Villa Del Mar Cocina Mexicana

Pretty Good Food, Ambience Is Totally Missing. Our first visit to this funky little place - which is over-decorated to the point of being very camp. There are cowboy hats, old pictures, and posters on all the walls, and there are plastic flowers atop interior petitions that break up the seating areas, and there is the occasional stuffed parrot or two. The place is small, with booths lining the outside walls, tables in the middle, broken up by those petition walls, giving a hint of privacy.

We tried four different $1.50 street style Tacos - Lengua, Carnitas, Chorizo, & Al Pastor. They come with grilled onion, lime, and cilantro, and 2 sauces in squeeze bottles - one cilantro based & one chili based.

The Carnitas and the Chorizo were excellent, as good as any others we've tried. The pork in the Al Pastor was very good, but there was very, very little pineapple, and that makes the Al Pastor taco. The Lengua was cut rather thick, and while tasty, was rather chewy. Both the sauces were nice, and the house hot sauce didn't hurt either.

I tried a standard lunch combo to sample some of the usual Tex-Mex items - Rice, Beans, Hard Beef Taco, and a Chicken Enchilada ($4.99) The rice was really, really nice - grains nicely separated without being dry, light sauced, with corn and peas. The beans were thin, watery though there were a few whole beans, as well - have had much better.

The Beef Hard Taco was very good - nothing fancy, nothing cutting edge, or approaching nuevo cuisine or fusion - just well seasoned beef, sour cream, tomato, & lettuce in a hard shell - and I still like them. This was a good one, though a little thin on filling. The Chicken Enchilada was not one I'd order again. The meat was chunked rather than shredded, and the red sauce was just bland.

The Salsa brought to start our meal was outstanding - chunky, but not overly so, carried some definite heat which built steadily as you ate the salsa, and loaded with fresh cilantro. The chips were good, nothing out of the ordinary, just solid.

All in all, I liked this place, and there was more than enough to bring me back.. The service was friendly and attentive, though the time out of the kitchen was rather slow compared to most other Mexican Restaurants in the area, and these were rather simple dishes. The prices are more than reasonable, and there is much variety on the extensive menu.

Love, love, love their food! Authentic, not Americanized! The tacos al pastor are fantastic. You should eat here!

The restaurant’s small lot and bar-like ambiance (there’s a loud and somewhat annoying door chime) may inspire some degree of trepidation, but looking over the menu will lift your spirits. The selection here is tremendous. You can get the expected fare (i.e. enchiladas and fajitas), but with an oyster bar, slow-roasted bbq goat, and ceviche are among your options, you should really reconsider.