Taste of the Good Life: Baja Grill offers enticing, though limited, menu

McALLEN — When I walked into Baja Grill one afternoon, I could almost feel the ocean breeze pouring off the water.

I felt as though I had just stepped into an open air café in Playa Azul, Michoacán, Mexico, or in San Carlos on the Sea of Cortez, or Zihuatanejo. The salmon pink and sky blue walls are covered with framed photos of sailboats, lighthouses, rocky shorelines and hammocks strung up between coconut palms, and air purifiers whirred quietly to the side. The informal, wrap around bar where a fellow in shorts sat eating his seafood dinner accentuated the sense of casual, ocean side experience, and the potted plants, although artificial, were a nice touch next to the door.

My girlfriend Dahlia Guzman and I went up to the counter next to the cashier and looked over the menus. Baja Grill plays up its fish tacos (which are very good), but we also found some other nice choices on the menu. The new establishment doesn’t offer a broad variety, but the dishes they do have are enticing.

Take, for example, the Baja fish. It comes in a soft corn tortilla with crisp cabbage and topped with a special “Baja sauce” and a wedge of lime. You get to specify whether you want your fish grilled or fried. Then, you can decide if you want a single taco or the combo, which comes with two tacos, rice and beans.

We could also have gotten the Baja shrimp and Baja fajitas, or quesadillas, nachos and salad. The burrito section features three choices: the Baja burro - a large flour tortilla stuffed with fish, cabbage, rice and beans; Baja Shrimp Burro (which is the same thing but with shrimp instead of fish), and El Burro, with fajitas instead of seafood.

Dahlia chose this dish, and I got the Baja Burro, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The flour tortilla was warm and soft, wrapped around generous helpings of grilled fish mixed with rice and cabbage, a wonderful appetite suppressant. Dahlia also thoroughly enjoyed her experience on this first trip, feasting on tender strips of beef fajita mixed with cabbage. We looked forward to our next visit.

A few days later, we met there for lunch and both ordered the Baja fish combo. This time, a waiter brought us our meals: tender fish lay on hot corn tortillas and covered with crisp cabbage with the special sauce, along with sides of beans and rice.

I have to admit these are some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever tasted, and the beans are fabulous. I’ve never had beans like that before, and when I put a little in the taco, they added a full-bodied taste that made the taco an even more fabulous experience. Dahlia and I both liked the rice sprinkled with herbs. The rice has a deep, toasty taste that I can’t quite define, but that doesn’t matter. It was delicious.

This whole meal cost just more than $15, and we left there feeling ready to take on the rest of the day. Dahlia had only one complaint: there should have been another taco. I guess that’ll have to wait ‘til next time.

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Travis Whitehead covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4452. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.

Baja Grill

WHERE: 2901 N. 23rd St. Suite 10, McAllen

HOURS OF OPERATION: 12 p.m.-8 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

PHONE: 687-FISH (3474)

PAYMENT: Accepts checks, all major credit cards except American Express

WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE: Yes

COST: $

RATING: 4

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 3 ½

Food: 4