Once upon a time, downtown Tempe’s Mill Avenue wasn’t over-run with million-dollar condos and overpriced chain restaurants. You actually could park for free on the street, get a good meal for less than $10 and listen to the best bands in Arizona while drinking $2 beers.

Over the past two decades, though, most of the legendary Mill Avenue hangouts — Long Wong’s, 6 East, Edcel’s Attic, Chuy’s — have faded away, replaced by soul-less corporate entities that today dominate the Valley’s most famous strip of pavement.

One of the last vestiges of what once made Mill great is Restaurant Mexico, a no-frills café that’s been serving good but inexpensive tacos, enchiladas and beans for more than 30 years.

Riding out the commercial seachanges on Mill hasn’t been easy. The tiny restaurant has been tossed about — occupying four different locations on or just off Mill — finally settling in to its present digs on Mill just north of Fifth Street a little over a year ago.

Like its previous homes, its present-day space is anything but fancy. The storefront windows allow in light on a few booths up front, but two rows of plain tables with Mexican-style wood chairs stretch into the cool darkness of the deep, hallway-like interior.

The layout fosters an atmosphere that’s a little less bustling, a little more private, than the previous location just around the corner on University Drive. One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the menu. And, for the most part, the prices. Almost everything on the menu is less than $10, in some cases a lot less.

The taco suave dinner (pictured above), for example, has been one of my go-to cheap lunches for at least 10 years. The flour tortilla stuffed with seasoned pork comes with rice and refried beans for just $4.95, which I think is the same price I paid the first time I had it.

The two-enchilada dinner ($5.85, pictured at left), which also comes with rice and beans, offers a choice of the restaurant’s two sauces. I prefer the green tomatillo sauce over the dark red sauce. The former is light and more flavorful, the latter thick and slightly sweet.

Restaurant Mexico’s food is similar to the Sonoran fare popular in the Valley, but influenced more by central Mexico. Most dishes are lightly sprinkled with crumbles of white cheese instead of globs of cheddar. Refried beans are a bit runnier, but tasty.

The biggest difference you’ll encounter is in the quesadillas ($2.55, pictured below), which are “Mexico City style.” Made with corn dough called masa, they’re like deep-fried turnovers filled with chorizo (sausage) or picadillo (ground beef). A bit heavy but delicious.

Drink options include margaritas and severals kinds of Mexican beer, but my favorite beverage at Restaurant Mexico is the non-alcoholic horchata ($2.55), a milk-like drink made with rice and flavored with a touch of cinnamon.

Just a sip always brings back memories of the Mill that was.

Restaurant Mexico
Where: 423 S. Mill Avenue, Tempe
Open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Prices: Tacos $2.60, burros $4.05-$6.75, enchiladas $2.55-$2.95, combination plates $4.95-$8.75, steak dinners $9.95-$10.75, dessert $3.25.
Info: (480) 967-3280.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Restaurant Mexico, Tempe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.