Hot Night at the Chili Pepper? - CLOSED

Chili Pepper

167 S. Main

Orange, CA 92868

I admit I was a little nervous coming here. The food had nothing to do with it. We are closing in on our third anniversary with this blog, and I have yet to have a restaurant ask me not to take pictures. In fact, I have never really had a run-in with any restaurant. I did a little research online, and more than one reviewer mentioned that they do not allow pictures to be taken in this restaurant. So, I was prepared to have this be the first incident between a restaurant and myself. Fortunately, this was not the case. I quickly took pictures of the food on the down-low. This explains the blurriness of some of the images. At least, that's the excuse I am sticking with.

Chili Pepper has been in this location since I was a kid long ago. My parents swear this place was owned by the same people who ran the now-defunct Juana Maria's over on Katella Avenue. I am not sure about this, but like the great child that I am, I will go with what my parents tell me. Outside the restaurant is a very tiny parking lot, but there is plenty of parking on the street in the back.

Once inside, you are transported to an old school, an over-the-top Mexican restaurant featuring waiters singing with overly giant sombreros, pinatas hanging from the ceiling, and a dizzying array of colors that one other reviewer described as "a box of melted crayons." Classic! As if all this was not enough, they also have tons of plants all over the restaurant to transport you to Puerto Vallarta without the humidity. I kept my camera on the seat, ready for an all-clear moment. Let's see how this meal turned out.

After we were seated, we were given chips and salsa. The lightly fried chips here go well with this mild salsa, which I really liked because it was chunky. Recently, we have had watery salsa every time we go to a Mexican restaurant. This was a nice change of pace.

We were in a Mexican restaurant, so Katie wanted a side of Guacamole ($4.99). The guacamole is lightly garnished with a few tomatoes and onions at the Chili Pepper. This was pedestrian guacamole. It was fresh but not overly flavorful, and it needed more seasoning. It's a good-sized serving, though.

Chris and Adrienne split their version of a dinner salad, the Ensalada Compuesta ($3.49). Translated, this means composed salad. Reading my blog can help you learn a new language. I should come clean; I just Googled this to understand what it means. This salad comprised mixed greens, shredded carrots, tomato, and ranch dressing. It was a basic salad, but like the guacamole, it was a good size for the price.

Time for the main meals, and starting us off is Katie's selection, the Guanajuato Burrito ($6.99). This unique-sounding burrito was filled with chicken, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and beans, then topped with red sauce and cheese. Katie sounded more like Goldilocks when describing the portion size of this burrito, calling it "not too big, and not too small, but just right." She was also pleased with the taste of this burrito. She liked the chicken and potato and felt the red sauce perfectly rounded this out.

When coming to Chili Pepper, Chris usually goes for the carnitas fajitas, but this night, he felt the Steak Fajitas ($8.99). He thought these were okay, but he would have rather had the pork if given a do-over. These are your standard fajitas with onions, tomatoes, and peppers.

Adrienne loves the food at Chili Pepper and got this Two Item Combo ($7.99) with a Pork Tamale and a Cheese Enchilada. Adrienne called both of these items "delicious," she loves the red sauce this plate is drenched in. The beans and rice round out this plate nicely. She also wanted a special shout-out for the Margaritas ($4.99) here. She enjoys hers with no salt and on the rocks. I ordered mine the same way. They are open about pouring the tequila into these. After a few of these margaritas, I am sure many people break the awkward glasses these come in.

As many of you loyal readers of this blog know, I usually base my initial visit to a Mexican restaurant on a Carnitas Plate ($9.19), and here was no different. This carnitas really surprised me. Excellent flavor, crispy end pieces, and moist. These are the ways that carnitas need to be cooked. One of the best I have had in a while. I wished the portion size was more significant, but this plate was priced under ten dollars. The rice was cooked well but a little on the plain side. The beans were good, but more of them were needed. I will probably ask for double beans next time. Very satisfying meal.

One of the things I remember from my childhood when coming here was the complimentary apple-filled tacos at the end of the meal. I used to think it was the coolest thing to be given free food in a restaurant, and it still is cool now. We let these sit for a while because they came to our table hot. The shell of these is fried lightly and rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Inside is an apple mixture that is reminiscent of an apple-filled donut. It was a pleasant end to our meal.

Chili Pepper has been here a long time, and I can see why. This will not be the best Mexican food you have ever eaten, but everything was pretty solid. The portion sizes were average here, but there is little to complain about with these prices. They are definitely not gouging anyone. Reading other reviews, I see that service can sometimes be an issue here, but we had no complaints on this night. Our waiter was on his game all evening and kept things moving. After all the fuss about no pictures in the restaurant, I made it out unscathed.

Out of five Scoville units (because that is the scale for determining the spiciness of peppers), five being the best and zero being the worst, the Chili Pepper gets 3 Scoville units.

For more information about The Chili Pepper, head to their website here: https://www.thechilipepperrestaurant.com/