Cuzamil Restaurant, in Squirrel Hill, may not look like much.  It's taken over the location formerly occupied by Casa Mi Mexico, but the transition isn't quite complete.  The sign outside is a tacky white computer-printed banner, the chairs and tables are plain, and the walls lack decorations.  Air conditioner wires are hanging all over the place.

It's not pretty.

Often the worst-looking restaurants have the best food, call it the "hole in the wall" factor, so my friends and I decided to try it out.  We figured we might have found the next big thing, and after I tried my chiles rellenos, I was pretty sure we had. 

Unfortunately, I would later be proven wrong. 

Ordinarily, chiles rellenos (stuffed peppers for you Anglophones) don't do much for me.  A lot of places toss some rice, beef, and cheese inside a bell pepper, cook it a bit, and call it a day.  I've even tried to make them myself, without much luck.  The chiles rellenos here, though, were made with spicy poblano peppers and the fillings were savory and delicious.

When I got back from dinner, I was about to write up a glowing review and fortunately decided to wait. A few weeks later I decided to take my dad there to dinner.  This time, I tried a combination including a burrito and another one of those chiles rellenos.  The chile was still pretty good, but the burrito was over-salted, drowning in cheese, and not at all tasty.  My dad was not too thrilled with his food either.

To further compound the problem, the food seems overpriced.  All of the dishes fall around the $11-14 range, which can bring the total with tip into the $15-20 range.  When I can go to Veracruz, Chipotle, or Qdoba in Oakland and get a tastier burrito for a third of that, I feel cheated.  La Fiesta (also in Oakland) has similar prices, but at least they run half price food after 11:00 pm.  And Mad Mex is still my go-to choice for pretty good Mexican (or at least Mexican-inspired) grub.

So if you're in Squirrel Hill and you absolutely have to have some Mexican, give the chiles rellenos at Cuzamil a shot.  Otherwise, wait until 11 and go to Oakland.

Details:
Cuzamil
Cuisine: Mexican
Price range for one entrée: $11-14
Location: 2109 Murray Avenue

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