I have nothing against the Olive Gardens and Buca di Beppos in this world. Once, years ago, I even joined a friend for lunch at a (shudder) Fazoli’s.

But in this age of mass-produced Italian cuisine churned out by huge national chains,
it’s nice to know there are still neighborhood restaurants lovingly preparing the real thing.

One such East Valley establishment is RigaTony’s, now in its 13th year on the southwest corner of Arizona Avenue and Knox Road in Chandler.

Cozy and casual, the multiroom restaurant features dark wood wainscoting, high-backed booths and gold plaster walls covered with Italian posters and old black-and-white photos. Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra croon from overhead speakers.

It’s like my two dining companions and I have been transported to New York’s Little Italy. Or a scene from “The Godfather.”

Our dinner starts with a loaf of crusty ciabatta bread, which we dip into a plate of oregano-laced olive oil. No need to order an appetizer.

Dinner entrees also come with antipasto salad, which our server brings in a single large bowl. Loaded with strips of salami, thinly cut onions, ripe tomatoes, black olives and peppercinis, it’s perfectly seasoned with a not-too-strong Italian dressing.

Between the bread and the salad, we have to be careful not to fill up. When our dinners arrive, we’re glad we didn’t.

I get the Tour of RigaTony’s ($13.95), a sampler plate of four of the restaurant’s top dishes. My favorite is the ricotta-stuffed shells covered in a zesty tomato sauce, but a close second is the grilled Italian sausage link, which packs considerable heat.

Chicken piccata, a cutlet smothered in capers and a white wine sauce, is moist and tasty. The fourth dish, fettucine alfredo, is OK, but not quite up to the level of the other three.

We also try the restaurant’s namesake, the baked RigaTony ($10.95), which comes with a choice of sausage, meatballs, chicken or broccoli. We decide to take our server’s recommendation and go with sausage.

It turns out to be a wise move. The pasta, sauce and cheese are a bit bland, but the meat — slices of the same Italian sausage that comes with the sampler plate — gives it a nice boost.

Our final entree is the seafood fettucine ($12.95), a heaping plate of pasta covered in a creamy sauce with shrimp, scallions and halibut. It’s another winner.

We’re rapidly reaching our saturation point, but the dessert menu is too tempting. The apple bread pudding with a Frangelico caramel sauce ($3.95) is pretty good, but the huge slice of cappuccino pie ($4.95) — easily enough for two or three people — is a must-have.

Consider it an offer we couldn’t refuse.

RigaTony’s
Where: 1374 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler
Open: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday for lunch; 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday for dinner.
Prices: Lunch specials $6.50-$7.50, appetizers $5.50-$10.95, pasta $8.95-$14.50, pizzas $8.95-$15.95, desserts $3.95-$4.95.
Info: (480) 899-1111 or rigatonys.com

Move over olive mills and corn mazes, Queen Creek has a new attraction: Its first sushi bar. Sushi Creek, a trendy looking, 2,300-square-foot eatery that seats about 80, recently opened on the northeast corner of Ellsworth and Ocotillo roads.

“This community is growing so much,” says Sushi Creek manager Rich Spillane, 26. “It’s basically supply and demand. There’s nothing like this out here.”

The restaurant’s decor features dark wood furniture, a long bar and dramatic lighting. Nigiri and sashimi range from $3.50 to $10. Sushi rolls are $3 to $10.

Queen Creek diners looking for more traditional fare can choose from an “I Hate Sushi” menu that includes steak, pasta and burgers. “About 65 percent of our sales have been sushi,” Spillane says.

During happy hour — 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday — domestic beers are $1.50 and well drinks $2.50. Although normally closed Mondays, Sushi Creek is open for “Monday Night Football” games and offers an a non-sushi tailgate buffet.

Sushi Creek, 21805 S. Ellsworth Road, Queen Creek, is open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Info: (480) 677-4333.

How popular is Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Cue, the Long Beach, Calif., chain that’s opening its first Arizona restaurant at 4 p.m. today at Tempe Marketplace?

