Valley Azteca Restaurant — Restaurant in Arcata

Worst Chile Verde. I had dinner at Valley Azteca on a quiet Wednesday night in early August, about three weeks ago. My server was very pleasant, took care to see that I had water, and checked in occasionally.

The problem was the Chile Verde ($19.95). The pork chunks were disappointing at best and some were downright weird. A few were rock hard and completely inedible. I don't mean they tasted bad, I mean that I simply couldn't chew them at all. These few chunks were completely dried out, it was like chewing freeze-dried food right out of the package. I ate the rest of it though and forgot about it until I had Chile Verde last night at a different restaurant and was reminded how good it can be.

So don't order Chile Verde here, or at least be careful about it. Other than that, there was a good salad included in the dinner, and the beans and rice were ok. They had beer (but not the first two I ordered that were on the menu). Would I go back? Yes for common items, but I would try other restaurants first.

EDIT: I received the following response from the owner: "You know what? If it hurt YOU so much to pay for “the worst” meal, COME BACK AND WE'LL GIVE YOU BACK YOUR MONEY." Unfortunately this response entirely misses the point: why were the pork chunks hard and unchewable. Can you fix the problem instead of criticizing your customer who took the time to bring it to your attention? The rest of the meal was ok as I said. My original review was for three stars but I'm lowering it to two in light of this...

First time here. Pleasantly surprised. Nice warm and crispy chips served with two types of hot sauce; one mild, the other smoking hot -- both super flavorful. Wide ranging menu with numerous selections of the usual fare with some other items that one doesn't always see like posole, abondigas, menudo, lingua, and a nice seafood selection too. Staff super friendly and attentative. Bonus for being open on Sunday. Our group had carne asada and shredded beef tacos, enchiladas, and chile rellenos with rice and beans as well as abondigas soup. Everything was delicious. The only thing that was off putting on first impression was that one of the laminated menus needed a really good wipe down. But hey, maybe it was just well loved by a little kid. Definitely will be back to work through their menu and so glad we tried...

Well first of all, it's open for indoor dining, it's a family operation and in happy to help keep a great family eatery open for business during the zombie apocalypse, and they're very nice folks...

Now the food:

I can only speak authoritatively as to one dish, a big, fat, bulging burrito with a yummy red sauce that was difficult for me to actually finish.

Looking at other menu, on the wall or at your table reveals a complete repertoire of fried whole tilapia, shrimp cocktail, carnitas, lengua, and horchata or imported beer and a fantastic endless amount of salsa and chips.

Definitely worth the drive from Rio Dell or Trinidad for a wonderful dining experience.

tallship awards this exceptional restaurant:

⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵

Cinco...