Long before it was cool to do fusion food, Chino Bandido arrived on the scene in Phoenix. This was back in 1990 when interracial marriages were barely okay, let alone interracial food. But Chino Bandido found something that worked – Asian and Hispanic food and hasn’t looked back. So while the name is a reference to Chinese and Mexican food, things like Cuban Beans and Teriyaki Chicken tell a larger tale.

For those who have never been before (and for those who just love freebies), Chino Bandido lets you sample before you eat, and after trying out a few things I knew what I had to have. It began with a Jerk Chicken Quesadilla, some Jade Red Chicken, Cuban Beans and BBQ Pork Fried Rice. Outside of a crazy Las Vegas buffet, I had never had such a seemingly strange mix of food in one dish. Yet, it just worked.

Look, this is not where you go when you are looking for authentic Asian or Hispanic food. That doesn’t matter, because the food is that good. From the Jade Red Chicken’s fried up sweet and spicy combination to the Jerk Chicken’s hot rendezvous with cheese in the quesadilla. It’s all good and I can’t imagine being disappointed even if I had ordered everything completely differently.

Best of all, there is nothing pretentious about this place. Chino Bandido knows what it does, and the world is a better place because of it.

It’s pretty rare, but sometimes it’s good to break free of Mexican fast-food and slow, yet still greasy Mexican food. To make this jump, I went to the Border Grill in Santa Monica and attempted to class-up my Mexican repertoire.

They actually had a surprisingly welcome selection of unvegan options and I was torn between a few of the dishes. The steep prices may have ended up playing a role in my final selection, which was still pretty pricey at $15. This was one of their specials, the Chicken Adobo Quesadilla. Adobo is a great seasoning, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. It came with manchego, panela and cotija cheeses inside, and mizuna salad, salsa fresca, guacamole and sour cream on the outside. I ordered mine without the mizuna salad and although I’m not entirely sure what “mizuna” means, I know it involved vegetables I didn’t want to eat.

When my quesadilla arrived, I was perturbed by the dilapidated greens resting upon my meal. Usually I can kind of understand that garnishings make foods look prettier, but whatever greens were laying atop my quesadilla made it look wholly unappetizing. I scraped these miscreants from my food and tried to forget about them as I ate my meal.

The quesadilla was quite good, especially topped with guacamole. There was also a nice selection of salsas on the table that I was able to taste with the quesadilla. Unfortunately, it was unable to live up to the $15 price tag. Maybe ten bucks would be doable, but considering all the cheap Mexican food LA has to offer, I won’t be dropping $15 on a quesadilla again anytime soon.