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La Gaviota (Mexican cuisine)  $$

 7
JaT Rating

2208 Business Circle, San Jose, 95128  (Directions)


408-947-7997


Website  Menu  vCard

            
Smallish Mexican seafood restaurant with clean interior.


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 4/13/2007
Rating: 7
My photo gallery 		Friday the 13th for a random visit to La Gaviota Mexican food. It's located next door to Time Deli and across the street from the cough...cough..popular Pink Poodle. I had hopes of seeing an exotic dancer on her lunch break but all we got were nurses from a nearby hospital.

I ordered Camarones A La Plancha (image 5) with corn tortillas and a corona. I knew it was going to take a couple of minutes and went next door to buy a pair of vans. I like the selection of the shoes but employees are extremely pushy (combine car salesman meets mattress salesperson). I walked out with my new pair of checkered slip-ons.

corn tortillas (image 4) - homemade, kinda thick, could have used a little more grilling but still excellent.

beans - oh boy, you know it's gotta be bad for your health when they melt like they do. Awesome beans.

rice - I love the rice, restaurant style fluffy and savory chicken/tomato flavoring.

Even the salsa was impressive but when I got to the main ingredient, the shrimps, I was highly disappointed. La Gaviota described the dish as Butterfly style Prawns Grilled with Onions, Garlic, and Lime Juice. After looking at the plate, I'm like WTF. This is Camarones Rancheros! Grrrr....oh well, I don't have time to return it. The shrimp were frickin tiny and for $13, I would expect Tiger size prawns. The shrimps were lacking in flavor and drowned in butter. It was an oily dish with no spices. I could not recommend ordering this dish.

The shrimps dish is way below average but my love for the tortillas, beans, salsa, and rice rate it enough for a return visit. Based on Terry and my dish, I would skip shrimps altogether and possibly try a meat dish. Service was ok and dining settings very clean.
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 4/13/2007
Rating: 7
My photo gallery 		We had seen La Gaviota before. Last time, just like this time, it was very empty. Scary empty. We were in the parking lot and thought about turning around, but decided to give it a try. How could the place be open so long if there were never any customers? We sat down and I went with the shrimp enchiladas you see in the last picture.

Bottom line: I found the food to be decent overall. The rice and the beans were the winners here. Really bad for you stuff that is just too tasty. All the grease and lard in there really makes a difference. :) The rice was on the fluffy side and they just didn't provide enough. The beans were runny but still very tasty - and they didn't provide enough. The shrimp enchiladas were - you guessed it - on the small side as well. And actually they weren't really that tasty either.

I would return and go for a burrito with rice and refried beans, but the dishes were just waaay too pricey for the amount of food I received. I left the place still hungry.
 
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