Continental Divide

Location: Charlottesville, VA

Noticing the neon "Get In Here" sign in the front window is the only way you'll know you're in the right place if you choose to go to Continental Divide in Charlottesville, VA. But when you leave, you won't doubt it was worth it. Continental Divide is a tex-mex restaurant located directly across from the Amtrak station, sort of in between the historic downtown pedestrian mall and "The Corner," or the popular strip of bars and restaurants in the heart of UVA's campus. It's one of my favorite places in town.

Ambiance: Their t-shirts say it all: "Too Small, Too Crowded, Too Loud, Too Bad." This restaurant only has 7 or 8 booths (which, to be fair, can seat up to 8 people if you squeeze), a few two-seater tables, a small bar, and very little standing room. While waiting for a table, you can feel like you're always in the way. My recommendation: get a margarita and quit complaining. This place it worth it.

Variety: The margaritas are renowned as some of the best out there. They have a wide selection of tequilas and some pretty good beers, too. The menu isn't huge. We got the "Red Hot Blues" nachos for an appetizer, which comes with goat cheese, red onions, and some other yummy stuff (no meat). The nachos are dusted with some kind of dry spice, which really adds a bite. These are the only appetizer I've ever had here, but they're so good I keep coming back to them. The dinner menu has three solid choices for vegetarians. The bean and cheese burrito is always a good bet. It's pretty big (actually two burritos side-by-side), covered in some kind of mole sauce. The second vegetarian option is the spinach and mushroom enchiladas. Pretty good, but it's my least favorite. The best, if you eat fish, is the tuna tostada. You really have to make sure to ask them to cook it rare, or else you risk it being a bit overcooked (for my taste, at least). It comes smothered in pureed black beans, red pepper coulis, and a big dollop of goat cheese. It's impossible not to lick the plate.

Quality: I'm being pretty transparent here, but this is one of my favorite restaurants in Charlottesville. If you can get past the semi-chaotic atmosphere, the food is 100% worth it. The pumpkin muffin comes as a side for some of the meals, but I'd recommend asking for it no matter what. One of the nice things about Continental Divide is that the vegetarian (or pescetarian) options are also the best dishes on the menu.

Overall: Like they say, Get In Here. The bartender and staff are friendly, the food is top notch, oh... and it's CHEAP. Dinners range from $9-12, which is a steal for this stuff. Since it can get pretty crowded, it's best to go early or really late, which might save yourself a parking headache, too.

Note: They will not do separate checks, but they will split the bill evenly between a number of credit cards.

Olé

Location: Cambridge, MA

My boyfriend took a big group to Olé Mexican Grill in Inman Square for his recent birthday, and although I'd been before, I figured it was never too late to share my impressions here.

Ambience: The decor is festive while keeping it classy, perfect for a low-pressure date or a party venue that signals you aren't hoping to end the night with a friend puking on your shoes.

Variety: Decent, and actually improved since my prior visits (and the latest update of their online menu, as of today.) We don't get a separate section on the menu, but the small plates section is the place to be, with one great vegetarian option after another, from the huitlacoche crepes and queso fundido to my own choices, the transcendent Mexican street corn and enchilada suizas. For entrees, we can basically choose from two: the chilaquiles ("Mexican lasagna") and chiles rellenos with a vegetarian option. Fortunately, both are so excellent that I don't really find myself wishing for others.

Quality: Great, which is really saying something for Mexican up here in the frozen North. Being from Texas, my boyfriend and I tend to groan when a friend suggests Border Cafe, the deeply inauthentic "Tex Mex" place with inexplicable popularity around here. Olé is more Interior Mexican than the food we miss from back home, but it's so much closer - and its margaritas taste enough like actual tequila! - that I really consider it a can't-miss.

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/