So popular that customers at their nine other restaurants — eight in California and another near Las Vegas — routinely wait more than two hours for a table on weekends. So popular that 25 percent of its customers drive more than 25 miles to visit Lucille’s.

“Whenever we go into a new market, people say, ‘We’ll wait for the opening crowds to die down,’” says Lucille’s executive chef Chris Ferrell. “The thing is, the crowds never die down.” A self-described barbecue fanatic, Ferrell was hired by owner Craig Hofman to create the menu for the original Lucille’s. Nine years later, the former Cheesecake Factory chef, who’s also become the company’s de facto marketing director, is still obsessed with making sure every detail lives up to his high standards.

On this Tuesday afternoon, three days before Lucille’s grand opening, he’s testing the Tempe restaurant’s new staff. He asks a young server to bring him a plate of Texas-style beef brisket. When it arrives, he pokes his finger into one of the Angus beef chunks and frowns. “Take this back to the kitchen and tell them it needs more sauce,” he says.

A couple minutes later, the waiter returns with the plate. With just one glance, though, Ferrell jumps up and personally whisks it back to the kitchen. Several minutes later, he returns with the brisket finally prepared to his satisfaction. The tender beef tastes delicious — smoky and slightly sweet.

“People walk in all the time and say, ‘I’m from Texas, or I’m from Memphis,’” he says. “California may not be known for its barbecue, but by the time they leave, 99 percent of these people say, ‘This is better than back home.’”

Lucille’s offers a variety of meats — including ribs, beef, chicken, ham and hot links — most of which are prepared with dry rubs before going into the restaurant’s state-of-the-art smoker, which sits center stage in the main dining room. Several times a day, a bell rings to invite customers to gather around and watch some of the 1,400 pounds of hickory-smoked meats be removed.

It’s all part of a fun, informal atmosphere at Lucille’s. The restaurant is a 10,000-square-foot maze of oddly shaped rooms, creating the impression that each was added haphazardly at different times. Hand-painted signs, old license plates and discarded hubcaps decorate the walls. Beaded curtains hang in doorways. Most tablea mismatched chairs. “We try to be as kitschy as possible and still be as functional as possible,” Ferrell says.

Blues and jazz music play throughout the 400-person-capacity restaurant. From 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, live musicians perform. “You’re not gonna come here and have a quiet conversation,” Ferrell says. “It’s a high-energy place.”

But all the atmosphere and energy in the world wouldn’t matter if Lucille’s didn’t have the food to match. And it does. The menu showcases a diversity of of barbecue styles — Carolina, Memphis, St. Louis, Texas — administered to 30,000 pounds of meat per week. Sauces range from original to hot and spicy.

My favorite menu item? It’s got to be the tri tip ($18.95), a plate of thinly sliced Angus beef that’s moist and flavorful, even without sauce. The half chicken ($16.95), the only meat that gets a wet rub, is so juicy it melts in your mouth. And the spicy hot links ($9.95 in sandwich) have plenty of zest.

If you’re looking for more than barbecue, Lucille’s also serves Southern specialities like fried chicken, gumbo, blackened catfish and po’ boy sandwiches, as well salads, steaks and burgers. Southern-style sides ($2.95) include flaky homemade biscuits with apple butter, braised greens, sweet potaoes, sweet corn, cheesy grits and honey roasted peanut slaw.

Desserts range from a scrumptious fruit cobbler ($5.95) made with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries to a decadent banana pudding ($4.25). The bar also specializes in Southern classics, such as mint juleps and Hurricanes, although bar manager Bryce Renn admits, “When it comes down to it, margaritas are our bestsellers.”

Citing the East Valley’s strong demographics, Ferrell says Lucille’s already is scouting other potential locations in the area. “There’s a lot of good barbecue out here, so I think we’re going to have an educated customer,” he says. I, for one, am eager to do my homework.

