Restaurant review submitted to the Alamance Foodie by reader Jay Smith of Snow Camp.

I am a longtime customer of the recently closed (for relocation and renaming) Monterrey Mexican restaurant on Garden Road next to the Wal-Mart. I have no connection or relationship to this establishment other than as a very pleased customer.

A few weeks ago Monterrey closed and has now re-opened with a new name (La Cocina) and new location. They are now located in the front of Holly Hill Mall on Huffman Mill Road.

The ownership is the same as Monterrey. The people are the same. The food is the same — and great.  The location is new and much larger.

There is also a La Cocina on North Church Street in Burlington and several others in the Triangle area. All are owned by different brothers in the same family. Each has their own restaurant, but together they share the knowledge and enthusiasm for wonderful Mexican dining. While this does not make a difference to the typical diner, it makes a huge difference in making a restaurant run extremely smoothly under any circumstances.

Last night, Nov. 23, was the new La Cocina’s “soft opening” and today (Nov. 24) is their grand opening.

I was honored to be invited to the soft opening and was extremely happy with the experience. The new facility is wonderful. Everything is absolutely brand-new.

The restaurant is very comfortable; the seating, the tables and booths, the bar, etc. The staff, as always, was superb. The staff act like, and are, professionals; they take their work seriously and made my visit a pleasure.

The speed of service, as always, will make your head spin. I don’t know how they can provide such fast service when some other restaurants can’t seem to organize a glass of water. It is rare to not have your free hot chips and salsa within 60 seconds. It is rare not to be greeted by your waiter within 180 seconds. If you want to eat quickly, the food comes out of the kitchen at blazing speed. However, if you want a more leisurely dining experience, as I do, just let them know. You can be in and out as fast as you want.

The food quality is superb. Everything is fresh and cooked exactly how I want it. In several years of dining with these folks, I have never had a bad meal.

If you enjoy an adult beverage, you will not be disappointed. The new location has a full bar, separated from the four dining areas. If you enjoy a serious Margarita, their “Texas” is to die for. Be careful, though, their “medium” is the size of most places’ “enormous.” A designated driver is a must. Unlike some establishments that will remain unnamed, La Cocina has a “generous pour”.

The kitchen was spotless as you would expect in a new facility. However, having watched the kitchen crew at the old location, they take sanitation extremely seriously, tearing down everything every day.

For me, it was a “difficult” few weeks between the closing of Monterrey and the opening of La Cocina on Huffman Mill Road, but I am pleased to have them back, better than ever.

If you enjoy Mexican food, you have to try La Cocina on Huffman Mill Road in Holly Hill Mall. If you don’t think you like Mexican food, maybe this is the time to reconsider: try one of their steaks or the shrimp; you may be surprised!

B’s Bistro and Microlounge

Where: 2457 S. Church St., Burlington.
Hours: Lunch and dinner and late night.
Dress: Casual. 
Cost: Reasonable. No entrees exceed $20 and most are in the $10 to $15 range. The bistro-style menu encourages diners to purchase low-cost appetizers — or simply have an appetizer with drinks. Salads are extra, but inexpensive. Two can eat there comfortably for less than $50 and have the works. The tab woul be  much less for a burger or a pizza.  Or folks can simply graze the tapas selections for much less.
Menu: Restaurant tries to promote casual dining done finely. Steak, fish and pork options are simple but well presented. A variety of burgers and flatbread pizzas help create the cafe atmosphere. Appetizers range from a routine bread basket with olive oil to rare ahi tuna slices and hummus with pita chips. Specials are usually interesting and often feature one fish option. There is a burger special on Tuesdays and a pizza and vino feature on Thursdays.
Something for vegetarians? Yes. Many of the pizza options are veggie friendly.
Cocktails: Beer, wine and mixed drinks. Small but tasteful wine list. The same can be said of the beer offerings as well. Great choices, including some from microbreweries across the nation. 
Synopsis: B’s Bistro has a sidewalk cafe theme and usually more than meets that standard. The atmosphere is inviting and cozy with small tables that promote close conversation and friendly gatherings. The menu doesn’t offer a wide variety of options, nor does it need to. The food is well-executed and outside the norm for most Burlington restaurants. It’s a good place to bring friends.
Reservations: Not usually. Note, thought, that this smallish restaurant seats only a few even when outdoor tables are available. Outdoor seating is available.
Phone: 336-226-5555
Website: www.bsbistroandmicrolounge.com

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I’m not sure if my prospective boss was trying to impress me in 2007 when he took me to B’s Bistro and Microlounge for my first foray into Burlington’s restaurant scene — but that was the result.

