Awesome Creamy Refried Beans @ Puente Hills Mexican Cafe

Puente Hills Mexican Cafe

18250 Gale Ave.

Industry, CA 91748

626.965.3600

http://www.mexicancaferestaurant.com/

Have you ever noticed that even though there are a million Mexican restaurants, like there are a million Chinese restaurants, you're never quite sure if you should go in and try it...for fear you'll be disappointed?  Yes?  No?  I can't tell you how many times I've felt that uncertainty about a trying a new place as I search for the best restaurant in whatever cuisine that may be.  Anyhow, I've passed by this restaurant so many times on my way to Home Depot, but never really paid much attention to it.  Plus the name, Puente Hills Mexican Cafe, I wasn't sure how authentic the food was going to be.  Let me just say, don't ever let the name of a place fool you.  Except with the exception of perhaps a sushi restaurant...with a name like Sushi Fever...man, that was a bad experience for me!!!  

So what finally prompted me to check it out?  It was a late night of working and my friend anna and I were starving!!  We had passed by the Mexican Cafe earlier and we debated back and forth on whether we should go or not!  Finally we said screw it, let's just go and try it!  We arrived 15 minutes before they closed, and I always feel bad when I get to a restaurant right before they close because I know they are cleaning up and getting ready to go home, but the waitress said to come in and said it was ok, so we sat down and tried to order quickly.

She brought us chips and salsa...

We went through two baskets and 3 bowls of salsa...need i say more?!  haha  The chips were light and crispy (I do wish they were warm which I think would've made them even tastier, but that obviously did not stop us from gorging ourselves) and the salsa had great flavor.  It wasn't spicy, but it tasted really fresh and we couldn't stop eating them!

I ordered crunchy shredded beef tacos...

Miss piggy that I am, I ordered two tacos and I seriously should've only ordered one taco.  Plus I had the meal with rice and beans!   You know how it is when you're totally ravenous and you can't stop munching on the chips and salsa, ESPECIALLY when they are so tasty! 

The taco was nice and crispy, but my favorite part of the whole plate was the beans!! OMG!  I have to say, Anna and I both make some pretty freaking awesome refried beans which we both individually get TONS of compliments on!  So, this is a really big deal for me!  I know, not everyone is a bean lover, put perhaps it's because you've never had great beans...or you may be thinking...it gives me too much gas and I don't want to fart!!  For crying out loud, vegetables give you gas too!!  You just have to suck it up and eat the beans, but ONLY when they are great beans!!  And anyone who says that they don't fart are liars.  Everyone has gas and must emit it somehow!! 

Which reminds me of my own naiveté when I was a kid in elementary school, I remember there were always the really cute girls in school and I thought, they are so "perfect" they don't look like they would EVER fart!  Hello!!  EVERYONE FARTS!  DUH!!!  ahhh, the little things we finally realize as we get older.  hehe

Anyhow, back to the beans...most places don't make their beans creamy and flavorful and these were SOOOOO delicious!  People kind of take beans for granted and just look at it as side dish that has to be there, and it seems like so little effort is ever made to make them shine!  But that is so not the case here at the Puente Hills Mexican cafe!  If I were ever too lazy to make my own beans, I'd drive down and pick up some of their beans in a heart beat, buy my favorite Daisy Sour Cream (light, because I'm trying to lower my fat intake), and have a side of fresh salsa and just eat it with those light, crispy chips!  So freaking good!!  There is nothing like a really great bean dip and if you combine all the right components together....perfection!

I asked the waitress how long they'd been around and she said 17 years, which I think is great!  It makes me so happy to see a restaurant that has longevity and can survive all these years, especially during these hard economic times.  They have a full bar, really reasonable prices and daily specials Monday-Friday:  ALL DAY!   I'm so excited because I now have a new (non-Asian) restaurant to go to near my house.  That's NOT a chain restaurant! I know that my love right now is for the beans, but I do want to go back and give the rest of the menu a try, especially the chile colorado!

Writing this post and looking at the chips and salsa and beans is making me so hungry!  Many of you tell me how reading these posts makes you super hungry...can you imagine how it makes me feel, remembering how delicious it was and then having to talk about it?!  It can drive a person mad!  haha 

Thank you all for reading my blog and being so patient during some of the big gaps in my posts...but I am trying to put some good stuff together for you!!

Happy eating to you all!!! 



Their two other locations:

Uptown Mexican Cafe
7040 Greenleaf Ave.
Whittier, CA 90602
562.945.5877
(Beer & Wine)

Harbor Mexican Cafe
1460 S. Harbor Blvd, CA
La Habra, CA 90631
714.871.7298
(Beer & Wine)