Casa Lupe

Good for: regulars

Bad for: People with children, people who don't like being stuck with the default option

Cost: $36 for two (inclu. tax & tip, no beverages)

Casa Lupe is a cute and colorful Mexican restaurant unfortunately sandwiched between two other buildings. The restaurant is small, but the servers were friendly and the atmosphere felt familiar.
The menu listed sangria and margaritas, but with no bar in sight (and because of the cold weather), we decided to stick with water.
The salsas that were brought to the table were medium-hot and flavorful- a good start to the meal.
I ordered the special fish tacos and Jason ordered carne asada. The tacos came with an option of grilled or fried fish and with a choice of beans. I neglected to make either choice at the time of ordering (I grabbed the waiter later and managed to request pinto beans) and ended up with fried-fish tacos. The fish was perfectly cooked and crispy, the cabbage was fresh and crunchy, and there was a dollop each of tomatoes, guacamole, and onions to add as desired. I wished that I had ordered the grilled fish, as the fried fish ultimately came off just slightly too greasy among the other ingredients. It's worth noting that the beans and rice were both worth eating, a novelty in a Mexican restaurant. Jason's carne asada had good flavor but the meat was gristly and hard to eat.
Here's the thing: plenty of restaurants bring out the plates of food with the warning, "careful, the plates are hot". As it turns out, they were not just being polite at this restaurant. The plates were scalding. In fact, I touched mine on accident more than once and had to jerk my hand back lest I jeopardize my career as a hand model, which in this teaching job market is a risk I am not willing to take. If I was a parent of a small child, the hot plate situation would be less humorous and more alarming.
Overall the food was good. Not great, not the best Mexican food ever, or even in the area, but good. I can see how if you got to know the servers and/or the owners, this could easily become a habitual go-to. For the casual eater, not necessarily worth going out of the way to return.

The Cantankerous Fish

Good for: A business dinner or a girl's night out

Bad for: Budget conscious people on a diet

Cost: $80 for 2 people with tax and tip (inclu. 2 alcoholic beverages)

We went to Cantankerous Fish for date night and came away with a different impression than we walked in with. The atmosphere seems perfect for a date night when you first enter. Clean modern styled furniture, low lighting, etc. A closer look shows that it might be aimed at a more business oriented crowd. The partially dressed hostess escorted us to a table for four which brought to mind the dining room scene from the 1989 Batman movie.

The menu on the other hand was wonderful. Everything looked delicious, there were a wide range cocktails as well as a good tap list. We started with a baked brie bruschetta that was delicious. It was build your own bruschetta with a wedge of baked brie in phyllo dough, three spread options, and some toasted french bread. All in all a nice dish.

For main courses Meg ordered the Halibut and I ordered the Jambalaya. The Jambalaya was delicious and spicy. It could have used a few more shrimp but otherwise it was a solid dish. Meg's halibut was almost an A+. The halibut was perfectly cooked but over salted. This was in part to counter the richness of the butternut-squash rissoto and cream sauce it was served with. Meg felt that these came off as too rich but I thought they were fantastic. Admittedly I only had a few bites so maybe a whole plate of it was too much.

All in all I was pretty happy with the meal. I would go back again with friends or colleagues for a nice dinner. I think we will choose someplace else next time for a date.