LUCILLE’S SMOKEHOUSE BAR-B-QUE

Where: 2030 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe

Open: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Sunday

Prices: Lunch items $9.50 -$12.95, dinner entrees $16.50-$26.50, desserts $4.25-$5.95

Info: (480) 966-7427

Having lived in the East Valley for more than two decades, I can remember when you could count the number of local sushi restaurants on one hand — and still have several fingers left over.

Oh, how the times have changed. Today, there’s probably not a spot in the East Valley where you’re more than a few minutes’ drive from a pretty good sushi bar. Even blue-collar west Mesa is getting in on the act: Sake Tini Sushi Bar & Lounge opened this summer in the former Tokyo Express building next to Oregano’s Pizza Bistro on the northwest corner of Dobson Road and Southern Avenue.

The stylish-looking eatery has stained-concrete floors, black tables and black chairs with burnt-orange padded seats. A 25-foot sushi bar with stools runs along a glass food case. Behind it, a mosiac of multi-colored one-foot squares covers the wall. A 25-foot bar with a pair of high-definition TVs dominates another wall. Up a couple steps, an atrium-like room is filled with sofas and bathed in sunlight pouring through floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

A trio of sushi-loving co-workers and I start lunch with the vegetable tempura appetizer ($6.50), a platter of lightly battered pieces of zucchini, broccoli, onion and bell pepper that we quickly devour. It comes with a small bowl of pickled onions and a dish of tentsuyu dipping sauce. One of us orders the lunch menu’s sushi plate ($9.50), a bargain-priced sampler with four well-presented pieces — tuna, salmon, yellowtail and shrimp — and a crunchy roll or shrimp tempura roll with miso soup.

A la carte rolls range from $3.90 for an avocado or asparagus roll to $11.50 for a rainbow roll. My other co-workers try a variety, including spicy tuna ($5.50), crunchy ($5.90), hungry ($7.50), Las Vegas ($7), simple Philly ($7) and baked dynamite ($8.50). All the selections, which are tightly rolled and hold together well, taste very good, but the Philly (smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese) draws the most raves.

Sake Tini also offers a selection of kitchen dishes, including its signature Saketini (pan-fried hamburger steak, chicken and fish katsu with a special house sauce for $9.25 at lunch and $14.50 at dinner). I’m looking for something spicier so I go with the spicy chicken sautee ($7.95 lunch, $12.50 dinner), savory poultry pieces with a slightly hot sauce. It comes with miso soup, vegetables and rice.

We cap off the meal by sharing a delicious bowl of red bean ice cream ($3) and another of green tea ice cream ($3). As we leave, I try to think of any remaining areas in the East Valley that don’t have a good sushi spot. Because I’m crossing west Mesa off the list.

SAKE TINI SUSHI BAR & LOUNGE

Where: 1120 S. Dobson Road, Mesa (northwest corner of Dobson Road and Southern Avenue)

Open: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. Friday and Saturday) for dinner. Bar open until 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday.

Prices: Appetizers $3-$9.50, salads $4.50-$10.50, sushi $8.25-$25.75, a la carte sushi/rolls $3.50-$11.50, kitchen dishes $7.95-$15.50.

Info: (480) 615-6000.

DAVE & BUSTER’S: IT’S A RESTAURANT, TOO

Dave & Buster’s — a 50,000-square-foot restaurant, bar and entertainment venue — opened its first Arizona location Monday at Tempe Marketplace. With 140 state-of-the-art electronic games and simulators, it’s easy to think of D&B’s as simply an upscale arcade for the 21-to-35-year-old crowd. But D&B’s also is a full-service restaurant, one whose menu goes far beyond “bar food.” I stopped by for lunch Monday, and although it was their first day the menu items I tried were impressive. The Lacy’s Chicken ($7.49, pictured above) is two grilled breasts topped with creamy Boursin cheese and a savory peppercorn sauce. It’s delicious, although the accompanying “loaded” mashed potatoes and green beans are just average. The Philly cheesesteak ($8.49, with fries), a soft hoagie roll full of flavorful beef, is another winner. It’s better than most you’ll find in the East Valley. And for dessert, you gotta try the Hot Sugared Donut Holes ($5.99), a paper funnel of vanilla and chocolate dough balls, hot from the fryer, with chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces. Best of all, many menu items are available as part of a special $15.99 deal that includes a $10 game card. My only complaint? It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed I was overcharged $6 for the chicken, so be sure to check your receipt carefully. Dave & Buster’s, 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, is open 11:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday (open at 10 a.m. Sunday during NFL season). Info: (480) 281-8456.

