For all the good things Savannah offers, good Mexican food is not one of them. The pull to choose between local fave, Carlito's (disgusting), or to go with the big, bad chain in the neighborhood, Cilantro's (boring), is not very great. Finding a place where I can engorge my craving of a salsa that burns so good and then smother that in a cheesy-tortilla-something only to ultimately feel the sweet pain of the sodium bloat the next day is harder than you'd think. I'd all but given up on finding a good Mexican restaurant in Savannah until Frances heard about a little gem out in Hilton Head called Mi Tierra.
Skeptical at first, I checked the online reviews only to find that they were surprisingly solid. (But then, you do have to take into consideration that the reviews are from people who live in the Coastal Georgia/South Carolina area-- far from Mexico and far from being any sort of Mexican food experts) So Frances, Claire, Wren, Tyler, Rob and I all piled into the car and made the 45 minute trek north in order to go south. When we finally pulled up to the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was right off the highway in a unsuspecting and very unnoticeable building. This is a good sign. I have found that the uglier the restaurant, the better the food. I also noticed that the parking lot was full on a Friday night. Another good sign. Could this be what I've been searching for? An answer to all problems Mexi?
We walked into the brightly colored and over decorated restaurant and were greeted by a preciously plump woman with an accent. All good things.
After we were seated at our table, I decided that in order to really document this experience, I would need some sort of rating system. So I grabbed the paper napkin to jot down some criteria for my rating system on a scale of 1 (Carlito's) - 10 (Anything in Orange County) throughout the meal.
Atmosphere: 7
Friendliness: 8.9
Chips and Salsa: 9
Mex-Factor: 9.8
Entree: 7
Clientel: 4
Distance: 5
Average Total: 7.2
I got two shrimp enchiladas. Mediocre at best to California standards, but still its the best Mexican I've had here.
Goodbye, Mi Tierra. We'll see you again soon.
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