Critic's Review
A few years ago, Tequila Sunrise was one of only a handful of Mexican Restaurants in Eastern Fort Lauderdale. Now there are about 20, so it's easy to forget about this place in their just off the beaten path location. It's in an industrial looking strip mall; the Mexican decor isn't apparent until you get close to it.
Inside it looks pretty much like other Mexican restaurant, with lots of multi-colored stuff.
There's a room up front that's mostly taken up by the bar with a few booths, and there's another dining room that's closed until dinner time.
The first time I walked in here nobody acknowledged me and I ended up walking out. this time I sat down and a dude come over right away. I pondered the menu and he they brought over some chips and salsa.
I guess the green salsa is expensive. I don't usually eat the green stuff anyway. I hadn't had a Chile Relleno since last week, and I didn't really like it, so I ordered it again. Mexican food is all the same; cheese and/or meat wrapped in something; might as well be a poblano pepper. You can get it ala carte for $8.99 or with rice and beans for $10.99.
They cranked out some pretty good music; Neil Young, Weezer and the Avett Brothers. The servers were omnipresent and it made me a little uncomfortable. The place was dead empty; don't hang out 10 feet from your only customer.
The chips were warm and crisp and the mild red salsa was pleasant if not very tangy. The food came out in about 10 minutes.
It came out on a hot plate; fully cooked unlike the one I got last week. This is the first Chile Relleno that I can remember that had yellow cheese inside. There was a lot of cheese. The stem was removed from the Chile. Nothing great, but typical and enjoyable gooey Mexican food.
$2.75 seems like too much for an iced tea in a place like this. This place is $3 more than Tipico Cafe; no reason to trek out to this neck of the woods.