Mexican & Thai food recs in Lexington KY

[sgcaver24]

Hey all,
I just moved from Memphis, TN to Lexington, KY and am looking for some good authentic Mexican & Thai food recommendations. Thanks!

[StevenFro]

Our favorite Mexican restaurant is Clamato's on Versailles Rd, just west of Alexandria. They specialize in seafood, and so have a more varied menu than the standard Tex-Mex.
The best Thai restaurant is probably Planet Thai on Nicholasville, but that's more a statement of the sad state of affairs of Thai food in this town.
If you're looking for spicy ethnic food, your best best is Panda Cuisine. Now that Chef Tong Xu is back they have a nice selection of (authentic?) Sichuan dishes.

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Planet Thai
2417 Nicholasville Rd, Lexington, KY 40503

Clamatos
2304 Versailles Rd, Lexington, KY 40504

[chileheadmike]

My daughter an I ate at Planet Thai about 6 weeks ago. It was OK, but we weren't very impressed. I had a noodle soup and the broth was cloudy and dull. Not very flavorful. It was hot soup with noodles on a cold night, which is always good, but this could have been much better.

I've driven past Clamato's a few times, I'll have to stop in there and check it out.

Panda Cuisine sounds good as well. I'm always up for a spice fix.

Thanks.

On the Mexican front, I've tried Casa de Margarita's a few times. That's beee hit or miss. And the place is always nearly empty for lunch. I usally get the carnitas, they've ranged from very good to meh.

I've hit Gran Tako as well. I had a nice torta with a shrimp tostada on the side. The bread was a little stale, which is unfortunate because the sandwich was great otherwise. The shrimp tostata was first rate. Very fresh and tasty. I highly recommend it. I need to go back and sample their tacos. They had an al Pastor set up outside on the sidewalk last time I was there.

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Planet Thai
2417 Nicholasville Rd, Lexington, KY 40503

Clamatos
2304 Versailles Rd, Lexington, KY 40504

[cheezsandwich]

Jalapeno's, Mexicano Rincon, and Mi Pequena Hacienda are my favorites for Mexican food. @Chileheadmike, which Jalapeno's did you go to? The one on S. Broadway and Virginia is usually very clean. I must admit that my taste for Mexican food is more on the Tex-Mex side than actual authentic Mexican, though Jalapeno's does make a pretty good mole.

Regarding Thai food, Planet Thai and Bangkok House are probably the best, though I haven't been to either in a few years. I used to like My Thai, though they were closed down thanks to the UK hospital expansion. Good luck!

http://www.cheesesandwich.org

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Bangkok House
275 Avenue of Champions, Lexington, KY 40508

Planet Thai
2417 Nicholasville Rd, Lexington, KY 40503

Mi Pequena Hacienda
3501 Lansdowne Dr, Lexington, KY 40517

[chileheadmike]

I went to the one on New Circle. I've been back, and it didn't seem as dirty as it did my first visit. The first time I ate there the walls were covered in salsa and the tables were sticky. Not so on subsequent visits. Each time I've had the same pork stewed in red chile, and its been good.

I really need to try your Thai recommendations. I could use a chile hit. Also, Pho sounds good about now if you know of any Vietnamese places.

[StevenFro]

Pho BC is the best Vietnamese in town. They're located on Lowery just west of Nicholasville Rd, across from the Kroger.

[dcotter]

Alexandria Dr. just north of Versailles Rd. has a good selection of taquerias, panaderias, and Mexican groceries. I'd especially recommend Tortilleria and Taqueria Ramirez (in the first block north of Versailles). They make fresh tortillas in the store, so it's noisy with the grinding sound of the tortilla press, but the tacos are really good and the menu is pretty extensive. They serve menudo on Saturdays, too, I think.

As far as Thai food goes, I'd recommend the Bangkok House, on Euclid and Rose, underneath the Baskin Robbins. It's a favorite with the UK crowd, and for good reason: the food is really tasty and relatively cheap (~$10 / person). They won an award for best Thai food in the Midwestern region a few years back, if I'm remembering correctly (I know Kentucky isn't the midwest, but I guess it's close enough to be considered for the award).

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Bangkok House
275 Avenue of Champions, Lexington, KY 40508

[sgcaver24]

Thanks dcotter for the recs. We'll check them out.

[chileheadmike]

I just moved here from Kansas City and I have been searching out good Mexican as well.
I'm still searching but there are some bright spots.

I cannot remember the name of this place, but its on Southland at about Regency Its in an "L" shaped strip mall that looks mostly vacant. Their tacos were the authentic Mexican street food variety. Two soft, grilled corn tortillas stuffed with meat, onion and cilantro. Its not as good as the best KC places but pretty good.

El Chico, I'm not a fan of this place. Service was just weird, unfriendly, haphazard, and just not good. The menu is mostly bad, lots of queso covered burritos/chimis , and fajitas. I had the brisket tacos and they were very good. Good enough to go back.

Jalapenos. I had pork stewed in red chile sauce, rice, beans and corn tortillas. Pork was tender and the sauce was flavorful. This place was dirty, really dirty. I love the hole in the wall joints in questionable parts of town, but they're immaculate compared to this. Good food, eat at your own risk.

El Mariachi. Steer clear. Suburban crappy Mexican that aspires to On The Boarder. Total crap. I actually started a thread on my favorite sports board that "Bad Mexican Food Makes Me Sad."

Anyway, I'm still looking. Let me know if you find anything..

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El Chico
3010 Lakecrest Cir, Lexington, KY 40513

[sgcaver24]

Thanks for the info Chileheadmike. We tried the Mi Mexico place at the corner of Man O War and Richmond road and it was really good. I had the Hawaiian fajitas with pineapple, chicken and shrimp and another person had the Steak Relleno which he really loved. The Margartias are good too. Service is fast and price is good too. We will definately return.

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Mi Mexico
818 E New Circle Rd, Lexington, KY 40505

Mi Mexico
440 Connector Rd, Georgetown, KY 40324

[scrumptiouschef]

http://calendar.kentucky.com/lexingto...

La Favorita could open up out here in Austin and make good money.

I used to ship a crate of Mexican groceries from Texas to my parent's house to cook for my family on holidays and such.

No longer necessary with La Favorita holding court. In addition to the grocery store they have a respectable taqueria with all the requisite meats that are tipico.

I procured a couple big pork shoulders from them last summer. They have a well stocked, inexpensive carneceria with plenty options.

If you like Mexican coke, big avocados, tomatillas, Giant green onions and good tortillas then this is a really good market.

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La Favorita
1829 Alexandria Dr, Lexington, KY 40504

[chileheadmike]

Thanks for the info. All of the Pork that I have seen at our local Kroger's has been "enhanced" with saltwater. Blech, like I'm going to use my good rub and throw that garbage on my good smoker. I refuse to buy it, and pay that much money for saltwater. Oops, sorry to rant, pet peeve.

A good caneceria is welcome.

Thanks again.

[sgcaver24]

thanks scrumptiouschef. Sounds great.

[StevenFro]

If you're ordering prepared food there, what do you get? There are a bunch of small taquerias that have opened in town; I'd love to see a knowledgable review of them.