, but this place has so many similarities, it’s hard not to. I even saw some employees that I am pretty sure I’ve seen at La Ha, so I am thinking some people have left there to open Luciana’s.

So, if you like La Hacienda, you’re gonna like this place. Prices are comparable, it’s a little more spacious seating and currently, the crowds aren’t as bad. Who all has been there?

Luciana’s Mexican Cantina

1850 Broad Ripple Avenue

Indy 46220

317/820-5377

www.lucianasmexicanrestaurant.com

La Hacienda: Revist

So I have to admit, I get a little burnt out on Mexican food around here, because so much of it seems the same.  And even within a particular restaurant, oftentimes, it is just many of the same ingredients being used in different shapes and tortillas. One of our regular Mexican places is La Hacienda because it is really close to our house, and if I am honest, because I really like the Texas margaritas and chips and salsa.  The kids really like it, it is really fast, and they people are generally pretty nice.

I met a friend for lunch the other day though and she recommended something new—something I had never even actually noticed on the menu (which, like many Mexican places is enormous)—the chicken soup.  Sounds boring huh? But I really liked it.  And honestly, it is a lot of those same ingredients, but just enough different, that it didn’t bore me.

So it is an enormous bowl of soup with all kinds of things in it.  There were even pieces of tortilla on the bottom that were soft.  There was a little bit of cheese in there, that would surprise you when you got a spoonful with some in it, a lot of tender shredded chicken, chopped pico de gallo (onions, cilantro, and tomato) and bits of rice all in a slightly spicy, but rich, chicken-y broth.  My favorite part, of course, was the creamy, cool slices of avocado lying across the top (some of it sunk  before I took the picture).  There was enough to get a little bit of it with most of your bites.  I appreciated they weren’t skimping on it.

The only thing I didn’t like about the soup was I really wanted to eat it all, and my stomach was so full from it that I couldn’t.  Of course the chips and salsa and margaritas didn’t really help that problem either, but they are all so good.  Like I said, this is a place our family goes to fairly often, and I am happy to report something new and interesting to order.  And hey, if you guys go there, and have a favorite item to share, I would love to hear it. Or, of course, I continue to keep my list of new Mexican places to try if you have any suggestions in that regard too!

La Hacienda

6825 Graham Road (and other locations)

Indy  46220

317-577-2689

La Hacienda

Finally I am getting around to reviewing La Hacienda which I have mentioned several times in other reviews. This is a place that is close to my house (although they have several locations around Indy) and when we first moved to Indy we used to take the kids there all the time because, well my son was really young, the service is remarkably fast, and they didn’t seem to mind that we made an enormous mess. And you gotta love a Mexican restaurant in an old Waffle House (they have recently done a more major facelift on the inside, but in the beginning, it looked a lot like a Waffle House inside (and still does on the outside). And I also love that the sign out front still says, “Now Open Special” even after 3 years. And hey, the margaritas are good and so is the food.

Anyway, I wanted to do a fresh visit and review since we haven’t been in awhile (we have ventured into other places now that my kids are a bit older). They instantly bring you the chips and salsa—I really like their salsa, not super spicy or anything, but still fresh and tasty. The chips aren’t bad either. The kids always want guacamole and sour cream to dip into as well, so we ordered that with the chips too. Ok, the guacamole is not the big chunky kind that is my preference; it is the sort of uniform smooth style you get in a lot of the more casual, cheap Mexican places. But the thing is, you can still tell that it is actually derived from avocadoes at some point. There are some little recognizable bits and the flavor is of avocadoes. I can’t say they make it in house, I have no idea and if I had to guess I would say they probably don’t, but for what it is, it still isn’t bad.

I did order something that I have had a few times before, the soft shrimp chimichangas. Soft, meaning they are not deep fried. Ok, they aren’t the most exciting thing in the world, flour tortillas with large grilled prawns and red sauce, lettuce and tomato on top, but their shrimp is some of the best shrimp in a Mexican place I have had (and in many restaurants around here for that matter). They don’t overcook it, it is a good size and has great grilled flavor. La Hacienda is one of those places where they have 4-5 basic meat ingredients that are used in about 150 different dishes, but if you find a meat you like (I also like the chicken used in many of the dishes), you can pretty much be guaranteed you will like your dish. The beans and rice are also very good here (this is the only Mexican place where I bother with any rice; usually I think Spanish rice is just a waste of calories).

Hubby had the pork carnitas—this is probably one of Hacienda’s best dishes. The pork is done very well—nice crispy edges but also good flavor and the pico di gallo is fresh and really tasty, as is the hotter salsa that comes alongside the pico di gallo. Hubby has decided now that we don’t come as often, this is probably the only thing he will order there from now on.

My favorite things here by far though are the Texas margaritas. Hubby and I usually split a small pitcher, and what always cracks me up is that they bring you the pitcher and the two glasses and the pitcher is always full and the 2 glasses are always half full. If you go with more people, no matter how many people share a pitcher (large or small), they always bring you the glasses already half full. Not sure how this happens every time, but I think you could order 15 glasses and one pitcher and they would probably always bring you 15 half full glasses as well as the full pitcher. Not that I’m complaining mind you, I just find it humorous.

Anyway, I could happily sit and just eat the chips and salsa and margaritas, but the rest of the food is pretty good too. And the service is so fast, you can hardly believe it, but at least when the place is on a wait to get a table, you know you won’t be waiting long!

La Hacienda (various locations)
6825 Graham Road
Indy 46220
317-577-2689

Acapulco Joe's

I apologize upfront, I know this place is an institution in Indianapolis, but it surely isn't for the food. Frankly, it was borderline terrible. We went there the other day for lunch with our kids. I was excited to go, because I remember my parents going when I was a kid and it was the only Mexican restaurant in town. And I think at one point it had another location on the Northeast side and maybe I ate there once or twice.

Anyway, you start with the weird salsa in a squeeze bottle. Is that their way of conserving salsa (because I assume you have to dump a lot of salsa out when served in bowls on the table). The chips were decent, but the salsa was weird. It was sweet--almost like it was made with ketchup. I wasn't a big fan of it just with chips, but thought maybe it would be better on the food, assuming it was spicy. Well, not only was the food not spicy, it was borderline flavorless. I had the Mexican Pizza which is basically like a crisp flour tortilla with olives, beans, meat, mushrooms and cheese. It was probably the best thing on our table, but not memorable at all. Hubby had some flautas which looked like they were stuffed with, well, Alpo. They were so un-appetizing, I didn't even try them. The kids had quesadillas which were not good either (and they like bland food). But the cheese wasn't even melted inside the quesadilla. The worst thing was the guacamole. It looked good, with some nice chunks of avocado. Somehow, they managed to make that even flavorless. It was like eating mayo that was dyed green with chunks of boiled potato.

The people working there were probably the bright part of the restaurant--they were quite friendly and accomodating to giving us a table where our young kids wouldn't disturb others, which always makes a meal more bearable for the parents.

The margaritas were drinkable, but not outstanding. I am telling you, if you want a good margarita, check out the Texas margaritas at La Hacienda. They are alone, a good reason to go there, in my opinion. The food at Hacienda isn't bad either, so if you want some good basic Mexican with a really good Margarita, I say skip Acapulco Joes's at hit La Hacienda (there are several locations throughout Indianapolis).

Acapulco Joe's
365 N. Illinois
Indy, 46204
317/637-5160