Viva Mexico! Viva Rodrigo's! 

by Duane Priemsberger

Early on a recent Thursday evening Judy and I ventured out to Rodrigo’s at 39562 Winchester Rd. in Temecula and experienced a unique Mexican dining event. We were greeted by the affable manager, Dwayne Jordan, who made us feel very welcome. Dwayne took us on tour of the facility that has been open since May of this year and we found it to be significantly different than most local Mexican restaurants in its décor, design and ambiance. 
 
Instead of the traditional serapes and sombreros and faux adobe we found Rodrigo’s Mexican Grill to have vitality and vibrancy more like that of the 21 Century Mexican upscale, trendy, coastal resorts that are appearing throughout that Nation. The attractive, contemporary décor with visible squared beams supporting the walls and ceilings, soft rectangular lights that illuminated the comfortable booths and tables reminded us of a new restaurant that might be found on the shores of the Sea of Cortez along the San Jose del Cabo corridor. 
 
The restaurant has two full bars; one inside and the other on a large and attractive dining patio; each one has a good selection of Margaritas, Tequilas, Mexican beers and other libations to wash away the road dust that can be accumulated on our Temecula Valley highways. The outdoor patio can seat as many as 120 guests and a small private room can accommodate 40 – 50 diners; both are available for reserved group gatherings. The interior of the restaurant can easily seat another 150+ guests.  
 
Dwayne introduced us to his assistant manager, Romero Perez who has been with the company since 1982 and we met Katie, our server for the evening. She’s an authentic California girl, born and raised in Big Bear Lake and only in our Valley since Rodrigo’s opened. Her friendly, easy going personality and blonde, tanned and fit appearance made us think that she might also have been a surfer girl in Malibu or Huntington Beach. She was very knowledgeable and attentive but not intrusive. 
We learned about the menu and found that everything is freshly made, the salsa is made daily, and chips are prepared from scratch twice each day, even the salad dressings are prepared fresh! The staff assured us that there is an almost total absence of canned products in their kitchen. Dwayne agreed to select our dinners for us and that was a wise choice. 

We began with fresh salsa and chips and a Rodrigo’s Favorite original Margarita, on the rocks. We sampled two salads that are available as entrees; the Seafood Chalupa Salad, at $10.49, with fajita shrimp on seasonal greens with fresh mushrooms, avocado slices, fresh mushrooms, crumbled crisp bacon, hard cooked egg and freshly grated cheese in a tortilla shell. It was served with delightful, mild Jalapeno vinaigrette dressing. The Spice Rubbed Grilled Salmon Salad at $12.99 was topped with pineapple salsa fresca and accompanied with fresh mixed greens, jicama, red bell peppers, and cilantro all tossed with a Citrus vinaigrette dressing.  
 
For entrees we shared Fajitas Supremas, at $17.85, warm tortillas, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo accompanied a platter of excellent grilled shrimp, marinated sirloin steak, tender chicken breast slices and a wonderful mix of onions, bell peppers and fresh tomatoes.
 
The Seafood Enchiladas at $10.49 were flavorful corn tortillas stuffed with freshly grilled fish and shrimp, topped with a spicy tomatillo sauce and melted cheese and served with rice and refried beans. Everything that we had the opportunity to enjoy was delicious and served very attractively.  
 
As we settled back to enjoy coffee and two fabulous desserts, A Kahlua Fudge Mudd Pie and Deep Fried Ice Cream we had time to observe the parade of very reasonably priced, delicious dishes going to other diners. Burritos and Chimichangas, Sizzling Fajitas, Specialty Dinners, more Delightful Salads, Combinations and Rodrigo’s Favorites all made their way past us.  
 
My curiosity about the traditional savory Mexican menu that we had enjoyed caused me to ask our server Katie if they were representative of a particular area of Mexico, perhaps Sonora or Baja or maybe Oaxaca. She didn’t know so the three of us have come up with a newly created name for the style of Mexican food served at Rodrigos; we decided it’s an eclectic menu, incorporating many styles so, “Mexicano Eclectico,” has been added to this writer’s vocabulary!  
 
We had a very pleasant and delectable experience dining at Rodrigo’s, one that we will certainly recommend and repeat. They’re open for lunch and dinner daily; Mon. - Thurs. 11AM to 10PM; Fri. & Sat. 11AM to 11PM, with evening hours musical entertainment; Sun. 10AM to 10PM, with brunch that day. They also provide pick-up items including Fiesta Platters and Event Trays.  
 
If you’d like further information you can phone 951- 506- 4191 or visit their website at www.rodrigos.com.