CLOSED: Coyote’s joins ranks of area Mexican establishments
A chicken and steak fajita sits on display Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, at Coyote's Mexican Restaurant in Orem, Utah. The dish comes with rice and beans, despite not being pictured here. JORDAN STEAD / Daily Herald
An steak burrito with green sauce sits on display Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, at Coyote's Mexican Restaurant in Orem, Utah. Red sauce is also available for the dish. JORDAN STEAD / Daily Herald
Coyote's Carbonada sits on display Monday, Feb. 6, 2012, at Coyote's Mexican Restaurant in Orem, Utah. JORDAN STEAD / Daily Herald
Utah County diners can find themselves on a bit of a slippery slope when it comes to picking a favorite Mexican restaurant.
Local Mexican dining options abound and run the gamut when it comes to price, quality, ambiance and overall scope.
The howl you might have heard emanating from north Orem recently could be coming from one of the area’s newest establishments, Coyote’s Mexican Restaurant, which opened Dec. 3.
We visited Coyote’s on a relatively quiet weeknight. Patrons choose their own tables in the small- to medium-sized dining room — which featured seating for just over 50 people. The decor was simple, with subdued colors and a few generic photos on the wall.
The complimentary chips and salsa were delicious and quickly devoured by our group of four, paving the way for a second helping. We placed our orders with the friendly server, who explained some of the menu items for us, and then awaited our food. Our server was pulling double duty on this night, taking all orders and manning the register to boot.
In odd fashion, our orders all arrived separately — with several minutes in between each one. My order of grilled steak fajitas came first, and not wanting to chow down before the rest of our group received their food, I patiently waited. A few minutes later, the second plate arrived, and the same thing happened with the final two orders. They arrived one by one with a delay between each one.
The fajitas, when we could finally sample them, were very tasty. The grilled steak mixture also came with yellow, red and green peppers, and onions. Additional add-ins included lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream. The meal came with two flour tortillas, but a third would have been perfect as there was easily enough meat mixture to fill an additional tortilla.
The Asada (or Steak) Burrito was certainly large, and stuffed with lots of small pieces of meat, rice and beans, and came with lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream. It was topped with green sauce and melted cheese.
The Chimichanga was similarly large and filled with lettuce, rice, beans and grilled chicken. It came topped with sour cream and, interestingly, Parmesan cheese. The sides of refried beans also were topped with Parmesan, which were a unique twist.
We also sampled the Chicken Enchiladas, which were topped with a red sauce that had a very different taste than we expected — almost like the tomato sauce one would find in SpaghettiOs or something similar.
For a drink, we tried Horchata, which featured a combination of rice milk, sugar and cinnamon. It was delicious.
Like many Mexican restaurants, you can get a lot of food for a good price, with entrees ranging from $5.99-$15.99. There are any number of singular menu items that are less. And if you happen to stop in on a Thursday, Coyote’s has been offering all-you-can-eat tacos for $5.99.
Coyote’s Mexican Restaurant
Where: 934 N. State St., #109
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday
Prices: Entrees $5.99-$15.99, tortas $4.99-$5.99, burritos $4.99-$6.99, combinations $7.99-$10.99, tacos $.99-$2.25
Info: (801) 410-6186
