Sol Azteca

Location: Boston, MA

Last night a few friends and I tried Sol Azteca in Boston and long-story short, I would not go back.

My litmus test for good Mexican food is two-fold: guacamole and fajitas. Strike one? They ran out of guacamole. We had a 7:30 PM reservation on a Saturday. That's way too early to run out of avocados.

Strike two? Underwhelming fajitas. The fajitas were the "big-ticket" item on the vegetarian menu. Listed at $14.75, my entree should have come with guacamole, rice and beans. The rice contained chicken broth and no vegetarian substitute was available other than a bland side salad with no dressing. And to make-up for not having any avocado, they provided coleslaw.

Ambience: The restaurant's decor had an urban-hole-in-the-wall feel. The tables were charmingly tiled and the yellow brick was sufficiently exotic.

Variety: The restaurant had a decent vegetarian selection of both appetizers and entrees. Points for having a section in the menu catering to our folk.

Quality: The food was not very refined. I tried a few bites of vegetarian enchiladas that friends ordered and found vegetables like cactus over-pickled and over-cooked. I would describe this restaurant in the upper-mid-range for urban dining. Most vegetarian entrees were $12.95 and the $8.50 price point for a margarita seemed to be on par.

Verdict: You can eat like a king at Chipotle for these prices. On the bright side, the chips and salsa were delicious.

http://www.solaztecarestaurants.com/