Hot Stuff
Caliente, a high end Mexican restaurant recently opened its second branch. Lucky for me, the new location is three blocks away from my house.After going a couple of times on very slow nights I talked a bit with the lone server at the place. His girlfriend is the chef, and the two of them basically got it running on their own. On my most recent visit I was pleasantly surprised to find a packed house and to see that they had hired two new servers. My favorite thing about Caliente is the serving sizes. They are enormous. An entrée is a bit pricey usually between $15 and $20, but you certainly get your moneys worth. Not only do you get a gargantuan plate of food, but it is really good as well.
They have a wide array of entrees such as fajitas and steaks as well as some sea food offerings. The bocaditos, appetizers, are scrumptious. When I first went there they smothered their chips in chili powder, which was really good, but if you weren’t careful there was the possibility of inhaling the powder, which resulted in gulping down water the rest of the night trying to get the burning sensation out of your nose and throat. They seem to have mellowed this out though and really seem to be hitting their stride.
While the first meal I had there was by no means bad, the last one was in a lot of ways much improved. For a new restaurant this is something that I think is vital, being about to identify and address various issues that crop as you get your business off the ground. Although the price is a bit high for my budget to eat there regularly, this is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in the city.