Happy Cinco de Mayo! In honor of this day, let me introduce you to Papaya Mexican Grill in Danbury, CT.
Located beside Feliz Used Auto Sales, Papaya wasn’t in an area chock full of restaurants. They offered only four reserved parking with seating inside for 14 persons. We went there for lunch, but the place was surprisingly quiet. No other customers were there yet.
I think it’s safe to call this place an eatery. It seemed like a three-person operation – one manned the register, the other one served our food, and a third one cooked the food in the kitchen.
While waiting for our food, people started coming to eat in or take out food. The earlier quiet was gone. It seemed to attract people who work nearby.
You order at the counter from the menus on boards against the wall. They also offer daily specials. On the day we went there, sopes and huarache were on the specials menu and the man at the register explained to me what those were.
Check out the cute little touches that we noticed while waiting for our food.
The fresh salsa bar. It looks so innocent, doesn’t it? But dear Lord, the green salsa was just hot. We loved it!
After they brought the food to our table, I took my pictures as quickly as I could. Hubby and my sister both ordered Combo #5, the Mexican Taco Mix ($7.59)
My sister’s food had suadero, steak and barbacoa.
Hubby’s Mexican Tacos Mix had lengua and chorizo.
I ordered their Chicken Huarache ($8.99). Despite eating Mexican food for so long, it’s a mystery that I’ve never eaten huarache before. It had sliced chicken, fried black beans, onions, white cheese, avocado and chambray onion served on a platter. Imagine my surprise when I only finished half of it. It was too big even for me!
We ate the food in silence. This was just good casual home-style Mexican food!
These were the desserts they had. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try any because we were too full.
Verdict: With food less than $10, Papaya Mexican Grill is a delicious low-cost option for those in the Danbury area who crave Mexican food. Service was attentive without fawning over us. Is it fancy? Hell no! This is a great local quick-service Mexican eatery with simple décor, low-priced and freshly made food served in generous proportions. I try not to diss fast-food chains because they do have a place in the food world, but seriously, why go to those places when you can eat fresh food from little gems like Papaya Mexican Grill while supporting local business?
Address:
Papaya Mexican Grill
54 Liberty Street Danbury, CT 06810