La Sierra Cafe
October 3rd, 2006 by eleet34
400 Gold SW at the Simms Building
(505) 245 – 1711
I work in the downtown area and am always on the prowl for good places to go to during lunch. For most of us over here, finding good places to eat is a high priority because the majority of the day we sit in offices and cubicles for hours at a time. 
Lunchtime is a break for us to stretch out legs, get away for a while, and enjoy some good food before we work the second half of the day (what, you need energy to sit for hours on end). La Sierra is a restaurant that I passed by many times because it is tucked away in the Simms Building right next to the main entrance to Gold’s Gym. It also looks very plain from the outside, not like the fancy restaurants that are along Central.
When I first went here I took a look at the menu and didn’t have a good feeling because it had such a wide range of food including American, New Mexican, and Greek. I always think it is a bad sign when a restaurant mixes such different foods. However, this is one place that has really impressed me with taste, price, and portion. First of all, getting a plate in the 5 to 6 dollar range downtown is a steal. To start you are given some tortilla chips and salsa, which is good because most of the time you are starving when you get to a restaurant. Then with many of the entrees you are given a small salad or soup while waiting for your food. Nothing fancy so far right, very plain looking chips and salad, but they taste pretty good, or to the starving worker…like the best chips and salad you ever tasted!
I have had a few entrees here including the Turkey Avocado sandwich, Gyro, and Enchilada Plate. Actually, I have had the Turkey Avocado sandwich about 5 times already. Compared to most downtown restaurants it might seem plain…no imported honey turkey from Europe, no smoked provolone, no rye with poppy seeds or avocado from the nether regions of the world. So you might say that the description of turkey, avocado, and Swiss on a French roll might sound plain. You’re right it is plain…. plain good! This is not a restaurant that raises the cost with fancy ingredients, they make food simple with large portion, they make it good, and you don’t pay 10 dollars for a sandwich. They just started making Gyros and I tried one thinking it couldn’t be as good as some of the Greek restaurants, but it was also pretty good. In fact, I have yet to try something here that wasn’t good and it is shocking considering its humble atmosphere and mixed up menu.
The service is exactly what you would expect here, two ladies in aprons running around calling you “sweetie” and with about 7 other tables to talk to. They are nice and get you everything you need most of the time, so I have no complaints on that. Especially since I run into bad service at some of the more popular downtown restaurants. Like I said before, the atmosphere is very plain and looks like a small town diner, but as long as I have some good food in front of me, I really don’t care. So I definitely recommend this restaurant especially to the downtown employees on their lunch break.
Taste:
[rate 8]
Service:
[rate 6]
Ambiance:
[rate 5]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