LUCILLE’S BBQ FIRES UP SMOKER

Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, featuring award-winning smoked meats and live blues music, opens its first Arizona restaurant Friday at Tempe Marketplace. The Long Beach, Calif.-based chain cooks its beef brisket, ribs and chicken in a giant smoker in the middle of the restaurant, inviting customers to gather around when batches are removed. The fun-focused restaurant also has mismatched furniture, colorful wall decorations and a maze of dining rooms. Musicians perform Fridays and Saturdays. Read more about Lucille’s in Friday’s Tribune. Info: (480) 966-7427.

$5 MOJITOS AT ASIA DE CUBA

Asia de Cuba, the ultra-trendy restaurant at the Mondrian Scottsdale, is celebrating the last days of summer with $5 mojitos from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday through Sept. 30. The all-white restaurant, which blends Asian and Latin cuisines, also has introduced several new menu items, including pan-roasted sea scallops, Chilean sea bass, Asian pear bread pudding, Carribean carrot cake (with pineapple) and semi frio, a frozen cream cheese custard topped with fruit and served with strawberry granita. Info: (480) 308-1131.

Do you have East Valley restaurants news? Send it to  jharter at evtrib.com.

Michael Ewing looks out over Dave & Buster’s 50,000-square-foot layout — the full-service restaurant, two square bars, two private dining rooms, billiards room, three meeting rooms, 33 high-definition televisions and 140 state-of-the-art gaming stations — and points out the obvious.

“All this is set up like a Vegas casino,” says the general manager of the Dallas-based chain’s first Arizona location, which opens today at Tempe Marketplace. “If you’ve never been to a Dave & Buster’s, you really don’t have any idea what to expect.”

The slightly upscale, warehouse-sized venue, which can accommodate up to 2,500 people, targets a 21- to 34-year-old crowd with a motto of “Eat, Drink, Play.” And the emphasis is clearly on the third option.

The centerpiece of Dave & Buster’s is its signature Million Dollar Midway, a cavernous arena where battles are waged on the latest high-tech electronic games and simulators, such as race cars featuring 39-inch monitors and six-speaker surround sound.

The arcade’s popular Derby Owners Club, a role-playing game in which players train and race thoroughbred horses, stores data on special cards, which players can race again on future visits. Some succesful owners even sell their prize-winning “horses” on eBay. For those less digitally inclined, there are updated versions of such “old school” games as basketball shooting and skeeball.

Much like Las Vegas, cocktail waitresses are assigned to walk around each area of the arcade section to provide players — whom Dave &Buster’s 280 employees refer to as “guests” — with food and drink. If you can’t wait, all games feature buttons that immediately summon a server. Games reward players with tickets — the higher the score, the more tickets come out — which, in yet another nod to Vegas, are collected in plastic cups and redeemed at the Winner’s Circle, a tickets-only store where prizes range from stuffed animals and action figures for children to iPods, mountain bikes and jewelry for adults.

“Although we’re geared to adults, we’re very family-friendly,” says special events coordinator Jennifer Castro, noting that visitors younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who’s at least 25.

Dave & Buster’s also is very corporate-friendly, offering several team building programs built around games and activities. Its three meeting rooms, ranging in capacity from 50 people to 178, are expected to play host to as many as 50 businesses or groups each week. “At a typical Dave & Buster’s, up to 30 percent of our business comes from these room rentals,” Castro says. “We have very competitive pricing. You can come to Dave & Buster’s and do a team-building event for the same price as a boring hotel.”

Dave & Buster’s dining room, separated from the rest of the venue by a waist-high brick wall, boasts a contemporary American menu of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, pasta dishes, seafood, steaks, ribs and desserts. The bars offer happy hour specials — half-priced well drinks and select menu items — from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays, as well as a reverse happy hour from 10 p.m. to midnight.

