La Mexicana Grocery

Location: Schenectady, NY                                            Type of food: Mexican

So I'm branching out even further than New Jersey and New York City/Long Island. This time, I've moved up north. No wisecracks about the weather please. Yes, I've gone completely the other way from Los Angeles to Upstate New York. And of course, coming from Los Angeles, I will always crave good Mexican. Now, considering there is a term "grocery" attached to this place, one would wonder what am I recommending. Well, if you want to buy some groceries, you can certainly do that too. They have Inca Kola, which is always great. BUT, I digress. Attached to the grocery store is a dine-in restaurant; you don't have to walk through the grocery store to get there either - they have their own door. Tacos are the authentic small corn tortilla ones at $2.50 a pop. I absolutely love their tostadas and my husband has tried their menudo too! If you are craving Mexican food, this is the place to go! Though I'm no expert, I have eaten tacos in Los Cabos, Ensenada, and of course, Los Angeles, so I'm always craving real tacos - not those flour tortilla shredded lettuce and cheese tacos. This place is pretty fast, ALWAYS satisfies, and they make one awesome margarita (it's really huge for lightweights like me; I have to share.....don't laugh). As a bonus, they have lots of different flavored Jarritos and usually at least one great agua fresca!!! I'm salivating.... I'll see you there. ;) Rating: 4.5 loaves

Salsa Salsa

Location: Port Jefferson Village, New York.     Type of Food: Mexican


If you're craving a carnitas burrito or some other Mexican fare, and you can't get to Mexico pronto, you can go here to satisfy those cravings without wishing you could transport yourself instantly to Mexico. Nor will you be thinking you'll never come here again. It's pretty good for Mexican fare on Long Island and definitely better than anything you can eat at places like Baja Fresh. So give it a shot, and don't get hooked on the hot sauce (I always ask for extra!).

Rating: 4 out of 5 loaves. 

Don Quijote

Location: Miller Place, NY.      Type of food: Mexican/Spanish/Latin

The salsa here is reminiscent of Meson Ole's salsa -- not good salsa at all. I start with this because there's another restaurant where my friends and I get together for a half-pitcher of sangria and discuss how dismal the salsa really is. I didn't take any photos (I forgot) but the two dishes that were ordered were the pork and the seafood enchilada/tostada combination. The combination was satisfactory but the pork a bit dry. It's okay if you want some sort of Mexican/Spanish/Latin food but I can't say that it was really good. There are other places within a 20-mile radius that I'd rather go to. I'll try to post all of them. Rating: 2 loaves