One of our favorite cuisines is Mexican food. In fact, we had our engagement party at a favorite Mexican restaurant. That place has since closed, so we have been on the lookout for a new favorite Mexican spot. Recently, we decided to give Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant in Framingham a try. Margarita’s is a chain with 24 locations throughout the Northeast.

When we walked in at 5:30pm on a Saturday, the place was already packed, which was surprising. While we waited for a table, we had a chance to peruse the lengthy menu, which was divided into numerous sections, including appetizers, salads, vegetarian dishes, fajitas, tacos, grill and “Los Favoritos.” Needless to say, the number of menu options was overwhelming. In the end, we opted to share the appetizer of guacamole with tortilla chips. Jonah got the “Burrito Vegetariana” (aka vegetarian burrito), and Joanne ordered the shrimp fajitas.

The meal started off well, as our waiter was prompt and courteous. We were given a complimentary basket of tortilla chips with salsa, which was deliciously salty and spicy, and our drinks were brought quickly and refilled as needed. We were pleasantly surprised by the guacamole appetizer, as it tasted freshly made and authentic.

After that, the meal took a turn for the worse. While Jonah was excitedly expecting the variety of vegetables promised in his burrito, he was sorely disappointed by the lack of peppers, mushrooms, black beans, and rice, and completely overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of under-sautéed onion in and on top of the burrito. Jonah likened his experience to “pulling a raw onion straight out of the ground and eating it like an apple,” and, unfortunately, his breath smelled like onion for the rest of the weekend.

While the shrimp in Joanne’s fajitas were perfectly cooked and the presentation was impressive, she was put off by the overly-salty seasoning used on the fajita vegetables (again, an overabundance of onion) and felt like the veggies were undercooked. The fajita platter did not come out of the kitchen sizzling on a cast iron skillet like most fajita platters do; instead, the food looked like it had been sautéed and then placed on a cast iron skillet afterwards. All in all, it was a disappointing entrée.

To top it all off, the meal ended up being more than $40 for just the two of us, which seemed unreasonably high for the quality and quantity of the food. Thus, we will continue our search for our new favorite Mexican restaurant. If any of you have suggestions, we’d love to hear them!