Mexicali - Saint Ives Australia

Mexicali, Handi, Simon's Kitchen, Sushi Inn, and Riya's no longer exist. The whole east side of the block is under development.  Also gone are Subway, Jak's Beer, etc., and Subway. Progress?  I don't think so.

I love this tacky little place in sleepy Dunbar. You walk in and it's a mish-mash of everything stereotypically Mexican, including a cactus-shaped sidewalk sign and really cheesy music and murals. Sometimes when the owners feel good they'll put on a Michael Jackson DVD on the TV. Anyway, the food is consistent because it's simple tex-mex and it's cheap to boot, though, to be fair, I've never had anything other than the Redondo, quesadillas and tacos. The quesadillas are just huge chunks of gooey cheese with whatever meat you get, and every meal comes with a good portion of tasty mexi fries (they're tator tots, I'm sure) and some salsa (probably Tostito's) and sour cream.

Would you like a chicken or beer enchilada?. What a great find! My local friends have been coming here for years. I can't speak to the food's authenticity or not, but to me the corn tortillas tasted home made, and their signature slushy limonada was perfect just tart enough to hit the spot.<br/ <br/ Huge portions, served with a smile. The proprietor is Vietnamese, and the menu is full of spelling and grammatical errors which were very entertaining during the short wait for my meal. I will make this a regular visit when I'm in Vancouver!

Mexicali awesome!. I've been going to Mexicali for over 10 years now. It is by far my favourite Mexican place in town. I first started going when I was a starving student because of the low prices. Now I can afford the priciest restaurants in town, but I would still rather go to Mexicali anytime.<br/ <br/ I'm really surprised of the reviews here. First of all, it is not a waited restaurant so don't expect a waitress to come to you. Order food at the counter and pay up front. This type of food service it is not customary to tip, but I still tip because I love it so much.<br/ <br/ To those who say its not authentic. Ya maybe they use lettuce instead of cabbage like you would find in Mexico, but it's not supposed to authentic Mexican it is supposed to be tex-mex! These people must think that mucho burrito or taco del mar is authentic lol as if! That stuff is also tex-mex. There is a serious lack of good Mexican places in Vancouver and I'm so glad whenever in the neighbourhood to visit Mexicali.<br/ <br/ Americanized Mexican food is just good in its simplicity. It's just tortilla, meat, cheese, salsa, lettuce, sour cream, beans and rice. So simple yet so difficult to get perfect in the right proportions, but Mexicali nails it with perfect consistency every time I go there. It is just so delicious in its simplicity. And Mexicali uses nice clean white chicken meat free of any grisle, so chicken quesadilla is amazing. For more authentic Mercian flavour be sure to get shredded beef instead of ground beef it's worth it. I tried the prawn redondo the other day that's good but a little runny would be better in an enchilada (which are also really good here).

Chicken fajita burrito was fine. A burrito for $6.25; not really the cheapest thing but food was good.