Vive Sol

Name: Vive Sol
Address: 2020 El Camino Real, Mountain View, California 94040
Phone: 650-938-2020
Web site: www.vivesol.biz
Date & Time visited: Saturday, October 28, 2006 9:30 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Two house margaritas ("Margarita del Sol"), Pollo Negro (Jen), Pollo Guajillo (me).

The Pollo Negro is a very California-Mexican dish, with chicken breast strips in a creamy wine sauce with spinach and goat cheese. Jen loved it, as did I when I stole a bite. Pollo Guajillo is "Grandma's special", with a guajillo pepper, garlic and sour cream sauce. It was also excellent, with a bit of a kick from the guajillo peppers. The house margaritas were classic and pretty strong.

Service: Good to very good. Actually it was better than "good" but I have to dock a virtual point or two for the time waiting to get our check after we'd finished--a peeve of mine. At the time we were there, there were only a couple of other parties and so our server was more or less around all the time. The manager came over at one point to see how we were doing--always a plus.

Would we go back: Yes, and we might even take friends.

Tomatina

Name: Tomatina
[see below for location & Web site]
Date & Time visited: Friday, October 14, 2005, 1:30 PM
Guests: Jen and me
What we had: Tomatina garlic rolls, Pizzetta (Jen), Express lunch [two slices of 3-cheese/pancetta plus salad] (me)

This was a quick lunch on our way to the airport, and so the Express lunch worked perfectly; the spicy three-cheese pizza had the unexpected bonus of pancetta and italian parsley and was very good. Jen enjoyed her Pizzetta, basically an arugula salad on pizza dough, very much. The garlic rolls were excellent as usual.

Service: Quick and friendly. This place caters to the local lunch crowd during the day--Yahoo, McAfee, Sun and WebEx all have offices within walking distances--and so the wait staff know they need to get their customers fed and on their way.

Would we go back: Yes.

Mexicali Grill

Name: Mexicali Grill
Address: 3149 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, California 95054
Phone: (408) 588-9865
Web site: MexicaliGrill.com
Date & Time visited: Saturday, October 1, 2005, 9:00 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Chicken nachos (Jen), Mole Rojo (me)

Jen's chicken nachos were very good, with fresh chips and guacamole creating a nice mix of flavor; no one ingredient (chicken, salsa, cheese, etc.) overwhelmed the dish. My Mole Rojo was, quite simply, one of the best entrees I've ever had. The restaurant's menu says about this dish:

Imported ingredients direct from Oaxaca, Mexico. This truly authentic dish comes with two chicken enchiladas covered with our rich mole sauce made with 36 different ingredients. Topped with queso fresco, Crema Mexicana. Served with rice and black beans.

I'd never had Mole anything, though I'd heard about it. The sauce was complex and very tasty, and the chicken enchiladas provided enough substance to play backup without overpowering the sauce, which was of course the real star of the dish. I'm going to have to seek out other Mole dishes.

Service: Very good. This is another restaurant at the Mercado shopping center (near Tomatina) and the service was efficient without being pushy; we got to our movie in plenty of time.

Would we go back: Definitely, if to have that Mole again if nothing else. We've been there before for margaritas and nachos instead of a full meal before a movie and we'll likely do that again as well.

Tomatina

Name: Tomatina
Address: 3127 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, California 95054
Phone: (408) 654-9000
Web site: www.tomatina.com
Date & Time visited: Tuesday, May 31, 2005, 7:20 PM
Guests: Jennifer and me
What we had: Tomatina Garlic rolls, Caesar salad, Spicy Three Cheese pizza.

Service: Fair. When ordering to share, I'm always extra sure to tip as if we'd each had a full meal. Unfortunately, there isn't really a good way to let the server know that beforehand, so sometimes you get someone with an "oh great, half tip" attitude. I don't know that our server was thinking that exactly, but he might as well have been. When we ordered one appetizer, one salad and one pizza for both of us, he seemed visibly annoyed--though he didn't say or actively do anything to express it--and service during the meal was spotty at best. We've had much better experiences here on previous visits, so I'm chalking it up to one person having a bad night.

You must try Tomatina's signature garlic rolls. They're just amazing. Make sure to dip them thoroughly in the garlic and oil provided. The spicy three cheese pizza actually had prosciutto and parsley as well as cheese, and was very good.

Would we go back: Yes. This restaurant is located in the Mercado shopping center in Santa Clara, next to our favorite movie theater.