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Original Monterey Jack's Cafe & Cantina (Closed)
2205 W. Hefner Rd.
Oklahoma City, OK

RESTAURANT INFO. RATING TYPE FEATURES BEST ITEMS/ SPECIAL RATINGS
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Sun.
Accessible: Yes
18 Mexican
Tex-Mex
Smoking: No Smoking
Alcohol: Beer, Margaritas

Free Sopaipillas with Meals
Best Items: Spinach Enchilada, Mexican Tacos
Spinach Enchilada:
Mexican Tacos:
Green Enchilada:
Guacamole:
Rice: , Refried Beans:
Chips: , Salsa: spicy
Queso:
Flour Tortillas:
Sopaipillas:
LAST TRIED TIMES TRIED
25-Jan-07 4
In describing the numerous Oklahoma City Tex-Mex restaurants, I usually have to search for something that makes one restaurant stand out above the others. In the case of Original Monterey Jack's Cafe & Cantina I would have The Mexican Tacos are not on the  
menu, but available on request to say it has the best spinach enchiladas in the city. It also seems that competition has caused them to run specials to the point that I no longer consider it to be among the "overpriced north side" restaurants, but it has become very reasonable.

Monterey Jack's is purely Tex-Mex, with my questions about where in Mexico the food originated or if there were any "authentic" dishes not listed on the menu largely coming up empty handed. They did tell me there was one dish the cooks made for themselves and the employees, but which was available to the public as well, called Mexican Tacos. These are made with well seasoned beef on soft corn tortillas, with chicken available as well. I tried an order with both, and was impressed to the point that I really do believe people from Mexico would find these to their satisfaction.

Spinach Enchiladas, another one of my favorites here, were covered with a Tex-Mex style queso sauce which is very unauthentic if you are talking about Mexican food from south of the border, but very good if your taste buds have priority over the "correctness" of your Mexican meal. The cheese used for the sauce was flavorful, thin, and not "gloppy." Inside were some very fresh spinach leaves, and it is probably the freshness more than the flavor that makes this dish so good.

The Green Enchiladas were also a good attempt to rise above Tex-Mex mediocrity. These were covered with mild diced green chiles, and inside were green peppers and jack cheese.

Both the Refried Beans and Whole Beans were average, and I found them enjoyable. The flour tortillas were average as well.

The Sopaipillas were quite good. Again it was the freshness more than the flavor that impressed me.

The Queso was dark yellow and one of the worst I have experienced in OKC. It is free, though, so it is hard to complain about it.

A Spicy Salsa was served on request, and the green chiles made it so thick it could hardly be classified as a "sauce." I found it to be good with the chips, and even better when spread on the Mexican tacos.

The one taco dish that is available does not bring Monterey Jack's out of the realm of Tex-Mex food into authentic Mexican food, but at least some of the Tex-Mex dishes served are better than average.

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