Caliente on Fullerton

I think 2556 W Fullerton has had a curse over it -- I've seen several restaurants come and go over the past several years. But with delicious, delicous dinner I had at Caliente last weekend, I am crossing my fingers that it's finally been lifted! Oh, and as a bonus: it's BYOB! I suggest picking up a sixer of Sol on your way.

This is Caliente's second location; Vicky Medina, the chef-owner of Caliente, has (thanks Metromix) another on 3901 N Sheridan.

Onto the food, which I'll call Latin Fusion. Mr. 2025 and I weren't insanely hungry, so we went with bocaditas, rather than entrees.

Corn chowder w roasted red peppers - fantastic! Creamy with a nice smoky undertone and bite

Spicy grilled shrimp (you'll have to check the menu for the exact name) - this was a surprise, because it came doused in a thick sauce. Normally, I'd be disappointed, but after tasting it, I was completely won over.

Salad in citrus dressing with jicama and mangoes - perfect foil for our spicy bocadillas

Empanadas - I was so full, I could taste only one of the three, the vegetarian. It was interesting, more samosa than empanada. Maybe wouldn't be my top choice when we return.

Some sort of Queso -- Melted cheese with mushrooms, peppers and other veggies served in a skillet with warm tortillas. Again, a nice surprise and twist on Queso Fundido.

All in all, I could go back any night. Our server was terrific and helped us choose some dishes, then thanked us at the end of the night for taking his suggestions (we should have thanked him)!

AND, even better, they also serve a weekend brunch! In fact, perhaps I'll take Mr 2025 over soon as he wakes up this morning. All in all, I see us visiting Caliente several more times in the future. It's a delight to have it in the neighborhood.

Cheers!

rachel2025, my daughter lives in the neighborhood, too, so we stopped by Caliente tonight, and my experience was very different than yours. I almost felt I should start another thread, but you spotted this place, and out of respect for your exploratory work, I’m adding to the thread you started, though I can only conclude that either you hit them on an extraordinarily good night or I hit them on an atypically bad night.

Currently, I’m honestly too angry – at the pretense, at the waste, and the outrageously poor quality of our dinner – to do more than note two dishes that I feel embody pretty much everything bad about dinner tonight.

Here is the poblano relleno.



It was filled with canned crab and, as you can see, dribbled with crema in a way that reflects a ludicrously "more is better" approach to saucing -- a ham-fisted insensitivity that seems the work of a child. I struggled to detect good flavors in this dish, with no success, though there was part of the unsauced pepper that had a fresh tang I appreciated.

Having had pipian mole several times in the past year, I thought I’d give it a try here (as that would provide some standard of comparison).



Let’s put it this way, Ma Bahena has nothing to worry about. The sauce that was slopped on two pieces of pan-fried pollo was dense, flavorless and began separating on the plate.

And why, for entrees that go for $15 to over $20, does the chef think it’s fine to serve every entree with the same yellow rice and pinto beans? There is no sensitivity here, no thoughtfulness or imagination, no hope -- it seems -- unless they make some serious changes...and yet the place was fairly crowded tonight, for reasons I cannot explain.

I reviewed the Sheridan location a while back. My experience wasn't as bad as Hammond's appears. But, the spicy heat was just overwhelming, and |I'm a person who really likes spicy food.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... t=caliente

YourPalWill wrote:I reviewed the Sheridan location a while back. My experience wasn't as bad as Hammond's appears. But, the spicy heat was just overwhelming, and |I'm a person who really likes spicy food.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... t=caliente

Hey Will,

I had read that Caliente lived up to it name, and served some spicy foods, but perhaps due to pushback from the chili-averse, I can say with complete confidence that there is no heat to be afraid of at Caliente any more. In fact, I could have used a few more thousand Scoville units to perk up otherwise bland dishes. The empanadas (which were probably one of the better things we had last night) were served with a watery red sauce that The Wife felt compared unfavorably with what's offered at Taco Bell.

I've thought a lot about this place in the past 12 hours, and I think it comes down to this: it's all surface. Here's the formula that I suspect plays out in both locations (though I've only read reviews and seen pix and the menu for the Sheridan branch; I haven't been there): stylish room with attractive hostesses, Latin fusion type foods that sound good but fail to deliver, and a radically overpriced menu that suggests quality that is not there.

Hammond

PS. Congrats on your recent ascension to sammy stardom!

We went last night to the location on Fullerton, and enjoyed ourselves. I believe we were served by the owner, or manager, and his wife is in the kitchen (and the kids were there too, helping out).

After one in our party ordered guacamole, we were asked if it should be just for one, or for the table, and we said for the table. We were then advised that servings were large, and if we were ordering entrees, we shouldn't get any more appetizers. Which was helpful, though probably not a good business strategy!

Asked about various dishes, we were told to skip the pipian and that the skirt steak was much better than the salmon. I did like the skirt steak, though I could have lived without whatever red sauce was on the side.

The beans and rice were quite tasty, and the steak was cooked just how I liked it - med. rare, with a bit of a crispy char (I wasn't asked, though). I'm not sure what the others got, but they also liked what they had. I can never seem to get that char when I marinate steaks and not end up with grey inside.

Service was good despite there being a HUGE party there (20 some people for a birthday party). I didn't feel like it was overpriced (since they aren't making anything from liquor, I am willing to pay more for my food). They seemed to have a large assortment of mixers and juices and whatnot.

We'll go back.