Dave & Buster’s has 52 locations nationwide. The chain recently purchased several Jillian’s restaurants, including one in north Scottsdale, that are being converted into Dave & Buster’s.

DAVE & BUSTER’S

Where: 2000 E. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe (in Tempe Marketplace, southwest of intersection of 101 and 202 freeways)

Open: 11:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday (open at 10 a.m. Sunday during NFL season)

Prices: Admission is free. Games require special rechargeable cards, which can be purchased separately or as part of meal packages.

Info: (480) 281-8456

“The winner is … Chef Tarbell!”

With those words from “Iron Chef America” chairman Mark Dacascos, Valley restauranteur Mark Tarbell was hoisted into the air by assistant Jim Gallen to celebrate a victory over “Iron Chef” Cat Cora on the popular Food Network show Sunday night.

“You can’t imagine the adrenalin,” Tarbell says. “Jim picked me up and shook me like a rag doll.” Tarbell beat acclaimed San Francisco chef Cora by creating five dishes using the show’s secret ingredient — apples — in just 60 minutes.

While Cora is famous for her Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, Tarbell used Southwest touches in his winning dishes, which were: a camomile-infused apple broth, paired with apple Navajo fry bread drizzled with mesquite honey; celery root and apple soup, topped with a large cheddar crisp; pan-seared scallops wrapped in apple tamales and accompanied with a toasted pumpkin seed relish and an apple-papaya salsa; double-cut pork chops with apple cornbread; and a trio of miniature caramel, chocolate and candy apples for dessert.

“Fruit plays well with Southwest flavors,” says Tarbell, 44, owner of Tarbell’s on the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix. “But apples are acidic, so you have to be careful.”

Three celebrities — hip-hop artist Bonecrusher, PR guru Karine Bakhoum and author Jeffrey Steingarten — brought decidedly unprofessional palates to the judges’ table. “What I like about (the judging process) is it’s so off the wall,” Tarbell says. “Your dish has to win on many levels.”

Judges could award each chef up to 20 points for taste, 10 for plating and 10 for originality. Tarbell edged Cora by a point, 13-12, in plating, but Cora narrowly won originality, 14-13. The difference came in taste, where Tarbell had a match-deciding 24-18 advantage. “It’s great to have a nice plate and creativity, but taste is what ultimately matters,” says Tarbell, who watched Sunday’s show at his Phoenix restaurant, where a private viewing party raised nearly $20,000 for several Valley charities.

As for his opponent, Tarbell says Cora can come off as a little cold on TV, but is just the opposite. “I think she’s a first-class lady and an excellent chef,” he says.

Sunday’s episode was filmed in secrecy last October. Tarbell had to sign a contract agreeing not to reveal the outcome or any details to anyone — even his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s first child, Elizabeth, two weeks ago — for the past 10 months.

He and his assistants also aren’t allowed to identify the location of the show’s famed Kitchen Stadium, or even what city it’s in, but Tarbell did reveal the episode was taped in one afternoon. He also says the competition happened exactly as it appeared on TV. The 60-minute clock started as soon as the ingredient was unveiled. There were no timeouts or breaks, and the judging took place immediately afterward.

As for what his victory might do to boost the popularity of his 12-year-old Valley restaurant, Tarbell is cautiously optimistic. “Everyone says it can, and we’re excited about that,” he says. “But we consider ourselves a neighborhood restaurant, and we’re gonna look out for our neighborhood customers first.”

Asked what he’s learned from the experience, Tarbell doesn’t hesitate. “I’ve always kinda competed with myself, but never in team sports,” he says. “So for me it was a great experience to put a team together and go into battle. � It made us all better, and that makes Tarbell’s better.”

Those who love Mexican food know there’s a wide range of Mexican restaurants in the East Valley. On one end of the scale, you’ve got the so-called “gringo” places, where the Mexican cuisine is about as authentic as the chimichanga. On the other end of the scale are places like Taqueria Cajeme, which shares a well-worn block building with a dulceria (candy store) on the northwest corner of University and Mesa drives in Mesa.

