(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Fiesta Mexicana is under new ownership. Or rather, “new” might be going a bit far, so “new to us” might be more of an appropriate way of putting it.

So what has changed? Preciously little, quite honestly, though one could somewhat reasonably argue that Fiesta Mexicana has gone from “eye gougingly horrible” to merely “eye gougingly awful”.

An improvement is an improvement though, so let's be positive here. The salsa, while still of grocery store caliber, actually had a bit of a kick to it. Did they add a drop of Frank's Hot Sauce into it? I don't know, but it seems possible, and I'd be OK with that.

Full of something almost akin to hope, I gave the pollo con crema a shot, and that's where it all truly fell apart. Again. Old Fiesta Mexicana style fell apart.

Maybe it's just me, but I am not sure dumping what I can only assume was a can of mushroom soup onto chicken can be considered a “house special”. The rice... Well, it was rice without anything really going for it. The refried beans tasted like something you'd get from a can.

I should probably interlude here and say I doubt any of this actually came from a can. It just tasted like it did, and in the end it really doesn't matter much if it was homemade or not. What matters is the flavor, and, well... No point repeating myself (again) about that.

Fiesta Mexicana still reeks of a holdover from Spokane's darker eras of dining. It simply is not good. At all.

Then again, you probably already knew that.

Water bottles, how exciting can they actually be? The answer is not very, yet there are certain manufacturers who put that extra care into their products, making something that's just a little bit different, and a little more usable. A little greener even.

Liberty Bottleworks is based in Union Gap, which while not quite local, at least puts them in the 509 area code. Location aside, their products hit all the aforementioned criteria, while also being very well designed.

For some, the recycled material might be the top selling point. Liberty's bottles are the only American made bottles that are produced fully using recycled materials. You can even go the other direction and fully recycle the bottle, which is cool.

For others -- including us -- the design is really what got us hooked in. The lid only requires a quarter twist to be secured, and by secured we mean secured. This thing sits tighter on the bottle than your conventional twist-on lid ever has. Plus, the click when it locks is ultra satisfying.

The graphic designs, too, are pretty cool. There is a good selection to pick from, all made by different artists, and you can also customize your own designs. 

The ease of use makes the bottle a winner with us, and the green part is a definite bonus. In fact, check out their site; it has a lot of information about the production and what not. 

You can find Liberty's bottles all over town, from REI to Ace Hardware. Check them out, they're pretty awesome.

I can only assume Hogan's is somewhat of a Spokane institution. I say “assume” as it has been around for as long as I can remember and it always looks crowded. Yet I've never heard anyone actually talk about the spot. That's usually a bad sign.

So let's begin at the end -- Hogan's is downright awful. Horrible. I can only assume people go there for the Back to the Future-esque interiors, in the same sense they visit Applebee's for its “fun” ambiance.

I mean, that has to be it. No way would anyone go there for the food.

The huevos rancheros is a good example of what to expect. Even now I'm still unsure what the thought behind this dish actually was, but I'm guessing they went fusion, mixing nachos and lasagna into one unholy creature dubbed “huevos rancheros”.

Yes. Lasagna and nachos. I kid you not.

“What does this monstrosity look like?” you might ask. In all its glory you get tortilla chips; black beans; I assume there was an egg in there; something that might have been salsa, but tasted more like marinara; and a pound of cheese which I'm fairly sure was mozzarella.

Again: lasagna meets nachos. Are any of the aforementioned ingredients even found in a traditional-ish huevos rancheros? The egg and the black beans, I suppose, but marinara and mozzarella? That is coloring a bit too far outside the lines.

Yet, even with all of those oddities, I could have forgiven everything (or at least somethings) had the dish actually had any sort of flavor. It didn't. The whole thing was as flavorful as anything I can remember eating, sans possibly a childhood attempt at chewing cardboard.

In short, this was the worst meal I have had in years.

I could, of course,  go on to the eggs benedict -- sauce from a package and all -- but what's the point? It was just awful. Grotesque.

Yet Hogan's Diner will continue to thrive, right there up next to Trader Joe's. That's fine. It apparently has its place.

We, however, will not be back. Not with the gourmet wonders of McDonald's shining a bright light right next door.

The whole pumpkin beer thing rarely does much for me and, really, apparently not for anyone else either. In a sense it's somewhat strange; most of us like pumpkin, and most of us like beer. The combination should work, but it rarely does.

The biggest problem, to me at least, are the artificial flavors. Rarely does the beer actually taste like pumpkin. Instead you get some odd, artificial tasting spice-like flavor that tend to lean toward the unpleasant side of the coin. Only a few breweries manage to hone in on a true pumpkin flavor, with Dogfish Head's Punkin being the best example of how it should be done.

So how about Uinta and their Punk'n?

It's not far from the mark as far as the pumpkin goes. In fact, the pumpkin does not have an artificial bend to it: this actually both smells and tastes like pumpkin.

That's all well and good, but that's also where Punk'n jumps off the Tasty Train. The beer screams Utah, all the way down to the Utahan 4% ABV. I don't have any issues with low ABV beers, but Punk'n really does not benefit from it, nor do I think most pumpkin ales do.

The issue goes all the way down to the mouthfeel which is really, really thin. Think carbonated water, something which makes the overall experience downright unpleasant. Water with pumpkin flavor is not too awesome.

Your best bet is to drink the beer at a very cold temperature. This might not do the flavor much of a favor, but at least it makes for a refreshing drink.

We wouldn't recommend Punk'n then. Grab a four-pack of Punkin, and you'll be much happier.