Cantina zone

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of taste. You are about to enter… the “Cantina Zone.”

We wanted to shake up our restaurant reviews and not go to the same old places that have liver and onions as one of their daily specials. Boy did we find it!!! This very eclectic venue is in the downtown Crystal Lake area with a menu that would stump Rod Serling. We are referring to Cantina 52.

The restaurant itself is handicap accessible, but keep in mind it is in the downtown area where there is street parking and a public parking lot across the street.

When walking in, there are eight tables and four booths. Their bar runs the entire length of the restaurant. There is a menacing skull atop the bar and a smiling skeleton painted on the back wall. It gets even weirder from this point on when you look at the menu.

The waitress brought over a basket of chips with salsa to munch on while we perused the menu. The chips and salsa reminded us of Frito Lays finest.

It took us a while to look over the menu. Some of the items listed are deep fried guacamole, fusion elotes made with flaming hot Cheetos, skillets made with street taco meatballs, and the ever- popular ramen burrito. Jim and I settled on an appetizer which was the Bacon Jalapeno Popper Dip ($12). This was fresh jalapenos and thick cut bacon blended in a creamy cheese dip which was baked in a cast iron skillet. We have to admit this was incredibly delicious. The jalapenos only registered about a two on Jim’s “sweat head meter.”

My keen culinary sense spotted an entrée that I thought would be perfect for Nancy and it was a spectacular deal, namely the Maine Lobster Roll. This was warmed lobster in old bay butter, topped with siracha aioli and micro greens. Just to make it interesting it could be served four ways. It could be made into a taco ($8), nachos ($13), street pizza ($17), quesadilla ($15) or a rice bowl ($13). A roll was nowhere in sight. Nancy chose the taco version on a flour tortilla and ordered two of them.

Jim’s position as King of the Moron’s is still intact. What arrived did not seem to be meat from any lobster I have ever had. Even the consistency was off putting. You just can’t get a good lobster roll for $8 anymore. Who would have thunk???

Jim saw a Walking Taco ($10). This was served with white corn chips, nacho cheese sauce, and shredded cheese. You get to pick your protein from taco beef, soyrizo, or pulled pork, and he chose the pulled pork. Then you get to pick your toppings, tomatoes, lettuce, black beans, guac, sour cream, jalapenos, street corn, and onions. He chose everything but the guac. What arrived was nothing that remotely resembled a taco. It was in a metal bucket filled with all the ingredients previously mentioned. Whatever it was, it was delicious. It was like nachos on steroids. He took half of it home for a snack.

To sum it up, this is definitely a different place. Looking at the average age of the patrons made us feel incredibly old.

The price for crossing over into the “Cantina Zone” was $44.29. Dinner with a skull watching over you, eerie…

Jim’s take: My walking taco was delicious, but I’d like to see someone walk while eating it.

Nancy’s take: My “lobster” taco was awful, but the appetizer dip was out of this world…

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.

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