Where is this one? Is it the one the owners of DW's 285 Diner were planning to open, or a different one?
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Aren't they kind of competing with themselves in the same shopping center? Why don't they just keep the bigger location and serve all the foods from both restaurants in one place?
Here are my initial impressions of the place after having lunch there today.
The layout is pretty much the same as the former resident Fiesta Jalisco (not that we went there very much), though they've touched it up. It's nice.
The nearest competitor to them is 3 Margaritas (3M) and I saw some similarities so I'll make some comparisions.
Service was very effecient and friendly, much like DW's and 3M. It's well run. It took more time to get the food than 3M, but the place has only been opened a week and the time still wasn't bad at all so they don't have to be as fast as 3M.
They start with the traditional chips and salsa. The chips were fine, but I like some spice in the salsa. 3M has moderate spicy salsa which I like, but Cancun's was hardly spicy at all. It's an orange color (maybe ground tomatoes?) with some bits of green chile. It needed some tobasco sauce to spice it up a bit (a lot). They should add some other ingredients like onions and hotter peppers to spice it up more, IMO.
Sodas are pricey, same as at DW's (and at 3M too since they just raised their price), at $2.45. But a bottle of beer isn't bad at $2.50. Guess we'll stick to water or a beer.
We both had a two item Cancun Combo plate. I got a brisket burrito and chicken taco while freebird got a chile relleno and a tamale. You also get the usual rice and beans. What's nice is you can get the combo with just one item for $5.95, and add up to three more for just $2 each (nice price!).
The Combo plate didn't arrive on a hot plate like the lunch special combos at 3M do (where they warn you the plate is hot!). And the food wasn't as hot, just luke warm. It was still good, but I'd like to see them heat it all up (not microwave) like 3M does before they bring it out.
My brisket burrito was very big, pretty much the same size as you get with the burrito lunch special at 3M. And if you just get one item like the burrito, then the Cancun Combo is $1 less than the 3M lunch special ($5.95 vs. $6.95). I was wondering why they called it brisket, but it's very similar to the shredded beef at 3M. And I liked it better than the 3M burrito because the beef didn't have as much fat and I liked the sauce better. It did have some rice in it too, unlike 3M, which is fine since there was still plenty of meat.
The taco was large as well, so you can stuff yourself with a two item combo. The chicken seemed shredded and was in a sauce, so I can't say if it's chicken breast, but it tasted like it. It comes in a soft shell flour tortilla unlike the crisp corn shell at 3M, so it's personal preference there.
The rice is pretty nice and better then 3M, IMO. It has shredded cheese (chedder and jack) mixed in with scallions (why not put those in the salsa?) and what I think was feta cheese chunks added in.
Freebird felt the chile relleno was OK, but not as good as 3M's and smaller. She felt it should be warmer. The tamale was mostly corn, cold, and not the best.
So the place is new and there are lot's more dishes to try. We will be back because we want to try more, but we mainly do lunches. Here are our main suggestions:
Spice up the salsa and put more in it, or add a spicier option.
Heat up the plates and serve the food warmer.
Open at noon some days during the week since we mainly go out for lunch.
Based on just a limited sample, I'm guessing the reaction to Cancun will be similar to 3M. If you like 3M, you'll probably like Cancun. And the opposite applies as well.
The Viking wrote: Great and thorough review! Thanks! :thumbsup:
I love 3M and have become good friends with them but I may have to check this place out!
Thanks!
I should add that 3M has a much larger menu than Cancun, but as I mentioned we just usually do lunch at 3M so I compared 3M's lunch specials to Cancun. But go figure since Cancun only serves lunch on Sat and Sun.
Also, Cancun seems to be missing some basic meats I'd like to see. Where is seasoned ground beef? And I'd really like to see grilled chicken for tacos or burritos. Maybe I just missed them? But guess you can tell I'm not a Mexican food gourmet. I like the basics, and some spice.