A couple of weeks later, when my spouse came to town to help us find a house, I took her there, too. I was definitely trying to create a good impression. Suffice it to say, she got one. And it helped that the real estate agent who showed us a half-dozen houses just an hour or two before, was there with his spouse on a Friday night.

“Does everybody eat here?” my wife asked.

Actually, now that I think about it, just the right number of people are drawn to the the cafe-ambience and menu offered by B’s Bistro and Microlounge, which is located beside B Christopher’s, the fine-dining steakhouse also owned by Chris Russell. In this little strip of buildings off Church Street Russell has created the best of two dining worlds. It’s a shame that his other effort in the same cluster of buildings, Benjamin’s Seafood, didn’t catch on. Fresher seafood would’ve helped.

Thankfully, B’s Bistro has shown staying power with its Burlington audience. It’s the kind of restaurant that sometimes skips smaller towns where only two options are available: Fine dining that’s a little too swanky for frequent visits or chain restaurants like the Olive Garden where lines are simply too intimidating. B’s Bistro is in that area in-between where restaurants are neither too crowded nor too loud; where the service excels and with options that fit the tastes of an epicurean or just someone who wants a tasty burger and a cold beer.

We stopped in for dinner at B’s Bistro a couple of weeks ago. It was our first visit in quite awhile. While B’s is one of my personal favorites among Burlington’s restaurants, sometimes it’s overlooked when we make our final dinner plans. That needs to change.

Entering the restaurant I immediately remembered why I like it so much. The rich wood decor is inviting and small tables create intimate conversation nooks. The bar is a central part of the dining area. Our waiter was dressed in the manner of someone working at a french sidewalk cafe and immediately took our drink orders and offered information about the nightly specials.

The menu at B’s Bistro is small but interesting, which is part of its charm. The entree selections aren’t complicated or high in number but are rendered well. People looking for chicken served 10 different ways are out of luck here. There are sections for Tapas (appetizers), soups and salads, entrees, flatbread pizzas and burgers. All are reasonably priced. A party of four or five, for example, could be very well served by ordering plates of appetizers (hummus and pita chips, bread basket, tuna, mussels, etc.) with drinks.

We ordered the seared tuna from the tapas menu. We found it odd that it was served warm — not sashimi style. But the thin rare slices were encrusted with sesame and served with a hearty sauce that didn’t offer the heat of the more standard wasabi-based dips.

The garden salad promised walnuts but none were to be found on this night in either of our salads. The mixed greens, though, were fresh. The champagne vinegarette dressing available at B’s Bistro is among my favorite salad dressings  in town.

My spouse decided to take advantage of pizza and vino night and ordered a flatbread pizza that was one of the nightly specials. The flatbread pizzas are truly a personal pizza — six inches in diamater. She ordered a pizza that wasn’t on the regular menu. The salmon pizza sounded appealing with a parmesean cream sauce an roasted red peppers. And it wasn’t bad. The salmon turned out to be a little dry though, a potential problem with a fish that cooks so quickly when placed in a pizza oven. My spouse has sampled the flatbread pizzas at B’s on a few occasions and likes the regular menu offerings better.

I was much happier with my selection — the steak slices with B’s signature pommes frites. The flatiron steak was perfectly rare and cut in thin pieces. It was easy to eat and flavorful in a sweet onion demi-glace. B’s Bistro is the first place I’ve encountered frites and the only place in Burlington’ I’ve seen them. Frites are shoestring fries in the truest since of the word. I could eat a batch right now.

B’s Bistro is back on my list of primary stops for a casual meal. It’s the kind of place where folks want to be a regular customer.