Branford Restaurant Week 2013 - Jalapeno Heaven

Review

It's Branford CT's 2nd Annual Restaurant Week!

#BranfordRestaurantWeek2013 
April 14th through the 20th 2013

And although last year we were able to go to about five participating restaurants, this week was so busy that we were only able to squeeze in two!  But those two were FANTASTIC! If you'll remember, in a previous post we told you about our visit to Ballou's Wine Bar.

Moving on, for our second stop for Branford Restaurant Week 2013 was with our good friends at Jalapeno Heaven!

Saturday night we set out for Jalapeno Heaven as guests of the Flores family who have owned and operated Jalapeno Heaven since 1992.

Jalapeno Heaven is such a great place to go.  Always cozy, always fun, my favorite part of going is entering the parking lot and smelling all the good food grilling and cooking! The sign of a great restaurant!

Of course, as soon as we were seated, our good friend Ellen, who was waiting on us, brought over the customary basket of warm chips with two kinds of made on premise salsas, the traditional red salsa, and a salsa verde.

For beverages, I started with a Karma Tequila Margarita, on the rocks with salt, and I also sipped on a tiny little bit of Karma Tequila  neat, separately in a snifter, as I wanted to sample this 100% blue agave tequila on its own. It was light but flavorful, with a distinctly smooth and mellow taste, and just the right amount of "heat".

Jalapeno Heaven had a couple of great specials for Branford Restaurant Week, but we decided to go with the "order two entrees and receive a complimentary appetizer"

For our appetizer we ordered Mexican Crab Cakes, listed in the menu as: Four spicy crab cakes served on a bed of our spicy con queso sauce, garnished with scallions, tomatoes and sour cream.

I know what you're thinking, and the answer is YES!  They taste just as good as they look!

For our entrees, the cowboy ordered Chili Dogs: Oscar Mayer goes Tijuana with two hot dogs in rolls topped with Hector’s chili and melted cheese...

and I ordered the Tequila Lime Shrimp Combo: Four jumbo tail on shrimp tequila lime marinated then char grilled. Served with one tangy Mexican shrimp cake over a bed of fresh spinach and then drizzled with a warm tequila lime sauce.

I cannot begin to tell you how good this was.  Three days later, as I am writing this post, my mouth is still watering for the tequila lime sauce that flavors this dish.

We decided to go ahead and split a dessert as well, and ordered Jalapeno Heaven's Bananas Foster. This delicious dessert is flambeed tableside and served over creamy vanilla ice cream. I even videotaped Ellen's tableside presentation...go ahead, view it...and ENJOY! I certainly did!!!!

press the arrow to begin

Don't try this at home without instruction!  

Staff members are well trained in this technique.

If you live in the Branford area, or if you are traveling through the southeast Connecticut shoreline, I highly recommend Jalapeno Heaven!  It's a cute little place with loads of charm...and the food is amazing.  The best thing is that the staff is super-knowledgeable about all the food, and if you have any questions they are always happy to help with answers.

There's also a full takeout menu, a seasonal patio, and upstairs cantina/lounge, a huge vegetarian menu, a "lite" creations offerings menu, and for the "gringos" there's plenty of gringo-food!

We truly enjoyed participating in #BranfordRestaurantWeek2013 and visiting Jalapeno Heaven!

Jalapeno Heaven is open year round and accepts most major credit cards.

Jalapeno Heaven

40 North Main Street

Branford, CT 06405

203.481.6759

Website: www.jalapeno-heaven.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jalapeno-Heaven/

twitter: @JalapenoHeaven1

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Have you visited any restaurants for Branford Restaurant Week 2013?

Do you have a favorite Mexican dish?

I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!

Disclaimer: We were the guests of Jalapeno Heaven for this visit, however, all thoughts and opinions are our own.