Mexicano Restaurant

Mexicano Restaurant at Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Mall

Date night. Baldwin Hills. There's a new, fancy Mexican restaurant at the Mall called Mexicano. This is the second restaurant for chefs, Jaime Martin Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu.  Their other restaurant is La Casita Mexicana in Bell. I'd been reading a lot about this new place recently and wanted to check it out.

Mexicano is located off the food court.  You enter from just outside the Mall door, across from the theaters. There's an outdoor patio and a beautifully appointed cavernous space inside. The bar is large and offers a full array of specialty cocktails. There are some dining areas off of the main dining room which would be perfect for semi-private parties.The food served at Mexicano is fine-dining-style Mexican food.  The items we're used to seeing on Mexican menus around town like tacos, enchiladas, taquitos, etc. are referred to as street-food or fast-food here.

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The menu at Mexicano is diverse.  There are dishes prepared with Oaxacan mole' sauces, ceviche and other fish dishes from the coast and more. We each ordered the freshly squeezed lemonade with chia seeds. Larry had the Cochinita Pibil, which is  a traditional Mexican slow-roasted pork dish usually marinated in citrus juices, roasted while wrapped in a banana leaf. I ordered the Chile en Nogada which is a mild Poblano chile stuffed with pork, beef, dried fruits, walnuts, candied cactus, topped with pecan cream and pomegranate seeds. Both entrees were served with the most delicious rice. 

Cochinita Pibil, served with rice and home-made tortillas

Chile en Nogada

We LOVED our meals! The service was excellent and the ambiance was lovely. We didn't feel like we were in a "mall" restaurant at all. Mexicano is a welcome addition to Post & Beam at the other end of the mall parking lot. Fine dining does exist in the other BH.