More Trashy Mexican Food...

Is there anything better than trashy Mexican food? Sure, the French Laundry was a meal I'll never forget... and Verre was pretty darned awesome... but, more often than not, when I'm obsessively craving some specific type of food, the type of food in question is trashy Mexican food... I think this phenomenon began as a result of living in Australia for two years and thus being denied access to anything resembling the fantastic trashy Mexican food that I had developed an addiction to when I lived in Southern California. It got so bad that I would stop at the Mexican restaurant in the LAX international terminal every time I flew back to Melbourne just to get one last fix (typically the chile rellenos and a margarita) while I had the chance...

Today's venture into Portland's trashy Mexican food scene was a bit of an accident. My mom and I were out running errands when we realized it was getting to be lunch time and we decided to stop for Mexican food on the way home. The not-so-trashy place we were planning to visit is apparently only open for lunch on the weekends, so we ended up going to the nearest place we could think of, which we had just driven past on our way to the closed place: Ole Frijole (located in the old Mr. Burger building on Killingsworth).
We ended up ordering a few things to share (and, due to poor impulse control, also ended up with way more food than two people could reasonably consume). First up was the Chile Rellenos combo plate. Chile Rellenos are one of my very favorite foods, so I'm more choosy about them than I maybe should be. These were pretty good, but not the best I've had. (I strongly prefer the Super Cuca's version, and actually sort of prefer the LAX version...)
For the sake of comparison amongst restaurants (while Stanley is a Chimichanga man, I'm a Carnitas Combo Plate chick) we also ordered a Carnitas combo. This dish (and this whole meal overall, actually) was much less greasy than what I'd tried with Max and Midge at La Sirenita, but the carnitas was a bit dry and not as flavorful as the La Sirenita version (I'm hoping that's not just because it was less greasy...).
Because we are crazy people, we also ordered a couple tacos just to get an idea of the different meat options. My mom went with a carne asada hard taco (below, left) and I tried the chorizo soft taco (below, right). The carne asada was reportedly pretty good, and improved with the addition of hot sauce. I liked the chorizo taco much better than the ones I've tried at La Super Rica (in Santa Barbara), again, in large part, because it was so much less greasy. I was definitely a fan of the chorizo taco...
In summary, this isn't necessarily going to be the winner in the Emily's Favorite Trashy Mexican Food in Portland category, but I think I would try it again for two reasons. First, it's possible they were just having an off day on the carnitas. If they're not typically this dry, I think I would be a big fan of the Ole Frijole carnitas combo (given the lack of greasiness and the fact that I liked the tortillas and the general construction of the plate). Second, as I was leaving I saw somebody's Chimichanga order come up. That thing looked crazy. I may have to use the Stanley standard for further evaluation before I form my final opinion...