Dining

Chow & Tell: Taste Buds at Blue Adobe Grille

by Jennifer Newman and Nick Olson - Feb. 11, 2008 12:00 AM
azcentral.com

Week 1: Blue Adobe Grille | Slideshow

A stone's throw away from our home in Mesa, is a New Mexican grille with real Southwest charm. Just four blocks from the Mesa Arts Center is the Blue Adobe Santa Fe Grille.

Before our arrival, we checked out the restaurant's Web site, blueadobegrille.com. It recommended reservations, so we made them and upon arrival we slipped into a nearby parking spot. We were greeted and seated.

Inside the saltillo paradise, the room was about half full. Beyond the glaring copper-plated bar top was a brigade of tequila.

Our friendly server said Blue Adobe offers a tequila tour that is popular with regulars. He really helped us navigate through the menu because we wanted to order everything.

If you like margaritas or straight tequila, you can join the “Blue Crew”. All you have to do is ask the server for a “Blue Crew” card. How it works: Every time you order a margarita or a specialty tequila shot from the “BC” menu, you are given a stamp on your card. When you fill up the card, you receive a funny T-Shirt and a $60 gift certificate to Blue Adobe Grille.

There is also a “beer of the month” club. We decided on the Patron Silver Margarita, which were very tasty.

To start, we enjoyed a creamy green chile lobster dip ($11), with chunks of lobster, sautéed green chile, fresh garlic, spinach, asiago and fontina cheeses and crispy flour crisps for dipping. Along with our dip, we chose a small cup of red chile pork posole soup with spicy mixes of roasted pork and hominy in a red chile broth ($5.25). The red chile pork posole could be an elixir for the ill in small isolated villages.

Our server graciously brought us a sample of the green chile chicken corn chowder ($3.50). The chowder was thick and creamy enough to comfort our taste buds. Do you see a theme here?

Staying true to the New Mexican cuisine, green/red chile is used in almost every dish at Blue Adobe. The lobster dip was delicious although we would have preferred to enjoy it with tortilla chips instead of the deep fried flour crisps. As for the soups, we liked the red chile pork posole better. The spices and flavor hit the spot.

For dinner Jennifer picked the chorizo stuffed chicken ($16), which was a pecan-grilled chicken breast stuffed with chorizo, green chiles, fontina cheese and smothered with anamaretto mushroom cream sauce. The side dish was a roasted green chile filled with a twice-baked potato and sautéed veggies. The plate looked appetizing, but Jennifer wasn’t thrilled about the twice baked potato. The potato seemed to be missing something. The chicken, however, was so tender Jennifer used a butter knife.

I picked the beef chimichilada ($14) that mistakenly came with chicken, topped with sour cream, accompanied by a portabello mushroom enchilada, drenched in amaretto mushroom cream sauce. The dish is served with pinto beans and red chile rice.

Even though my order came back wrong, it ended up being a tasty alternative, after all. I had ordered this dish once before so I knew how great it was! In our opinion, anything on the menu that has amaretto mushroom cream sauce is highly recommended. That combination may sound strange but, the taste of the amaretto and mushroom is smooth and almost dessert like. It melts in your mouth and is a great compliment to the items on the menu.

Half way through our meal we were stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey and ready to pass out. However, we rarely leave a restaurant without getting a dessert. There are only a couple of choices, so we settled for the crème brule’ ($9). I wish the crème lived up to its price, but it didn’t.

Usually the serving of crème brule` comes in a saucer size dish or bowl, but this was in a much larger bowl. The custard was sitting too shallow and the sugar was too thick, creating a thick shield from the custard.

The service at the Blue Adobe Grille was accommodating on all levels with high chairs available as well as seating for large groups. The food arrived in a timely manner. The specials change daily, so keep an eye out for your favorites.

Blue Adobe has impressively clean restrooms, and a pleasant and knowledgeable staff.

To top it off, Jose the owner, also made guests feel welcome with his warm, sociable manner. Our night was made simple and relaxing thanks to the Blue Adobe Grille.