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Mexican food in Cheyenne? right now the only two I'd suggest would be The Tortilla Factory, on the Greeley highway south side of town, or the Guadalarjara restaurants (on Lincolnway or Dell Range).
Both are "OK" ... although only just satisfactory, nothing exceptional.
At least they're a far cut above the stuff served at most of the "mexican" restaurants in town ... which aren't as good as Taco John's or Taco Bell, or the stuff available in your grocer's freezer case.
We've recently seen a couple of mexican restaurants open up in Cheyenne that are so bad that they'd make you never want to eat mexican food again ... flavorless and with enough spice to make you think there was nothing stronger than ketchup in the kitchen. You have to wonder what part of New York City these mexicans in the kitchen came from .... We're hoping to see a fast demise of these places, they give dining out a bad name between very poor service and incredibly awful food. At least the one on West Lincolnway had the decency to close already .... with an entire range of mexican cuisine ranging from tacos and burritos and enchiladas with your choice of ground beef, chunked chicken, or shredded pork with skimpy portions of (allegedly) refried beans and (spanish) rice. Their watery green chili came from unknown sources ... without any chilli flavor at all, let alone any "heat". We tried the newest on Capitol Ave downtown, and it was worse than freezer case food ... totally tasteless, uninteresting ... I had a bowl of their "menudo", and they appear to not know that it should be loaded with tripe and flavors from the meats used to make the soup stock, along with the spices. It seemed to be a creation of canned soup stock and canned hominy dumped into a bowl with a bit of boiled tripe to make it "authentico" before they microwaved it to heat it up. They did manage to have the mexican TV station blasting away over by the bar, to the point of being uncomfortably loud, although the wait staff seemed to enjoy it.
To my knowledge, there's no "diner" type places in Cheyenne. If you're seeking the typical 'merican breakfast and lunch counter type places, the closest thing would be the franchise places ... IHOP, Chili's, Applebee's, etc. Not a real substitute, are they?
The (formerly) Snake River Grill in the old UP station has really gone downhill since they lost their affiliation with the Snake River Grill. For their first two years, the menu and food was pretty good ... and then they went independent from that affiliation. We've been back a few times over the last year, but it's turning more into a "sports bar" entertainment with a brew facility than having a focus on the food. For the price, I don't think it's worth the effort and I'm not planning on going back again ... which is a shame, as we used to look forward to our visits when they were the Snake River Grill operation.
Sanford's in Cheyenne, similarly, has really gone downhill of late. I wouldn't know what's going on in their kitchen, but the "cajun" food orientation doesn't have the slow cooking prep that it used to have, and the ribs, which used to be pretty good ... simply aren't up to their old standards anymore. The sandwhiches are "OK" ... but again, the portions are down from some time ago and there's a lot less creativity and presentation on the plate than used to be. I used to view them as a pretty good deal for a meal at their price points, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore ... a bit pricier, and a lot less interesting food. The decor, of course, remains the same ... funky collection of "stuff" on the walls & ceilings. If you like applebee's decor, this place is the same concept, only more so ....
Sorry to be so down on the dining scene in Cheyenne these days, but ethnic cuisine simply isn't part of the current culture. The "italian" restaurants in town are uniformly disgusting, and even the Pizza Hut left their premises on Lincolnway where they had the usual carboard pizza to a new lower standard of pizza prep at a location on South Greeley highway ... if you can appreciate that even a Pizza Hut can have a lower quality level of food, they did it. This is a town that gets excited over a "new" KFC replacing the old outlet with a new kitchen concept.
We even had a new restaurant open up recently downtown, The Mayflower ... with a huge amount of fanfare over the owner being dedicated to bringing in "fresh seafood" and his Louisiana food culture, we were supposed to be getting a real taste of down home New Orleans and backwater cooking. I went by the place to check it out, and it was more of a bar operation than a restaurant. At least that was the impression I got, and you know how you can "smell" a restaurants' kitchen to get an idea of what they're about? Well ... I've been cooking creole and cajun seafood dishes for over 45 years, and I know what the spices and seasonings and saucing should smell like, it's a pervasive and a wonderful aroma. Only this place didn't have any "aroma" of those spices and cuisine whatsoever. I see in their ads that after only a very short time, they're "under new management". They ought to be "under new staff", too ... I went back a second time to check them out, and the staff could hardly be interrupted from their bar session to seat me or get me a menu. I walked out after 10 minutes of neglect ... and I was the only patron in the place, came in at the beginning of their lunch hour service. I didn't even trouble them for a glass of water; they seemed disappointed that I didn't want a bar drink or even a cup of coffee and apparently, asking for water is the same to them as not wanting a beverage.
There are very few wothwhile places in Cheyenne competing for your dining dollar, unfortunately. Unless you're into the chains/franchises ... Outback, Texas Roadhouse, Applebee's, Chili's, oh look ... we've got an Olive Garden now (bluck!), Red Lobster, etc. ....
For better dining values in Cheyenne right now, I'd check out Poor Richards', The Plains, The Albany .... of course, they're not mexican or diners ....
Last edited by sunsprit; 07-09-2009 at 03:45 AM..
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