Alice’s Mexican Cuisine: C

If you’re a Mexican restaurant and you charge for extra chips and salsa, you’re cheap.

I understand we’re in a recession, but come on, Alice’s Mexican Cuisine. You really can’t let me have that second basket of chips and the thimble of salsa for free? Is that really going to break you?

The salsa was very good, though. That’s a fact. I’ve never had warm salsa before, so that was kind of a treat. And it was spicy, too, which was another nice treat. So many Mexican restaurants are afraid of hot salsas, so the bland sauce they put on your table might as well just be ketchup. Warm, spicy salsa. Nice job, Alice.

But I have a lot of problems, Alice. I’ve already talked about charging for chips and salsa refills. Cut that shit out. It’s cheap and wrong, and nobody likes it. Also, dim the lights a little. Walking into your restaurant was like staring into the sun. Dim the lights a little, and you might save enough on utilities to spring for that second basket of chips.

We’d been wanting to go to Alice’s for some time, but the hours are so crazy, they were never open when we were downtown. Very frustrating. From their website (which could use the services of an editor, by the way):

Our hours of operation are Lunch from Monday thru Friday from 11a.m. to 3:30 p.m on Thurdays & Friday Evenings from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and closed on Sunday.

Overall, the food was good. It’s hard to really screw up Mexican food, which is essentially the same ingredients just arranged in different formats. I had the green chili burrito. Adrienne had chicken tacos. Her dish came with rice and beans (surprise!). Mine came with nothing.

Chicken tacos at Alice's Mexican Cuisine in downtown Colorado Springs.
The chicken tacos
The green chili burrito at Alice's Mexican Cuisine in downtown Colorado Springs.
The green chili burrito at Alice's Mexican Cuisine in downtown Colorado Springs.
Chips and warm salsa at Alice's Mexican Cuisine in downtown Colorado Springs.
Chips, warm salsa. This is all you get. You want more? Pay up!

Let’s recap.

The good

  • Warm, spicy salsa
  • Good, solid Mexican food — Adrienne raved about her tacos.

The bad

  • Charging extra for chips and salsa refill
  • Bright, bright lighting
  • Location: Where the hell are you? Oh, you’re in the alley, back there in the dark.
  • Hours: What kind of hours are these?

Neither here nor there

  • Prices were average, but on the high side
  • Big TV in the dining room? Are you a sports bar?

Alice's Mexican Cuisine on Urbanspoon