Thursday, December 17, 2009
Alejandro's a welcome addition to NRV
TOM ANGLEBERGER Special to The Roanoke Times
The salsa bar at Alejandro's lets diners dip their chips into about 22 types of salsas, from creamy to chunky and mild to fiery.
Tom Angleberger knows what he likes. So we've asked him to eat at NRV restaurants and write about them. If you have a restaurant to recommend,
e-mail him. Tom Angleberger
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My Christmas wish came true: Alejandro's is open and excellent in Christiansburg.
You might think that the last thing we need is another Mexican restaurant. (Or another review of a Mexican restaurant.)
But if you've eaten at the downtown Roanoke Alejandro's, you know that it's not just another Mexican restaurant. I consider it one of the very best restaurants -- of any type -- I've ever visited.
If only they would come to the New River Valley, I wished. And, lo, they did, although not to a location I would have chosen.
An Alejandro's in downtown Blacksburg would have been wonderful, but since the eatery chose a Christiansburg strip mall instead, I'll gladly make the trip.
The chief difference from the downtown Roanoke location seems to be space. In Roanoke, diners are packed into a small room that gets extremely loud. Christiansburg's space must be at least five times larger. There's plenty of room to eat and, best of all, plenty of room for a giant salsa bar.
There were about 22 options on the salsa bar. Who knew there were that many kinds of salsa or that so many of them would be so good? Some are chunky with vegetables, others are smooth and creamy.
There's a basic, mild red sauce for kids or the extremely timid. And then there's the legendary orange chimichurri that will set your mouth afire. You simply fill little cups with the kinds you want to try and take them back to the waiting basket of tortilla chips at your table.
When visiting the Roanoke location, my wife and I usually order the fish tacos. My wife ordered them this time, too, and said they were great.
I decided to try something new and ordered the tacos a la diabla -- three steak and cilantro soft tacos. I'm afraid these were a little disappointing. The steak was too tough to eat easily on a taco. However, with delicious rice, refried beans, various salsas and nachos at the ready, I was able to work things out to my stomach's deep satisfaction.
One thing that was not satisfactory was a plate of cheese nachos we ordered for my son. This was a soggy mess with enough cheese sauce for the whole restaurant to share.
Despite these few disappointments, I'm still thrilled to welcome Alejandro's to the valley. I won't mind making repeated trips to figure out which menu items I like best. With a chance to visit the salsa bar each time, I can't lose.
Bottom line: Alejandro's Mexican Grill is a fantastic and fiery change of pace for the New River Valley.
