A group of good souls gathered to enjoy a dineLA dinner at Border Grill. 3-course meal for $26, excluding tax and gratuity. Game on. But before I jump into the food, here's a glimpse of the restaurant's history:
Taking over
Ciudad's old space, Co-Chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (Food Network’s “Too Hot Tamales” and chef/owner of
Street) brought their Mexican/ Latin fiesta eastward to downtown LA from their flagship brick-and-mortar in Santa Monica.
And like sisters, the restaurants are everything alike and nothing alike--Santa Monica is the brunette, Border Grill Downtown LA is the blonde, and Vegas is definitely the redhead. With the onset of the gourmet truck phenomenon in metropolitan America, Mary Sue and Susan launched the Border Grill Truck in 2009, and continued the trend toward non-traditional locations, opening the Border Grill Stop kiosk in 2010. [ more here ]
While there were some interesting ingredients at play, the food, at least on the dineLA menu, was good, but nothing extraordinary. Aside from the Chile Relleno and the Green Corn Tamale, everything was either too salty or too sweet. This was partially due to the fact that most of the dishes were drenched in sauces, which unfortunately, overshadowed the flavor of the dish itself rather than enhance it.
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| Green Corn Tamale and Plantain Empanada |
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| Mexican Chopped Salad |
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| Tortilla soup |
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| Yucatan Pork - achiote pork roasted in a banana leaf, grilled onion, orange & cinnamon spices. |
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| Short Ribs Barbacoa - braised short ribs, garbanzo bean stew, roasted brussel sprouts, fried epazote. |
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| Grilled Skirt Steak w/ roasted corn relish, black beans, tomato avocado salad |
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| Chile Relleno - roasted poblano chiles, manchego, panela, cotija cheeses, roja and tomatillo salsas |
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| Capirotada - warm bread pudding, caramelized applies, cream cheese, roasted pecans, and vanilla bean ice cream. |
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| Tres Leches cake |
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cuisine: Mexican
location: Downtown website: { BG | yelp }
attire: Casual
parking: lot ($5 with validation)
notes: Check out the
Border Grill truck. Personally, I think it's better.
