casa de pico

One of my biggest pet peeves with San Diegans is their obsession with shitty Mexican restaurants. You live in San Diego! There's awesome Mexican food everywhere! So why do you keep telling out-of-towners to go to Old Town Mexican Cafe, Cafe Coyote, etc (btw, if you're from out of town, dining-wise, stay away from Old Town). Casa De Pico is one of those restaurants. It actually used to be in Old Town, but now it's in La Mesa. So why would I go there? Well, it's close to where I live, and, more importantly, they have Entertainment coupons. It's also slightly better than OTMC and its ilk.

I got the Chicken Mole Enchiladas. Nothing mind-blowing, but they were pretty good. Rice and beans were pretty blah. Oh, here's something I did. For reasons I can't quite comprehend, I thought that the pepper on top of the enchilada was a pepperocini? Why would I think a Mexican place would have a pepperocini on their food? Anyways, I ate it, and lo and behold, it was not a pepperocini. I do not know what exact type of chile it was, but it took about three glasses of water to balance out my mistake.

If you do find yourself at a tourist trap Mexican restaurant, here's some advice. Never go with the salsa they bring out. It's meant for the gringo-est of gringos. No heat at all, and very watery. I'm sure someone from Iowa (no offense) would be thrilled, but it's really not good. You have to ask if they have any house salsa that is hotter. Then they'll bring out the real stuff. To Casa De Pico's credit, theirs is pretty darn hot and tasty. Look at those seeds!

I'd probably never go if I didn't have a coupon, but I did have a coupon, so I went. That's the M.O. of a cheap bastard.