Dining Out

Mary Furr

What more pleasant place to celebrate New Year’s Eve and Day than with

Fred’s Mexican Cafe on Pacific Coast Highway, with its popular dance

floor, a fire pit and lamps on the Main Street balcony for warmth and a

view from the PCH balcony that goes on forever -- right into 2002.

It’s all yours and then there’s the addition of good traditional

Mexican food coming from “Hell’s Kitchen,” the glassed-in cucina with

some very good and varied dishes.

Start with an appetizer like nachos ($4.95) the red and green tortilla

chips layered with two melted cheeses, black beans, tomatoes, sliced

black olives and jalapenos as good at the bottom as the top. The

addition, not usually done, of well-seasoned black beans adds flavor and

texture -- it’s a generous dish easily shared.

A specialty served with those great beans is an 8 Oz. broiled top

sirloin steak ($8.95), two medium thick slices covered with a smooth,

tomato-based ranchero sauce with a mild green chile flavor. Cut from the

more tender top of the sirloin, the quality is good, the dish satisfying.

Fajitas ($10.95) sauteed with at least a dozen and a half medium

shrimp mixed with grilled purple onion slices and red and green chile

peppers is served in a sizzling black frying pan -- great for keeping it

hot yet moist. Black beans and rice with bits of peas, carrot and corn

served separately are flavorful -- the rice small, almost like risotto.

On another occasion the grilled Mahi Mahi Burrito ($6.95), a marinated

filet, lacked essential flavor though it had slivered cabbage and

tomatillo sauce, which should have given it an additional flavor boost.

Tomatillo sometimes called a “Mexican green tomato” is not a tomato, but

in the same family with a more acidic taste.

Tacos ($5.95 - $11.95) two to a serving, are four grilled tortillas

with shredded lettuce, tomatilla sauce and salsa. My choice of

charbroiled chicken breast strips ($5.95) had lots of chicken, a really

good lunch served with classic Mexican rice and those wholesome black

beans.

Fred’s is a good addition to Downtown, a lively place that offers

something for everyone according to manager David Bos. There are 18 TVs

and two big screens for the athletic coverage and events like Cinco de

Fred’s, the fifth of every month with special prices to give spark to

this second-floor restaurant.

Main Street/Huntington Beach is a Janus kind of place -- a mellow

strollers’ town during the day, but Fred’s recognizes the urge to party

that comes to life in the evening. It’s perfect for New Year’s Eve,

lovely for New Year’s Day.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions, call (562) 493-5062 or e-mail o7 [email protected]

FYI

Fred’s Mexican Cafe

WHERE: 300 Pacific Coast Highway

HOURS: 11:30 a.m. to midnight; 10 a.m. Sunday

PHONE: (714) 374-8226; fax: (714) 374-4177

MISC.: Full bar