Sunday, August 9, 2009

Chimichurri

I'm no expert in Argentinian food nor would I even know what authentic Argentinian food tastes like, but I sure know a delicious value when I sink my teeth into one.

Just like Mil Jugos (located one block uptown), Chimichurri is the embodiment of every delicious dream I had hoped my local Santa Ana would be when making the move to this city over three years ago.

In short, I moved to Santa Ana for fantastic hole-in-the-wall restaurants like this one.

The name Chimichurri comes from the green Argentinian meat sauce which is usually made from chopped parsley, minced garlic, vegetable oil or olive oil, white or red vinegar, and red pepper flakes, though there isn’t a definitive recipe from my research.

The decor of the restaurant is warm and festive, as is the man of the house who heads this family-run business. Diego, a soft-spoken Argentinian gentleman will graciously welcome you into his restaurant as if you were stepping foot into his own home–warmly referring to new customers as "friends" while addressing returning ones by their first name.

The menu is simple, yet ample with both Argentinian and Mexican items available for dine-in or to-go orders.

I decided to try the Choripanes sandwich; an Argentinian sausage snuggled nicely between two slices of Italian sandwich bread topped with cheese, lettuce and tomato.

At $4.50, this well-priced sandwich could easily fetch a steeper price if the City viewed Santa Ana's downtown as more than just a place to pay your parking tickets (or accrue new ones) and appear for jury duty.

Mrs. Dayhoe, the rebel that she is, ordered from the Mexican side of the menu choosing a $6 Torta Cubana consisting of ham, white cheese, breaded steak & marinated steak.

Flavor-wise, this sandwich was on a much milder level than the Choripanes, but was still very hearty.


The empanadas are golden, flakey and rich, as flavors are taken to a whole-nutha-level when topped with the house Chimichurri sauce. The pollo empanadas were quite tasty, but the carne ones were the pièce de résistance when topped with the house sauce.

And at a buck-fifty a pop, these empanadas are a terrific value, as you’ll soon find out how deceptively filling they truly are.

Chimichurri is located at 306 W. 4th street (Santa Ana’s someday Restaurant Row) and is open from 9AM-7PM Monday through Saturday.

*Update: Check out a real food critic's review of this place*

7 comments :

bromance said...

Ben Dayhoe Lives! Thanks for the review & post!

Unknown said...

OK, you and Mrs. Dahoe need to take us there

Gustavo Arellano said...

Link to my damn review of the place! Welcome back!

Unknown said...

Yummy...thanks for the review, I'm going.

Ben Dayhoe said...

Thanks everyone, it's good to be back–needed to take a break for a bit.

Ryan,
Let us know when you want to go back.

Gustavo,
Where is your review? The only article I remember is this one.

Johnny,
Looking forward to your comments :)

Ben Dayhoe said...

Gustavo,
Mrs. Dayhoe found it for me-added :)

Anonymous said...

OMG :) i FOLLOW UR BLOG ALLL THE TIME. POST MORE OFTEN PLZ!HEHEHE BUT I HAD TO GO TRY THIS PLACE OUT. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! THE OWNER IS SUPER FRIENDLY, HE EVEN SHOOK OUR HAND! IT FELT LIKE WE WERE IN HIS HOME GRABBING DINNER! YUMMMMMY! SPREAD THE WORD! I MISSED THIS PLACE TWO SEPERATE DAYS ON THE 3RD I WAS DETERMINED TO FIND IT AND IM SOOO GLAD I DID! 1ST TIME TRYING FOOD FROM ARGENTINA I MUST SAY IM HOOOKED.