Casa AlvarezMexican Food Done RightYou know, it is too bad that, most of the time, I find out about new places, like Casa Alvarez Mexican Food, from my wife - who heard about it from a friend of a friend of a friend.  If I had known about this Prescott restaurant sooner ... well I didn't so here it goes, better late than never. We rolled into the gravel parking lot around 7:30 in the evening, late by Prescott standards, found a convenient spot among the many available and made our way to the front door. As we stepped inside I realized that Casa Alvarez Mexican Food used to be the Juniper House, a Prescott institution for many years, then it was a non-descript and short lived steakhouse. Since that incarnation it's appearance has changed a little bit. The food has changed a lot... for the better. There are maybe a dozen tables and booths in the smallish establishment. The colors are kind of your regular Mexican Food Restaurant - "pink adobe", mahogany banquette, white vinyl booths with striped backs. It's decidedly not fancy, it is about what you would expect at a local Mexican food place - and there is nothing wrong with that. There is a pleasant buzz - although there are only a couple of other tables filled at this "late" hour, so my guess is that when it's full it could be a bit on the loud side.  We picked our booth and perused the menu,
supplied in a timely and
friendly manner by Cliff, our earnest, efficient and enthusiastic young waiter.The selections on the menu are extensive ranging from the usual tacos, burritos and enchiladas to the decidedly unexpected like Tacos Al Pastor and a pretty good selection of Mexican style seafood dishes. The couple we were with, especially Nick, had a powerful thirst (he always does!) so we ordered a pitcher of Margaritas to start. Cliff brought our chips and salsa and we were off to the races! The chips were excellent, homemade, thin and crisp with good corn flavor. The 2 salsas were a split decision. The green tomatillo based sauce was very good- nice flavor with just enough heat - we all liked it a lot. The tomato based salsa was a bit to mild for my taste. It could have used a little more heat. My wife was similarly unimpressed. Our friends were a little more generous - they thought it was good. The margaritas were fine, pretty standard restaurant fare, we could have upped the ante with a better tequila but we didn't so we really don't have anything to whine about. Cliff took my order for a pork burrito with red enchilada sauce, a shredded beef taco and a cup of Tortilla soup. My wife ordered the Al Pastor Tacos, our friends ordered the Carnitas Tacos and a cup of the Albondigas soup. The Tortilla soup was good, with a lot of cheese - a bit much I thought, but better than average. The Albondigas soup was declared very good by our dinner partners. So 2 for 2 on the soups. My Pork Burrito was very good. Tender flavorful pork was stuffed into a yummy flour tortilla - and I do mean stuffed!- and topped with one of the better enchilada sauces I have come across in the Prescott area - I was a happy camper. The taco was crisp with lots of well spiced shredded beef- good stuff. The Al Pastor Tacos were interesting but, to be honest, I had no idea what authentic Al Pastor was all about, I had to look it up. Al Pastor is, essentially, marinated pork butt. The trick is the marinating and cooking process. Rather than go into a great deal of detail about it check this link - it really is interesting - and don't freak out because of the source of the video - they did a good job! Anyway, I am unsure as to whether Casa Alvarez goes through all of the steps to create authentic Al Pastor but what Ben Alvarez does do is  create a very tasty dish.
Served on double soft corn tortillas with
sides
of rice and beans - this was a winner. The Carnitas were judged "as good as I have had anywhere" - high praise indeed! Finally the rice and re-fried beans. The rice was bland - not much to it really - on the other hand the beans were obviously "homemade" and hand mashed - they tasted like beans - the shock of it all! 3 of us thought the beans were great, the other just didn't like them much - oh well, there is always one isn't there! Overall, another fine time on the town in Prescott, Arizona. Good food, the best of friends, decent Margaritas. This is a local Mexican food eatery. It's not fancy, but it is comfortable. It would be a great place for a casual lunch or dinner that didn't break the bank.
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