Restaurant of the Week: Casa Blancas

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This week’s restaurant: Casa Blancas Mexican Food, 300 S. Indian Hill Blvd., Claremont.

You may know Casablanca, the Mediterranean restaurant in the Claremont Packing House. But do you know Casa Blancas, the Mexican restaurant three blocks south at Arrow Highway?

I stopped in there two weeks ago for dinner before seeing a movie at the Laemmle. That was “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” the Romanian abortion flick that, while worth seeing, was such a downer it may qualify as the feel-bad movie of the year.

Casa Blancas was previously a Green Burrito, with a couple of iterations in between. Thus, my expectations were low. The interior, however, had a lot of colorful tile, and the menu seemed promising.

At the counter, I ordered two grilled shrimp tacos and a Jarritos soda ($7.56 with tax). The salsa bar had been converted into a trough of ice filled with bottled Mexican sodas, not only Jarritos but Mexican Cokes. Nice, although too bad it’s not a salsa bar. The tacos were the smallish, real kind, served on corn tortillas and loaded with cabbage. They were quite tasty. The soda proved a good pairing.

Casa Blancas was a pleasant surprise, likely the most authentic Mexican restaurant in Claremont (not that there’s a lot of competition, granted). It’s a good place for a quick, cheap bite in an often-pricey town.

And if you’re curious, I did try two new-to-me restaurants this week: La Verne Pizza Co., where I had an adequate if unexciting pepperoni slice and salad, and Rok the Wok in Upland, where I had a below-average chicken teriyaki bowl. I’d rather highlight a worthwhile place, even if it’s a couple of weeks old.

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