Restaurant of the Month: Coyote Cantina

South Bay Events presents its pick of the month for September 2013!

Since about World War II, commercial rows of small, connected businesses & services have become permanent fixtures around the suburban landscape and why not, they’re highly functional. Strip malls offer numerous comforts like ample parking, convenient stores & eateries that cater to their neighborhood, a safe environment, and give small businesses room to grow.

One of our favorite South Bay strip mall destinations for live sporting events & frugal happy hours sits on the second level of the Redondo Shores Shopping Center at the Pitcher House Upper Deck Sports Bar. Some of the South Bay’s best ice cream is served at Handel’s Ice Cream & Yogurt, which happens to reside comfortably inside a Redondo Beach strip mall. Every community deserves a good strip mall, a diverse tequila bar decorated with high end and small batch tequila, quality margaritas, and delicious Mexican food with a twist.

Coyote Cantina is located at the southern end of strip mall plaza that sees a steady flow of street traffic from Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach, right near a PetCo store. Don't let the mundane strip-mall setting fool you, once inside, it feels like you've stepped into a cantina in the middle of Oaxaca. The food menu is amazing, with varied offerings such as the Brie and Mango Quesadilla and Turkey Jalapeno Enchiladas. Plus, with over sixty of the world's best tequilas to choose from, you'll never be bored by the vast selection.

The food menu fuses pasta dishes with Mexican accents like guagillo chile and sweet polenta while keeping an eye on American cuisine. The Turkey Jalapeno Meatloaf is outstanding and comes plated with a sizeable amount of protein covered with a Chile de Arbol sauce and a side of green colored but chlie inspired mash potatoes. It’s a comforting twist.

The house margarita mix is top notch, no generic sweet and sour flavoring behind this cantina. Try the “Condo” margarita available during happy hour Monday-Friday, 5-6:30p.m. for $4. It comes served in a pint glass, salt or no salt. There are a variety of margaritas served here, but one of the most intoxicating goes by the name of Silver Lightning Margarita. It’s made with a double shot of Herradura l00% Blue Agave Tequila with a Gran Marnier or Gran Galla floater. One should be plenty to get your night moving and appetite running.

Happy hour at the Cantina strip mall is modestly priced with $2 tacos, (beef, chicken or carnitas), $2 cheese quesadilla, $3 chicken quesadilla, $4 queso dip, 50 cent taquitos and $3 draughts and house wines. Draft beer taps consist of Dos Equis Lager, Dos Equis Amber, and Red Seal Ale by North Coast Brewing.

Coyote Cantina serves some of the best Mexican infused cuisine and house margaritas in town. Located at 531 N. Pacific Coast Highway (near Albertson's) in Redondo Beach, CA. For more info, head over to Coyote Cantina. Expect to wait in line for a table on weekend nights.