Casa Jimenez
15844 Gale Ave
Hacienda Heights
626-336-5668
Casa Jimenez has many locations throughout LA. I was told the Hacienda Heights location has some good specials and good food, so I decided to try it.
They have an all you can eat special for $7.50. You order three items to start and then you can order whatever else you want. They have a wide variety of items, from tacos to burritos to chimichanga to chile colorado. The best thing is that they aren't sitting on steam trays but cooked to order.
I only ordered two items, beef chimichanga and the carnitas to start. I really like the chimichanga. Unlike another Mexican restaurant I went to, this chimichanga was acutally deep fried. It was filled with tons of shredded beef and beans. The fried tortilla was flaky and crunchy. The outside of the carnitas were very crispy, almost like bacon. But the carnitas tended to be dry, though tender.
My next order was a chicken taco and beef taquitos. The chicken taco was filled with chicken, lettuce, and topped with cheese. The chicken was kind of bland. The lettuce and cheese was fresh but overall the taco was dry. The taquitos was just beef rolled into a tortilla and deep fried. Pretty good.
Then I had a small portion of the Chile Colorado, which is a red chile sauce over beef. It was very mild, not spicy at all. The beef was tender. Reminded me of beef stew.
Service was below average, even though the place was pretty empty. I had to track down the waitress for my next order and to refill my drink. She also did not take the dirty dishes away. But the most galling part was the bill. The price is $7.50 for the meal. I only ordered water to drink so that of course is free. I didn't order anything else. There is nothing on the menu about an extra charge for salsa or gucamole or sour cream. I also wasn't asked if I wanted either one. So my bill came out to $8.42. $7.50 x .0875 is about 66 cents, so the bill should have been $8.16. Why the extra 26 cents? I know that may sound petty but restaurants should calculate your bill correctly. There is reason to screw somebody like that.
I did like the food and thought it was a good value but why try to rip people off? I don't want to create a scene, because I feel somebody who is reviewing food should try and be anonymous, so I didn't ask why it cost more
