Trevino’s in Downtown: Fair Place to Grab Mexican Food

Good Mexican food is an important part of many Californians' hierarchy of restaurant needs, often serving alongside sushi as a staple of beloved cuisines. That being said, there are currently six Mexican restaurants operating in Merced, not counting chains such as Del Taco or Taco Bell, or the three taco trucks. Trevino's is a slightly more formal establishment than the taco trucks, but not by far. Seating is available, but it is fairly middle-of-the-road in formality. The food served there is similarly mediocre, with the service ranging slightly lower than that.

Located downtown, on Main Street, Trevino’s is easy to find,  as it is on the corner across the street from the movie theater. The interior is inviting, and decorated with Mexican art, but not in any particularly interesting way. It is a clean and cheerful enough atmosphere to eat tedious Mexican food in. It was not extremely crowded at dinner time, but there were enough people to make eating there seem like a good idea. The servers were friendly, but frustratingly slow—even during a relatively slow period—and a major billing mistake made the staff seem incompetent. This was a major flaw in a restaurant that was of only average quality.

The menu is fairly diverse, offering favorites such as carnitas and fish tacos. The usual selection of soft drinks and alcohol may be ordered alongside the food. The chips and salsa at the beginning of the meal, usually a reliable indicator of a Mexican restaurant's quality, are bland and uninteresting. Do not count on the servers being quick to refill these, as uninspiring as the appetizers are.

The enchiladas were served with red sauce and were unremarkable, and the bean and cheese burrito actually boring. The ingredients tasted as though they were at some point canned, and simply reheated from a can. Tortillas done well can be an excellent source of flavor, but the ones at Trevino's were thin and tasteless, simply acting as floppy wrappers for the food. The rice and beans were similarly unexciting, and accompanied the food with little flair. None of the food was actually bad, however; it was simply bland and ho-hum.

Nothing can really be said to be truly good about Trevino's; the atmosphere is marginally joyful, but the food is uninteresting, and the service bordering on awful.  The restaurant is completely forgettable: it is not bad enough to merit anger, which would be memorable, but not good enough to go back for seconds. If it is absolutely necessary that one eat there, it's not the worst thing that could happen, but it is possibly the most boring. Any person finding themselves hungry after a movie downtown is advised not to go across the street for Trevino's; it's not worth the extra forty feet of walking. J&R's nearby might actually be worth going to, however.  Anybody craving some Mexican food after a movie downtown is better off visiting J&R Tacos, just down the street.