Many restaurants have a certain sway over me without me ever having eaten there, or without me knowing much about it. Lolita’s South of the Border Cantina is one of them, because:
i. It’s a Mexican restaurant
ii. It is owned by the same people who run Me & Julio, which is one of my faves
iii. People I know who have gone have raved about it
iv. There’s a lot of review hubbub about how good it is

I was pretty excited to finally check it out on Friday. The restaurant is in a cozy little nook on Davie, and when I say cozy, I mean it’s in a tiny little closet of a space. After perching at the bar for a while, we crammed into a little table near the door and made our pick for the evening. We shared the guacamole & black bean dip between the three of us to start, and we ordered two tacos each. Since there are 6 selections we almost tried all of them, but we ended up not getting the shrimp. The selections were:

* maple chipotle butternut squash, wild mushroom and chile salsa verde
* crispy pan seared halibut with mango salsa
* sauteed baby shrimp, grilled pinapple and rum salsa
* pulled anchiote chicken with salsa verde and crema
* carne asade (grilled steak) with fresh pico de gallo
* ground beef and chorizo with pomegranate demi-glaze

The guacamole and black bean dip was intense, and my expectations were vindicated for about 10 minutes as we scarfed it down. Then our tacos arrived.

I had the butternut squash and the grilled steak taco, with a ludicrous and illogical amount of beets piled on top, rice and beans served on the side. The gargantuan plate costs $15.75 – and let me emphasize – these are tacos, my friend. They are not tacos made with gold, nor tacos made with diamonds. They are just tacos. $16, my friend.

As my initial hunger wore off, I came to realize something: each time my nose hovered over my plate, there was an inexplicable smell that was throwing me off. I mentioned that and my friend agreed – she said it seemed kind of “game-y”. Nonetheless, it was delicious, and I especially enjoyed the butternut squash and mushrooms combination. The tacos had an initial nose of spice, leather, coal, and smoke, and as I munched on, the description of the smell I was excavating for finally surfaced.

The smell was barnyard/stable. To extrapolate further detail would be kind of nauseating, so I’ll let you figure out what that one means. I’m making this as literal as possible, and I don’t mean this in any metaphorical sense. Normally grilled tortillas are perchance to a slight smell of funk that I can never describe, but this was way beyond it. The funny thing is, it didn’t really bother me that much, and I enjoyed jawing the juicy grilled steak.

But man, that smell. I took the remainder of the tacos home in a takeout box, and on the whole way home its smell permeated through all surrounding surfaces. As I walked by people I feared they would think the smell emanated from me. Mentally I was yelling at the people I passed: I’m not the one who smells like a barnyard! It’s…these… tacos. I don’t think the people, in my head at least, were very convinced.

Conclusion: I like Me & Julio a lot more. It was incredibly loud in Lolita’s, and there just isn’t enough space for the music and talking to coincide. The guacamole was pretty incredible, but items were generally not favorably priced. Also, there’s really not much else I can say if I thought my tacos tasted like poo.

» Lolita’s South of the Border Cantina on 1326 Davie near Jervis [604-696-9996]