This was a tough one to review - how to do you rate a Mexican restaurant with: drinks...below average and leaning more towards unacceptable, BUT, with food that is authentic and overall very good.
A family owned restaurant, Mojitos Modern Mexican, is the next entrepreneur to take on the challenge of the keeping a sustainable and profitable restaurant on the corner of Highland and Bishop. It is good to see another diverse restaurant option here in suburbia after Harry Buffalo moved down the road.
Starting with the drinks. The two things you order at a Mexican restaurant are cerveza or a margarita - I chose the latter as I was in a celebratory mood. Charging 10 dollars for the standard margarita with an up charge for a more premium tequila (up to 15 dollars for the specialty flavors) - I was expecting quality - homemade and good flavor. Instead, I was given a premix margarita where you could barely taste the alcohol and which reminded me of the bottles of Jose Cuervo premix bottles you can buy at the local gas station. We also ordered a caipirinha - if i would have tasted that in a blind tasting, that is the last drink I would have guessed. The bar staff needs to seriously take a look at the drinks recipes -- these are easy issues to address -- either lower the price point of the drinks otherwise, amp up the quality. Note that when I did complain about my margarita, the restaurant immediately replaced my drink with no questions - this was appreciated.
Food on the other hand - was on point and a pleasant surprise after our experiences with the drink orders. The restauranteurs definitely wanted to change up the traditional Mexican restaurant with some local homemade fare.
The Peruano ceviche was authentic and reminded me of our times in Peru. It's huge. Probably a good appetizer share for 4 people. It's perfect to eat with chips and salsa.
If you love spicy and shrimp, the camarones de diablo are excellent. Spicy sauce with well prepared shrimp to layer on top of white rice. Will definitely order this dish next time around.
The tacos are also well done. Appreciated that the restaurant is flexible with mixing up the combinations of taco fillers. By far the favorite has to be the Baja fish taco, however, the chicken and steak were also very well prepared.
All in all, this restaurant has great potential. They have the food spot on, and that is the hard part. Drinks can easily be addressed - I wanted to given another star, however, I just cannot bring myself to do that for a Mexican restaurant that has not nailed the margarita yet. I do really really want this place to succeed.
Give this place a shot, try out the non-traditional dishes, you will be pleased.