Once upon a time, Harford County was a sleepy little place that did not have many restaurants. Thankfully that has changed since I first moved here in 1978. Back then, my family mostly dined out at Manny’s Pizza (which is as delicious now as it was then). Now there are literally hundreds of choices for people like me who consider themselves to be “foodies”.
Hello, my name is Jennifer Bonney, and I am a new food critic for The Dagger. Typically I will have 2 columns per month – the first will be called “Harford Hotspots” in which I will review a local restaurant. The second column will be called “Everything From Soup To Nuts” and will contain a variety of simple recipes, suggestions for wine and beer pairings, and other assorted entertaining ideas. My passion in life is experimenting with food and entertaining for my friends, so stay tuned for everything you ever wanted to know about casual cuisine! And if you have suggestions for future columns, don’t hesitate to let us know.
Fiesta Grill Fish Tacos Followed by Friendly’s Sundaes
If you are looking for an inexpensive place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, look no further than Fiesta Grill on Tollgate Road (in the strip next to Harford Mall). My 9 year old nephew and I ventured out last weekend for some authentic Mexican food and were happy that we did.
One of the specials that evening was the fish tacos which were served with rice and beans. The rice could have used more spice, but the fish was a delectable, grilled mahi mahi with mango salsa and shredded cabbage. Having been to San Diego recently, I knew that most fish tacos are made with fried fish rather than grilled. However, I definitely preferred the fresh taste of the grilled fish. As an appetizer, we had the taquitos which is described on their menu as a corn tortilla that is rolled up with chicken or beef and then fried to a crispy golden brown. They were fantastic and made me wish that I didn’t have to share them! The Taco Salad was good, but not as big of a hit as the fish tacos. It is served in a taco shell which tasted stale, but the lettuce and other toppings were tasty and fresh (except that it was missing the sour cream). The only downside to our experience was that they had run out of ice (which made me wonder if there wasn’t a 7-11 in close proximity?). Fiesta Grill has a wide variety of Mexican and Salvadorean dishes that are cooked to order, everything from enchiladas, fajitas, burritos and tacos to something called pupusas which I would like to try on my next visit.
Beer and wine is on their menu, but dessert is not, so we decided to walk off our meal at Harford Mall and get ice cream at Friendly’s. What a mistake! Although our waitress was extremely friendly and eager to please, the restaurant and bathrooms were filthy. What a shame considering that the mall was very busy with Good Friday traffic and you could see how dirty it was just by walking through the mall corridor. The ice cream was delicious, I mean, you can’t really go wrong with ice cream sundaes right? I knew we should have gone to Broom’s Bloom! (to be reviewed in an upcoming column).
FIESTA GRILL
114 North Tollgate Road
Bel Air, MD 21014
(410) 420-8388
Credit cards accepted
Come visit our newest addition in Jarrettsville. Jarrettsville Creamery and Deli is an awesome place to grab a sawdwich and some homemade ice cream! Let me know when your coming and I’ll meet you there – any excuse to have some ice cream!
Somebody from the Health Department needs to make an inspection of Friendly’s. What a shame to let a formerly decent place go to such extremes in lack of cleanliness. Clean it (and keep it clean) or close it.