Las Casuelas Nuevas

I have had a very long relationship with Las Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho Mirage, California. My family and I have been traveling to the Palm Springs area for holidays and weekends since the early 80's. Typically we all go to Las Casuelas Nuevas at least once a trip for the big night out. I have gone from the kids menu to the large house margarita and probably have eaten a metric ton or four of their chips.

Las Casuelas (the original) was the first Mexican restaurant to open in Palm Springs (1958). Las Casuelas Nuevas (this location) was opened in 1973 and is claimed to be the first Hacienda-styled dinner house in America. I have never been to Las Casuelas Terraza (opened in 1979) or Casuelas Cafe (1992). The restaurant is like a large house with a big open pation (where we eat on this trip) and several rooms, each with a little different ambiance.

I ordered the Fish Tacos under the "Taco Platters" and selected one grilled and one "Baja style" (fried). For $15.25, the plate includes mahi-mahi tacos fried or dusted with achiote seasoning and grilled, rice and beans. The tacos themselves are the standard double-corn tortilla affairs with the fish, and then a smoky Chipotle Cream sauce and jicama cole slaw.

My wife had the chile verde and our friends had carnitas and fish tacos. I have had the carnitas and chile verde many times and had some orderer's remorse when the food arrived. The carnitas looked positively succulent and dripped with pork fatty goodness. I told our companions about our search for the best fish taco and we spent some time comparing notes on where they felt the best came from. (Note: if I get down near Del Mar, I apparently need to try the Brig).

Both of us that had the fish tacos were disappointed. To be fair, they were fine, and when ordered with good friends, sitting outside on the patio on the front-side of a long weekend in Palm Springs and with a HUGE goblet of margaritas to wash it all down, I am not sure that they could ever be bad. But, in the search for the best fish tacos, all of those outside influences must be ignored and the fish must swim on its own.

To that end, the Chipotle Cream Sauce was pretty good, the tortillas were good and the fish itself was prepared well. It was just missing something to make it qualify as the best. What that is, I can't tell you, but they fall within the ever growing pool of forgettable fish tacos that will do the trick if you need fish tacos and aren't looking to be wowed. The ulitmate question is always "will I order them again?" The answer here is no...that doesn't mean that I won't keep coming back to one of my favorite restaurants in the Desert, it just means that I will order something else and only enjoy being there rather than deconstructing the food.

Website
Las Casuelas Nuevas
70-050 Highway 111
Rancho Mirage, California 92270
(760) 328-8844