Restaurant of the Week: Casa Blancas
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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A journalist for more than two decades, David Allen has been writing a column for the Daily Bulletin since 1997 and blogging since 2007.He lives in Claremont.
E-mail David here or read columns here.
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It's a good thing you didn't go to Casa Blancas after that feel bad "abortion" movie. You might not have had much of an appetite.
I've never been to Casa Blancas. I did go there once when it was Green Burrito. There was, at the time, maybe still, an Enterprise Rent-A-Car place nearby and they completely screwed up my rental arrangements. I had rented a Lincoln Mark IV and they were trying to pass me off into a damn Taurus or something.
I was pissed and told them to find me the Lincoln I rented or I'd wring their necks. I think I scared them and they found a Navy Blue Lincoln at another location.
Since I had to wait a bit, I went to the Green Burrito in sort of a bad mood. I'd never been to one before. I ordered a beef and potato burrito. The manager said they didn't have beef and potato burritos. I made a few comments such as "What kind of Mexican place is this!" Remember, I was in a crappy mood because of the Enterprise experience. Then I noticed they had french fries (a typical Mexican dish, I thought) so I asked the manager to chop up some French fries and put them in the beef burrito.
The guy told me he couldn't do it. I asked him why not? He said that they had no price for that kind of burrito. I told him to charge me whatever he wanted for the stupid potatoes, er fries, but he refused to do it. This really made my day!!!!! After giving the ignoramus both barrels, I walked up to The Danson and had Enterprise bring the car to that location.
Have it your way, at the Green Burrito in Claremont!
It went from Green Burrito and then suddenly one day it became Gran Burrito and just about everything was microwaved. The carne asada used to be so chewy you almost looked like a camel chewing cud. Needless to say the whole microwaving thing kind of caused them to go out of business and it became Casa Blancas.
Casa Blancas makes everything fresh and they also serve breakfast all day...kinda like a certain fast food chain does now. Nothing like some fresh chorizo late in an afternoon.
[Oh, right, Gran Burrito. I almost stopped in for lunch one day, saw the B in the window and returned to my car. Thanks for the info, and glad to hear you like Casa Blancas too. -- DA]
Well let me tell you the food at Casa Blancas is the best Mexican food I ever had. I tried the Casa Blanca burrito which was recommended by this pretty blonde with this large breast, the cashier, who was the owner, Blanca. Boy, she can sell anything she wants. Well anyway the burrito. She recomended this big giant burrito that I didn't know where to begin. The wait was worth it. The owner she is a 10 in my book and I will spend all my money just to eat there. Excellent service, good food, clean place. You must try their food. Say hi to Blanca. She is smoking HOT !!