For Cinco de Mayo we ended up in Niagara Falls, New York at our favorite Mexican restaurant. There was a line out the door. We have been there many times before, but usually not for dinner, so we had never waited in line before. It took about 20 minutes to get a table. The only special was $2 Mexican beer. I had a Negro Modelo and Mel had a margarita. They have homemade chips and delicious salsa. The kids had fun daring each other to eat more salsa–it wasn’t too spicy. The kids ordered Beans and Rice with a Taco from the kids menu. I ordered Steak and Camarones (shrimp). It came with tortillas, guacamole, and lettuce and tomato. Mel ordered an Enchilada Special Plate with 3 enchiladas. This place has some of the best beans and rice I have had anywhere. They were absolutely delicious. My steak was fairly tough and not a great cut of meat but had pretty good flavor for $16.95. The guacamole had good flavor. The boys enjoyed their meals which they call “messy plate.” Mel enjoyed his enchiladas. This is a greasy spoon kind of place. They make their food from scratch and it is good. Food quality isn’t incredibly high but what they do, they do well. I send people here all the time. Mel loves this place more than I do, but then again, I get back to New Mexico a couple of times a year. I give this restaurant 3.5 Stars 8215 Niagara Falls Blvd, Niagara Falls, NY...
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We decided on Friday to drive across the border to have dinner in Niagara Falls–the American Side. It is an hour drive and we wanted to pick up some mail at our post office box. We have been traveling and using Trip Advisor to pick restaurants and have found it to work fairly well. We wanted to try it out near home as well. We try to eat in a restaurant that is in the top 20 restaurants on Tripadvisor and although we are sometimes disappointed, our hit rate is much higher using this strategy than just looking around and picking a restaurant. I have a corn allergy which is making it harder to eat out, so I have to try to find restaurants that can help me get a meal that will work for me. On Friday we decided to try the Red Coach Inn. It had some good reviews and I looked at their menu online. It looked good and very reasonable in terms of price. We got there and it is lovely. The location is great. The waitress did an amazing job of taking care of us and of managing my corn allergy. She went to the kitchen to ask questions, looked at labels and generally was kind and helpful. We ordered a shrimp cocktail, a Caesar salad, and a house salad that comes with almonds, blue cheese, and strawberries. Our kids ordered a lobster trio and we each ordered the surf and turf. While the service was outstanding, our meal just wasn’t up to the standards we expect when we spend $180 for dinner with tip. We want something better than average. My frustration was with the amount of food the kitchen was serving that they don’t make on-site. They don’t make their salad dressings, they don’t make their wings, and they use cornstarch to “hold” their Bearnaise sauce. We had an opportunity to speak to the manager. He came to our table to apologize for a very small error with my meal (this error was really...
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