Taking its name from the owners’ hometown in south-central Sonora, near the Gulf of California, Taqueria Cajeme offers the type of genuine dishes you’d find in a Mexican coastal town. Seafood — including shrimp, tilapia, stingray, octupus, snails and oysters — dominate the menu, but there’s also such fare as goat soup, pork rinds and beef head.

I’d been tipped off by a couple people that the food is delicious, so I decide to check it out for myself. I’d also been told that the staff doesn’t speak any English, so I bring along a couple friends who speak Spanish.

We get off to a inauspicious start. As we enter the restaurant, we’re struck by unpleasant odor emanating from either the restrooms or kitchen — we can’t tell which. We almost decide to bail, but once we take a padded booth in the mural-decorated dining area, the odor is gone (or at least out of range). And in this case, it proves to be worth sticking it out.

One of my friends orders the shrimp culichi ($10.99), a bowl of meaty shrimp swimming in a delicious tomatillo-cheese sauce that generates a little heat. It comes with beans, fried potatoes and several corn tortillas that are used to sop up every last drop of the savory sauce. My other friend tries the shredded beef and potato tostadas ($5.99), a pair of flour tortillas topped with well-seasoned beef, vegetables and grated Cotija cheese that have us raving. Rice and beans come on the side. I opt for the marinated pork burro ($4.50), a large tortilla stuffed with meat, rice, beans, onions and a just a little cheese. The small pieces of pork are a bit chewy, but tasty.

Taqueria Cajeme’s beverages are just as authentic as the food. One of my friends enjoys a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola (made with corn syrup instead of cane sugar), while the other has a tamarind-flavored soda. I go with a refreshing Jamaica agua fresca. Our dessert selections are limited to house flan and strawberries with creme. We decide to share the former ($3.50), which is adequate.

Some people undoubtedly will be put off by the language barrier and Taqueria Cajeme’s unpolished ambiance. For the adventurous, though, it’s well worth the trip.

TAQUERIA CAJEME

Where: 356 E. University Drive, Mesa (northwest corner of University and Mesa drives)

Hours: 8 a.m. to midnight daily. Closed Wednesdays.

Prices: Seafood combinations $9.95-$12.99, seafood cocktails $8.99-$13.99, combination plates $4.50-$8.99, tacos $1.25-$2.50, burros $2.75-$5.99.

Info: (480) 464-1470

Those who love Mexican food know there’s a wide range of Mexican restaurants in the East Valley.

On one end of the scale, you’ve got the so-called “gringo” places, where the Mexican cuisine is about as authentic as the chimichanga.

On the other end of the scale are places like Taqueria Cajeme, which shares a well-worn block building with a dulceria (candy store) on the northwest corner of University and Mesa drives in Mesa.

Taking its name from the owners’ hometown in south-central Sonora, near the Gulf of California, Taqueria Cajeme offers the type of genuine dishes you’d find in a Mexican coastal town.

Seafood — including shrimp, tilapia, stingray, octupus, snails and oysters — dominate the menu, but there’s also such fare as goat soup, pork rinds and beef head.

I’d been tipped off by a couple people that the food is delicious, so I decide to check it out for myself. I’d also been told that the staff doesn’t speak any English, so I bring along a couple friends who speak Spanish.

We get off to a inauspicious start. As we enter the restaurant, we’re struck by unpleasant odor emanating from either the restrooms or kitchen — we can’t tell which.

We almost decide to bail, but once we take a padded booth in the mural-decorated dining area, the odor is gone (or at least out of range). And in this case, it proves to be worth sticking it out.

One of my friends orders the shrimp culichi ($10.99), a bowl of meaty shrimp swimming in a delicious tomatillo-cheese sauce that generates a little heat. It comes with beans, fried potatoes and several corn tortillas that are used to sop up every last drop of the savory sauce.

