The Chesterfield Daily

From the minute you set foot inside this stucco building, you know you’re in for a treat. We were greeted quickly by a friendly host, and immediatly seated in a booth that was surrounded by colorful murals on the wall. From our seat, we got a great view of a large decorative fountain at the center of the restaurant. After delivering a water and a large Dos Equis, our server brought out the standard, yet always delicious chips and salsa. At Mi Hacienda they also give you a spicy bonus, a delicious Mexican style ranch dip.

This wouldn’t be a proper review if I didn’t take a moment to discuss the salsa though. Mi Hacienda is the type of ma and pop establishment where the recipes seem to change a bit from day to day. Today’s salsa mix was a little runnier than I’d like, but still really really yummy. (Our waitress must have known because she made sure we always had plenty of napkins.)

A look at the menu can be a bit daunting as in many Mexican restaurants. So many choices! I eventually settled on an order of Carnitas and my husband went for the Chicken Fajitas. After ordering we settled into our usual routine of filling up on the chips. Like many popular Mexican joints, the food took less than 10 minutes to arrive. Once on the table, we felt like complete gluttons. The fajitas were sizzling hot as you might expect, and the portions here are huge. In fact, I’d recommend ordering a few extra tortillas to help take care of the leftovers. Served with sour cream, creamy refried beans, rice, onions, peppers and guacamole this is a meal that we have shared many times. I consider myself a bit of a guacamole fanatic and theirs is very good. It’s not cut with all sorts of fillers, just simple and delicious. I am going to award this dish a very cliche two thumbs up. Mind you, nothing fancy is going on here, just some good solid Mexican eats!

Now onto the Carnitas. This dish was so delicious that I ate it twice that night. That’s not something I’d like to admit, but still a true testament to the quality of the food. Who wouldn’t enjoy a plate of crispy flavorful pork served with rice, beans, the delicious guacamole, loads of sour cream, pico de gallo, and fresh hot flour tortillas.

After chips and dinner, we really didn’t have room for dessert. But since when did that ever stop anyone? We decided on the “Plantano Macho,” a sinful dish of fried plantains covered in strawberry sauce and a sweet white glaze. While the dish was really delicious, I couldn’t help but notice that it looked totally different than the picture on the menu. I was expecting real strawberries, but what came to the table was more of a thick, sweet strawberry flavored syrup. There was nothing quaint about this after dinner treat!

I’d really recommend giving this place a try. With two locations in the area (Hull Street and Midlothian), Mi Hacienda is easy on your wallet and kind to your belly. A check for 2 with dessert, one beer, and 2 entrees (even though we really only needed one) was 40 dollars including the tip. And that’s not too shabby in my book.