Las Trojas In Madison, AL For Dinner

I don't normally pay much attention to the decor in a restaurant.  I prefer greasy spoons, roach coaches etc...  All places that you usually don't want to pay too much attention to the environment you are in.  But Los Trojas in Madison brought back a ton of memories of the cantinas found in Algodones, admittedly the tourist areas.  From the eccentric glasses to the chunky wood booths with detailing, the only bit lacking was being able to shop while eating.  My wife felt the same way and if she could have stolen the lighting, a pipe and glass sculpture resembling a tree, I'm sure she would have.

Drinks:

Draft beers were not available, so I was unable to try an 'Elephant Foot' of beer.  I settled for a Dos Equis Lager bottle, while my wife started with a Corona bottle.  The frosted mugs looked like they had been melted and added a nice touch, again adding to the whole border town cantina feel.  For the second round my wife moved to a sangria margarita in a hefty glass which she enjoyed.  My daughter had an unsweet tea which I unfortunately didn't sample.  The glass of water I had was clean tasting, possibly filtered, so I imagine that clean flavour would carry over to the tea.

Appetizers:

Chips, salsa and guacamole.  The corn chips were hot and fresh, not over salted or too greasy with a light taste.  Salsa was adequate, not too watery nor so chunky that it veered into pico de gallo territory.  The guacamole was on the better side of mid tier guacamole, a little bit a of sourness, which makes me think its doctored up from a base of pre-made guacamole.  My daughter absolutely loved it however and ended up just getting another bowl of guacamole instead of eating her tacos.

Dinner:

The easy one first, my daughter continued to munch on her guacamole, ignoring the tacos that were brought to the table.  The tacos tasted fine, a standard beef taco.

My wife, in her eternal quest for the perfect burrito, outside of San Diego, dined on the Burrito Mexicano.  A roasted pork filled burrito covered in cheese.  She enjoyed it, though again denounced that the cheese sauce was poured over the burrito and not found on the inside.  The pork was moist and flavorful, though she said said she would probably get something else next time.

Saving the best for last, I got a dish I sadly can't remember the name to, and which isn't on their menu online, though the name was close to Mecihocan?  Served in a stone pig, pictured, this plate is really enough for two people though I hungrily devoured most of it myself.  The bowl included pieces of grilled steak, grilled chicken, shrimp, jalapenos and even grilled cactus!  All of this was on a bed of a delicious pineapple and chorizo mixture at the bottom.  If you can't tell, this was excellent and will keep me coming back.  A pro tip is to save some of the rice you get on the side to mix with the chorizo and pineapple, the rice will help soak up some of the sausage juice!

Dessert:
Sopapillas for me and my wife, while my daughter continued to devour her guacamole.  They aren't the best sopapillas I've had, but were serviceable.  They had the flavour of being a just a toasted flour tortilla instead of the light fluffy pastry.  Again, serviceable but I think I'd move on to a flan on my next visit.

Overall:

We will definitely be back and I highly recommend.  Price was on point for a sit down, more up scale Mexican restaurant.  But the decor and menu variety will bring me back again.