Bakersfield Life

Dining Divas at Mexicali West

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A longtime Bakersfield institution, Mexicali has always been a favorite spot for good margaritas and satisfying Mexican food (it’s also a recurring winner in the Best of Kern County readers’ poll). So it’s only natural that we’d send our Dining Divas to find out why this restaurant keeps everyone coming back for more.

A bit of history
Whitney: Mexicali is one of the nicest Mexican restaurants in town!  It's a family restaurant, for families run by a family. Upon arriving at Mexicali, we met Esther, the daughter of Santo and Trinidad Gamez who started Mexicali in 1939. Esther is beautiful and full of history about the business and her family. It was fascinating listening to her talk about the restaurant and the family business. Mexicali is now on their fifth generation of Gamezes and you can tell they love their job!  

Aimee: We were very lucky to have the opportunity to meet Esther, one of the owners. I asked Esther what she thought her “key to success” was, she answered, “That’s easy … treat everyone like family!” That is exactly what has been done. Her employees are like her children and her customers are treated as if they were coming home for Sunday dinner!

Wendy: Esther was so gracious to come over to our table and suggest her favorite dishes. I was happily surprised to hear that Mexicali still prepares all their sauces and tortillas by hand. Esther still gets excited while talking about the love she has for Bakersfield families that come year after year to experience the great Mexicali.  

Atmosphere
Aimee: When you walk into Mexicali West you immediately feel the influence of the Mexican culture. The restaurant feels cozy, but there is ample space for customer dining as well as private parties. Everything is welcoming from the brightly colored carpet to the flowing fountains. Trees and floral arrangements are found throughout the space giving customers the feel of outdoor dining. There is a bar inside the restaurant that is great for a quick drink with friends or a long leisurely night out on the town.

Wendy: The outdoor patio feeling is comfortable with lots of twinkle lit trees and ivy greenery. Bringing it all together is the beautiful fountain centered in the main dining area. It’s the perfect setting for a romantic dinner for two or a night out with the whole family.

Margaritas!
Whitney: Esther and her niece, Irene, suggested we start off our lunch with the best margaritas in town. Who could argue that? If you like fruit margaritas, then you'll love Mexicali. Mexicali uses fresh mango, peach and strawberries for their margaritas. The four of us all tried different flavors and all four of us argued who had the best margarita. Arguing is what the four of us do best when it comes to who has the best drink or entree.  

Lori: Before looking at the menu I chose to start with a margarita on the rocks.  Margaritas are the best. Margaritas and Mexican food; they just go together.

Aimee: Of course the divas like a good cocktail and Mexicali does a great job in the mixology department! We all decided to order margaritas, but each one was very different.  I like my margaritas fruity and blended, so I started with strawberry. Wow, it was fantastic! The balance of fresh fruit sweetness and tequila was perfect. The consistency was silky smooth with no large piece of ice to deal with. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they brought the blended peach to the table. It was pure delight, a great start to my Mexican meal!

Whet your appetite
Aimee: If you don’t know what to order, just ask. The staff is full of suggestions and can even give you the inside scoop on items that are not found on the menu!
We decided to order three appetizers to share: guacamole and chips, chile con queso and the jalapeno peppers. They were all so tasty. The guacamole was made fresh and topped with olives and tomatoes served in a crunchy fried shell. I have a pretty low tolerance for spicy items, but I loved the peppers!  They were deep-fried peppers with melted cheese that just exploded in your mouth. They were spicy (for me), but they were my favorite of the three!

Wendy: The Chile Con Queso served in a small ceramic pot was melted cheese, green chile, spices and chips on the side. There aren’t many restaurants that serve Queso and prepare it perfectly.  It was the perfect consistency. The jalapeno peppers are roasted, stuffed with cheese, then breaded and deep-fried. It was the perfect amount of “heat.” There’s just something to be said for “homemade.” I could have eaten just that for my dinner and been completely satisfied!

Main dish
Wendy: I had a hard time making a choice for my main dish. I went with the Chile Colorado served with rice and beans. It was incredible. I regularly order chile Colorado in Mexican food restaurants. I was expecting it to be just like the others but I was happy to be wrong. It was very different. The beef was tender and smothered by the fabulous handmade, no cans-involved sauce that was to die for! The chiles are hand-pressed into a paste and then made into sauce. I wanted to know the recipe but I was sure I wouldn’t be privy to it. I respect that aspect of the kitchen as I have secret recipes myself.

Aimee: I decided on the chicken fajita salad. The presentation of my chicken fajita salad was beautiful. It was a large fried flour tortilla shell filled with lettuce, grilled chicken, olives, onions and tomatoes. It was served with a refreshing homemade avocado dressing. My lunch overall was fantastic! I think it is the freshest ingredients and the homemade sauces that make the food so memorable and keep people coming back to Mexicali.  I tried some new items and definitely found a few new favorites!

Lori: Looking over the menu, with many choices, I decided to have Esther’s Delight as my main course.  Esther’s Delight — a chile relleno topped with ground beef and jalapenos served with a chile verde taco — is amazing and very flavorful. Each flavor complimented the other. The proportions were generous in size.  Loved it! Esther also had ordered for us fried chicken. Who would have thought to order fried chicken? It’s not on the menu but you can order it. The crust on the chicken was so crispy and flavorful and not greasy at all.  This is a must try for everyone who loves fried chicken!  Excellent.

Whitney: Esther suggested we try the Lobster Enchilada ($18.95).  If you like lobster, if you like a cream sauce, if you like cheese, there's a fat chance you'll love this dish! Loaded with lobster, it's fantastic! This is a specialty dish and only available on Friday and Saturday night. It comes with a soup or salad and I highly recommend it! Lee, our very attentive waiter, brought a plate of fried chicken. I was able to grab one bite of it before the other girls devoured it. At this point, I stopped liking the other girls. I am going back for the fried chicken. It's that good!

A sweet ending
Wendy: I really didn’t know how I was going to eat dessert.  I rarely order dessert in restaurants because I’m not good at saving room for it. We decided to pick three desserts, Bunuelo Supreme, Chocolate Taco, and Deep-Fried Ice Cream. The Bunuelo Supreme was my favorite. It was a fried flour tortilla with cinnamon, vanilla ice cream, and Kahlua with cream poured over it. It was very light. The chocolate taco is the perfect dessert for chocolate lovers. It was a chocolate-dipped taco filled with chocolate mousse. Need I say more? The Deep-Fried Ice Cream was spectacular with its granola candy-coated covering.

Aimee: Well, from the first issue you know that we are very territorial over our desserts! Last month two Divas, who shall remain nameless, complained that some of us always get first choice when ordering desserts. So we have now decided that from now on when it comes to ordering desserts we will use the scientific method of “rock, paper, scissors” to determine who will get to order first. If you see us at a restaurant and we are playing the game, you will know it is almost time for dessert!

Whitney: If you haven’t had a Chocolate Taco, your life has yet to have complete bliss. Obviously, I needed to have a Chocolate Taco to make my life blissier. Is that a word? The theory worked for me, so I had to have it to be complete. Corn taco shell, dipped in chocolate, filled with chocolate mousse and whipped cream? Does the word blissier make sense now?