While on vacation in Virginia Beach I had a couple of good dining experiences. I found most of the food on the boardwalk to be average at best, but one day my wife and I stumbled into Side Street Cantina just a block or two off of the boardwalk on 11st Street. I have to admit that I’m not much of a seafood eater, so perhaps that’s why I had my best dining experience in a Mexican style restaurant.

The service inside Side Street Cantina restaurant was very quick and efficient. Within seconds of sitting at our table, a server quickly dropped off a basket of chips along with two different sauces. First was a standard but freshly prepared salsa. The other sauce was a secret white sauce that I was not such a fan of. The sauce was a little too sweet for my tastes. I almost took them up on their table side prepared guacamole, but my wife and I decided to keep our lunch on the lighter side.

Lunch Chimichanga

Again keeping our meal light, we both ordered from the lunch menu. I went with the chimichanga, which is a fried burrito that I had filled with chicken, then smothered with nacho cheese and red sauce. The menu indicates it is served with rice and beans, but I opted to have it with a side of guacamole instead. The guacamole looked much too good to pass up on completely, and it was really good. The chimichanga wasn’t as deep-fried as most of the others I have had from other restaurants, but the cheese sauce on top added a nice element that I’m not used to.

My wife put together a lunch combination plate of a quesadilla and a chile relleno. We made a bad assumption that the chile relleno would just be cheese filled, and instead it came filled with beef, which neither my wife or I eat. We were too hungry to complain though, so we just dug the meat out and enjoyed the very spicy shell of the relleno. I also received a free taco for checking in on Foursquare, which could have been the highlight of the meal for me. They have a rather large section of the menu dedicated to tacos, as they should.

I should  also mention that the margaritas were also good. They weren’t too sweet or too sour, just right in the middle. They were more refreshing than anything. Overall we had a great dining experience and will definitely return should we be back in Virginia Beach in the future.