Rojo is a delightfully eccentric Mexican restaurant on Highland Avenue. We have taken our kids there several times, so in my quest to show how Birmingham Restaurant Week is kid-friendly, we eagerly signed up for Rojo.
We enjoyed our food quite a bit, but in kid-friendly terms, I would recommend Rojo at lunch instead of dinner. We arrived at our normal dining time of 6pm, which at other restaurants is usually just us and older couples. But Rojo, being hip and urban, has quite the bustling after-work crowd, so it felt more like happy hour than our usual quiet early-dinner experience.
Which is perfectly fine, but it was too loud for my four year old, and we felt a little more out of place than usual with our young brood in tow. However, we’ve had many wonderfully pleasant lunches there, so we’ll stick to that from now on.
Rojo's Birmingham Restaurant Week Menu (which, by the way, is available for lunch or dinner) has the option of a Salsa Trio or Queso. I am a sucker for variety, especially in dips, so I opted for the trio.
The regular salsa was spicy, flavorful and thin – the consistency that salsa should be, in my opinion. The black bean salsa contained fresh (non-mushy) beans, corn, onions and cilantro, giving it the Tex-Mex sweet and hearty taste that was very pleasing. The Pineapple Salsa was something I’d never had before, but loved from the first bite. Almost completely sweet with just a hint of red onion, it was a delightful surprise.
Their entree choices include a Chipotle Pork and Mushroom Burrito, Chicken Tomatillo Tacos, or Shrimp Tomatillo Tacos.
Already being a fan of fish tacos, I opted to try the shrimp tomatillo tacos for my entree.
The tacos came ready to customize with only shrimp and onions already in the tortillas. I added the black beans and tomatillo salsa, giving it a wonderfully varied flavor.
The shrimp were fairly spicy, but the tomatillo salsa was cool and mild, helping bring the temperature back down. I enjoyed my tacos, and there was plenty provided – I chose to forego my tortilla on the second one and just eat the shrimp/tomatillo/black bean mixture.
Dessert options included Chango (cheesecake in a fried tortilla) or Peanut Butter Pie. I chose the Peanut Butter Pie…
…which had an added benefit: unlike my last two Birmingham Restaurant Week desserts where the kids ate WAY too much of it, I only had to share my pie with Ali, as Noah is too young for Peanuts. Score!
The pie was a perfect completion to the meal, bringing it back full-circle to sweet. It had chunks of peanuts in the rich and creamy pie filling, and a delightfully subtle layer of chocolate fudge between the peanut butter and the crust that left me licking my spoon clean.
Rojo
2921 Highland Avenue, 35205
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 11 AM – 10 PM
Rachel is a Birmingham-Based Blogger who writes at Grasping for Objectivity and runs this networking site for all Alabama Bloggers. She and her family love eating out, especially at local establishments where the food is divine and kids are welcomed with open arms.
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