My other friend tries the shredded beef and potato tostadas ($5.99), a pair of flour tortillas topped with well-seasoned beef, vegetables and grated Cotija cheese that have us raving. Rice and beans come on the side.

I opt for the marinated pork burro ($4.50), a large tortilla stuffed with meat, rice, beans, onions and a just a little cheese. The small pieces of pork are a bit chewy, but tasty.

Taqueria Cajeme’s beverages are just as authentic as the food. One of my friends enjoys a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola (made with corn syrup instead of cane sugar), while the other has a tamarind-flavored soda. I go with a refreshing Jamaica agua fresca.

Our dessert selections are limited to house flan and strawberries with crème. We decide to share the former ($3.50), which is adequate.

Some people undoubtedly will be put off by the language barrier and Taqueria Cajeme’s unpolished ambiance. For the adventurous, though, it’s well worth the trip.

Taqueria Cajeme
Where: 356 E. University Drive, Mesa (northwest corner of University and Mesa drives)
Hours: 8 a.m. to midnight daily; closed Wednesdays
Prices: Seafood combinations $9.95-$12.99, seafood cocktails $8.99-$13.99, combination plates $4.50-$8.99, tacos $1.25-$2.50, burros $2.75-$5.99.
Info: (480) 464-1470

The East Valley is blessed with an abundance of good Mexican restaurants, something I admittedly tend to take for granted after more than 20 years of dining here. Fortunately, a steady stream of friends and relatives visiting from other parts of the country constantly reminds me how good we have it when it comes to tasty tacos, burgeoning burritos and savory salsas.

And the list of options is always growing. Case in point: Cafe Rio, a Utah chain of fresh-Mex restaurants that opened its first out-of-state location in Gilbert last summer.

Inspired by the food of the Rio Grande Valley — southern New Mexico and Texas and northern Mexico — Cafe Rio’s menu is pretty basic: tacos, tostadas, enchiladas, burritos and quesadillas. But it’s the quality of the fresh ingredients that sets it apart from most other fast-casual Mexican eateries in the East Valley.

I recently decided to introduce a couple of co-workers to the festively decorated Cafe Rio on the southwest corner of Baseline and Gilbert roads. Like most fast-casual fresh-Mex places, we start by placing our orders at the beginning of the food assembly line. Unlike most such places, however, our tortillas are hand-rolled and cooked while we watch. The result? A flaky, tender tortilla that’ll make it difficult for us to eat store-bought varieties ever again.

And the stuff that goes inside our tortillas is just as fresh. The grilled steak or chicken tacos come with dark green lettuce and a choice of chunky pico de gallo or slightly less chunky salsa fresca. Sound a little dry? Think again. In fact, I order two tacos ($7.95) with just the juicy, well-seasoned meat and shredded lettuce. My “bare-bones” versions, which come with green chili rice and pinto or black beans, are moist and delicious.

The pork barbacoa burrito ($6.50) also comes with rice and beans, although it’s all rolled up inside the flour tortilla. Two chicken enchiladas ($6.95) are made with corn tortillas and a choice of red or green sauce, as well as rice and beans. The pork and chicken are good, but we all agree the beef is the standout.

We finish our meal with a couple of Cafe Rio’s freshly cooked desserts. The coconut caramel flan ($3.25) is dense and sweet. It’s topped with whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Our favorite dessert, though, is the tres leches (”three milks”) cake ($3.25). Made with evaporated, condensed and whole milk, it’s light in both texture and sweetness.

It’s easy to see how Cafe Rio has managed to establish itself in the East Valley’s crowded Mexican restaurant scene. Last November, they even opened another location in Ahwatukee. As my Mexican-craving, out-of-state friends would say, the rich just keep getting richer.

CAFE RIO

Where: 1939 E. Baseline Road, Gilbert (southwest corner of Baseline and Gilbert roads)

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday

Prices: Burritos $5.50-$6.95, enchiladas $4.95-$7.95, tacos $4.95-$8.95, salads $6.25-$7.95, desserts $3.25

Info: (480) 751-2000 or caferio.com