Habanero

Well, it is Cinco de Mayo. And as a good former (and lousy) Spanish student, I decided that we should observe the day by consuming some Cinco-ish food. Not wanting to drive far enough for authenticity -- pickin's are slim for real Mexican food in Cinti, it seems to me -- I thought of the pseudo-Latino Habanero located in nearby Clifton. We'd seen it repeatedly, generally en route to nearby Indian restaurants, but we'd never tried it out.

So I found Habanero's Restaurant Row entry -- they have no real website -- and looked at the (outdated) menu available there. Didn't look too pricey, and the "Signature Dishes" looked interesting. Also, Polly Campbell's review looked fine. So we loaded up a somewhat fussy-and-tired youngun and headed for Clifton. Habanero has its own parking lot (shared with Amol Indian restaurant, actually), a rare thing in Clifton, so parking was no problem (although the drizzling rain increased as we pulled in).

Like the ubiquitous Ch(a)i(n)potle and Qdob(ch)a(in) -- and knock-offs -- Habanero is what Polly Campbell calls "self-service": you order at a counter and get your food on a tray (or, in our case, in brown paper sacks). So that part's familiar. But what makes Habanero less familiar is that it has character! Yes, that intangible that chains try so hard to manufacture but never quite pull off: character. (Sometimes character is seedy, odd, eccentric, etc. -- but hey, at least it's not bland. And Habanero's character is fine -- a bit university-ish, but fine.)

Habanero's menu is more extensive than on the Restaurant Row site, and prices have increased slightly (but there's still no Signature Dish higher than $6.95). They've added smoothies, for instance, along with another of the Habanero salsas (fire-roasted corn). We picked up a paper copy for future reference -- neatly printed on habanero-orange paper. But on to the comestibles. . . .

• Chicken burrito ($5.85): Being a less adventurous soul, Lisa chose to take the make-yer-own route. She didn't realize that she could have as many toppings as she liked from the fairly decent selection (sour cream, red onion, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, black olives, roasted red peppers, lettuce, cilantro). And when asked if she wanted mild, medium or hot salsa, she didn't realize that she could have had one of the Habanero salsas (smokey tomato chipotle, mango-jalapeno, pineapple-almond, apple and green chile, corn and green chile, fire-roasted corn). Used to the bland salsas of the chains, Lisa chose hot (at Chipotle and Qdoba, I find the hot too mild to taste in my burrito). But Habanero doesn't mess around, and her burrito -- bland from lack of toppings, since the rice is kept plain to be used in multiple and divergent dishes -- was doused in liquid fire. So her eating experience was rather painful.
• Chuba cabre ($6.50): I like to try interesting things, and cinnamon-roasted squash sounds interesting, as does apple and green chile salsa. And Polly called it Habanero's signature burrito, so why not? With the Signature Dishes, you just get what comes on 'em -- no questions about toppings and salsas, although I did get to choose the spiciness (7 out of 10). It was quite good -- the salsa and cinnamon-roasted squash were enough to flavor the burrito well. The Signature Dishes come with chips -- homemade from wheat-flour, not corn, tortillas; good, but I'd have preferred corn, I think -- and salsa -- just a standard-issue, not the Habanero special salsas. The chips/salsa were tasty, and I am very full as I write this.

Habanero is the sort of place to have a mission statement, posted near the ordering counter and printed on the paper menu. One part I especially like: "Our beans have never seen the inside of a can; our chips have never seen the inside of a bag; our salsas have never seen the inside of a jar." Once you get past this anthropomorphization of food, it's nice to know that the stuff is fresh. And it's also independent, not a chain. And it's close. And not too pricey. . . . I like it!

Rating: 10 (2, 4, 4) (What's this?)
Lisa's rating: All fire and no marshmallow.