Aunt Chilada’s Mexican Eatery in Hamden is not only one of Connecticut’s more cleverly named restaurants, but it’s also one of its more colorful and fun-spirited.
I couldn’t help noting a geographic anomaly, even if it’s purely personal. I live in an apartment building whose driveway is the last residential access on the south end of Shepard Avenue. Oddly, Aunt Chilada’s is located at the exact northern terminus of Shepard Avenue.
So although it was several miles to the restaurant, I had to navigate only one street to get there. Along the way I passed near the ultramodern house in which I grew up high on a ridge in thick woods, nearby Blake’s Place (where a slippery ravine used to make a great waterslide after heavy rain), little-known but pretty Wolcott Falls, the Quinnipiac Trail, huge boulders dropped by retreating glaciers, a water tank I might have illegally climbed once or twice in my youth, and the popular Farmington Canal Greenway.
Located on the edge of Sleeping Giant Golf Course with views south to the Giant,
Aunt Chilada’s enjoys plenty of parking.
My wife and I were the first customers to arrive for lunch, my wife waiting with the patience of Griselda while I photographed the restaurant’s interior.
So here are the entry murals,
a poster showing types of peppers,
another showing brands of hot sauces,
the bar,
the main dining room,
the porch seating looking upon the Giant’s silhouette,
and a view from our dining area to the head of the Giant.
Now my wife and I were ready for lunch. Staffer Natalie Sagnella
took excellent care of us. She started us off with colorful tortilla chips and salsa.
Amber Dos Equis beers followed.
Like The Soup Girl, Aunt Chilada’s had opted for the two-for-one deal, guaranteeing impressive savings. We chose two combo dinners. One was the Baja fish tacos, a generous platter
that included two flour tortillas with grilled tilapia and fresh pico de gallo,
delicious chipotle slaw,
rice
and beans.
The other was the tostada with mango salsa platter, which again came with rice and beans.
The tostada was a crispy corn tortilla topped with black beans, mango, fresh jalapeno, red onion and cilantro, to which we added blackened chicken. It was as tasty as it was pretty.
Also a real treat, the kitchen gave us some housemade guacamole to try.
Did not my wife look the picture of contentment?
Later, when the restaurant got busier, I photographed some customers enjoying their lunch,
owner Charlie Hague,
and these attractive young ladies who I felt captured the spirit of the restaurant.
Aunt Chilada’s Mexican Eatery, 3931 Whitney Avenue, Hamden, 203-230-4640
www.auntchilada.com