Country Fare Cafe

What's it like?

I must say it was a bit of a head-scratcher when I heard about a Mexican food place called Country Fare Cafe. I guess ol' Cilantro is a bit stereotypical sometimes, but I don't think of Mexican food as "country."

But as I've said before, I'm not one to turn down a taco adventure. So on one recent afternoon, I found myself cruising down Belmont Avenue right past Country Fare Cafe. Why not stop in? The Yelpers love it. It was worth a shot.

I'll start with aesthetics: The place definitely has a comfortable cafe feel, with a mixture of booths and tables. When I visited, there were people grabbing lunch alone and families with kids enjoying themselves.

I wasn't there to critique the whole menu -- just the tacos. I saw they offered a la carte tacos for $1.90 and I asked for two. But I was disappointed to find out that those tacos were crunchy shell, ground beef tacos. Gah! A carne asada taco -- my conquest of choice -- was actually $3.

That was strike one. Tacos shouldn't be more than $1.50, or $2 max. Still, I gave it a shot because, heck, it might be reaaaaaaly good. Strike two came when I learned that the Country Fare carne asada came with cheese and lettuce. Nothing against cheese, but in the taco world it doesn't scream authentic to me.

When the taco came, it was on a single out-of-the-bag tortilla. I was impressed with its size and generous toppings. The meat, however, wasn't too impressive. It had good flavor, I suppose -- but it tasted like I something I could buy from the meat counter at Vallarta and grill up myself. Strike that, mine would be better.

Probably the best part of the Country Fare's asada taco was the hot sauce. It was firey and tasty, enough to mask the mediocre meat.

The verdict on Country Fare: The price isn't fair for what you get, but if your taco palate is used to Taco Bell, then maybe you'll be impressed. For three bucks, you could do a lot better at Guadalajara or La Elegante.

Country Fare Cafe is at 4662 E. Belmont Ave. It's open seven days a week and accepts only cash.