Johnathan's Mexican & American Food

Johnathan’s Mexican & American Food
1147 150th Street
Hammond, IN 46327 MAP
(219) 933-8870
Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sunday: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Update: December 18th, 2009.

CHANGED OVER TO LA HACIENDA AZTECA.

May 28th, 2009. 12:30 p.m.

Formally Jonathan’s Pancake House, Johnathan’s has kept the breakfast and lunch menu and added Mexican food and an “h” for some reason to their name. Over half the menu is dedicated to breakfast items such as 6 varieties of pancakes, 5 varieties of french toast, 6 different waffles, 4 different crepes, 12 skillets, 14 omelets, and various other breakfast specials. Whew. On to the burrito.



Featuring a lousy fold job and filled with steak of average flavor and beans, lettuce, tomato, and cheese, the burrito at Johnathan’s was decent. Additionally, three pieces of gristle appeared throughout the burrito. There are no complimentary chips and salsa at Johnathan’s, however the tub of salsa verde was very good and had a nice balance of heat and flavor.

The breakfast menu probably attracts a fair share of regulars as well as the attached produce market. Unfortunately, a so-so burrito and lack of chips and salsa make Johnathan’s a skip for me.



Weight: 20.1 ounces
Length: 9 inches
Circumference: 10 inches
Price: $4.99 or 24.8¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 6.5/10 sombreros
Value: 7/10 sombreros

Javi's Mexican Restaurant

Javi’s Mexican Restaurant
4417 Indianapolis Boulevard
East Chicago, IN 46312 MAP
(219) 397-6618
Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

May 15th, 2009. 12:30 p.m.

Javi’s is a new Mexican restaurant on the Boulevard a couple blocks north of Chicago Avenue. Looking at their menu I found a few interesting dishes. Most notable is their house specialty “Cecina Al Molcajete” which is a flank steak prepared Jalisco style and mixed with green pepper, onion, tomatoes and covered with melted cheese and molcajete sauce. All that is served over broiled cactus strips and served in hot stone molcajete bowl. Sounds pretty good, huh?



My steak burrito didn’t quite cut it however. Although the steak was excellent and did not have a hint of fat or gristle, it was so meager in its portion that the tortilla was the overwhelming flavor and texture of the burrito. Indeed, the beans, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese were also added sparingly. In fact, I don’t even recall sour cream being present in the burrito.

The chips were very good if a little salty and the accompanying salsa verde and roja were both very good and of equal medium to hot spiciness. As you can see from the picture I devoured quite a bit of both salsas with the chips as well as for flavoring up my burrito.



Javi’s needs to add about 7-8 ounces of steak and other fillings to bring both the flavor and value of their burrito up to respectable levels. If I go back I’ll try the “Cecina Al Molcajete” for $8.95. I would imagine it would be a much better meal for $4.00 more than the steak burrito.



Weight: 10.8 ounces
Length: 6.5 inches
Circumference: 8.25 inches
Price: $4.85 or 44.9¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 7/10 sombreros
Value: 5/10 sombreros