Down Mexicali way

Decades ago, when people talked about Mexican food, all they could think of were chili con carne and tacos. Everything else was deemed too exotic, too hot and too spicy for mild Filipino tongues. That’s why when the Mabanta family opened their Mexicali Mexican fastfood in 1993, they weren’t really thinking of profits.

"When we opened our first taqueria at the Glorietta, we couldn’t imagine making even P5,000 a day," says Mexicali general manager Francesca "Chiqui" Mabanta. "We made a mental count of how many burritos we would have to sell, and that was less than a hundred burritos. We didn’t expect to sell that many burritos."

But the timing was right, it seemed. When Mexicali opened its Glorietta branch, it became a hit and that, more or less started the boom in Mexican food.

Nowadays, when people talk about Mexican food, they have a lot more choices than just chili con carne and tacos. They now have burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas and flautas. For a time, taco and burrito stands were competing with lechon manok and pearl shake outlets all over Metro Manila. The fuss may have died a little, but metro diners are now a bit wiser about Mexican food.

When the new Glorietta reopened in 1993, Mexicali was one of the first food outlets to open. Chiqui believes they were just so lucky.

"Since there was no competition, people were forced to try us. And I’m sure that much to their surprise, they found our food to their liking," she says.

The idea for Mexicali came from the Mabanta family’s constant travels abroad. They liked the Mexican restaurants they found in the Mission district in San Francisco.

Chiqui says those taquerias didn’t really serve authentic Mexican food, but its version of Mexican-Californian cooking. Her brother Dixie knew burritos would be a hit in Manila. After studying how to make those wrap sandwiches, he was convinced that he could also do them in Manila.

"My brother is really good with food," she says. "The recipes for all the items we sell in Mexicali were his own. He developed the taste, as well as the menu that we offer. Of course, it is not authentic Mexican food in the same way that Californian-Mexican food is not authentic Mexican food. But I think the food we serve is so much better than what you can buy in California because Filipino cooking is so much tastier than American cooking. There are a few variations to the recipes, especially in the ingredients we use, but they all use only the freshest ingredients."

And as many Mexicali fans have discovered, Mexican food isn’t hot and isn’t spicy as it is often thought to be.

"At first, people thought our items were mahal. They assumed that the restaurant was mukhang sosyal," she admits. "But once they come in and try for themselves what we offer, once they see our prices and how big our servings are, they discover that we offer value for money. Once they try it, they come back and go through the entire menu board."

None of the Mabantas had any experience in the restaurant business prior to Mexicali. Most of the Mabanta kids are involved in the family trucking business, while Chiqui worked for a travel agency. While they have kept their day jobs, after Mexicali’s success, they have gone deeper into the business. His brother owns Cafe Mediterranean, which offers Greek and Middle Eastern items, like gyros and kebabs.

Chiqui says their burritos are quite popular among on-the-go diners. At P95, you get a generous helping of your choice of filling, from roast pork to BBQ chicken, BBQ pork, ground beef, grilled vegetable, grilled steak, Baja fish and grilled shrimp, mixed with fresh salsa, refried beans, Mexican rice, cheese and sour cream, all wrapped in a large freshly-made hand-rolled flour tortilla. That’s just for the regular-sized burrito, which is served with a siding of tortilla chips and fresh salsa. A bigger and more generous helping, called the California burrito, weighing in at over a pound, will definitely satisfy even the heartiest of appetites.

That’s just for a quick meal. If you want something a little bit more formal, Mexicali also offers its new Mexicali Dinner Plates, an all-in-one rice meal. Some of the new Dinner Plate orders are the Chile Verde, a unique Mexican pork stew made with a mild green chile sauce, Carne Frita, which resembles the European schnitzel, a thin beef fillet that has been dipped in a crumb-batter and deep-fried and served with Mexican rice and the house salad. The Camarones al Mojo de Ajo combines in one plate Mexican-style shrimps, sizzling in a sauce of slow-cooked garlic cloves, spices, a hint of lime, and served with Mexican rice and a corn and red pepper salad. Mexicali Dinner Plates are priced from P95 to less than P200, a steal for those who want a gourmet dinner.

Some of the new Mexicali menu items introduced in time for the Christmas holiday are flautas, mozzarella cheese and jalapeño peppers filled in flute-shaped tortilla tubes; sopa de lima, a clear soup with chicken bits and flavored with fresh lime, cilantro and a light chile; and lentil soup.

It also has six combo packages, perfect for Christmas parties, that cost from P140 to P190 per person. Each combo comes with servings of Mexicali’s popular items.

Mexicali has branches at the second level, Pasay Mall, Glorietta, Ayala Center, Makati City; upper ground floor, SM Megamall A; and ground floor, Padre Faura Wing, Robinsons Place Ermita. For inquiries on Christmas and corporate party packages, call 894-09-87 for the Glorietta branch, 635-60-79 for SM Megamall and 400-68-69 for Robinsons Place Ermita.