Charanda Mexican Grill Cantina

3 Stars 

By: Charlotte Critic
8629 Concord Mills Blvd
Concord 28027
(704) 979-3366
Menu Features: hot salsa,tacos,burritos,guacamole,nachos,totillas
Pictures from Charanda

Got a chance this week to try yet another great Charlotte Mexican Restaurant.

Charlotte seems to be a hot bed of Mexican food which is fantastic news as long as the quality remains on par with my last few outings. Charanda Mexican Grill & Cantina is located right by the excellent Concord Mills mall.

Charanda is actually past the mall which for now may be a liability for them. Charanda has the task of competing with dozens of top end franchises that all fall in the same cutomer demographic in this area.

can see the main competition for them reviewed and a ‘Critic’s Choice’ here at On The Border Mexican grill which is just up the street from Charanda.

The Ms. and I visited Charanda on a weekday at 3pm, as we have learned many lessons about dinging in this area during the peak hours, most restaurants near the mall worth visiting will bring a 45 min + wait with the meal.

As you can see we were greated by a somewhat empty location and really helped us to sit and chat with the staff a bit. All of our staff was of course bi-lingual, and there is something very settling about getting a great mexican meal from the real deal native Mexican-Americans, it tends to bring a bit more flavor with it and pride in the establishment.

As you have seen the setting is very comfy, medium dim lit, and probally a better date stop than On The Border. They are a bit better spaced out in there, and have a higher percentage of booths to tables, since everyone loves to get a booth this is great.

I am only going to warn patrons once, the salsa is a bit hotter than standard free table salsas.
Most franchise style setting tend to serve mild/medium on the table (so they dont get sued?), Charanda definately served it up authentic and as most gringos would consider medium to hot.

The chips and shells used in the meal were free and clearly made fresh much like they do at on the border to our praises. Our service was friendly and fast but hard to consider that at 3pm on a weekday.

When the meals came the same standard held true, and the food was a shade hotter than standard gringo/mexican restaurants tend to serve. I enjoy hot food if the flavor is just as powerful as the heat, and I was very happy with the freshness of the Jalepenos / lime juice and cheeses in the burrito verdes i had, the flavor was excellent.

Throughout my entire meal i was teetering 1 inch from a “food sweat” from the heat, but I never even thought about stopping as it was excellent fresh and flavorful.

The Wife had Chimichangas, and too was blown away by the heat and spice. Her tolerence is a bit lower than most people for hot food but still it was exceptionally spicy for her taste when she asked for a mild suggestions to the waitress.

The wife too had a very hard time stopping though as the food is extremely flavorful with fresh tasting ingreients and salsas. If you wish you can read another recent review of Charanda here at the Charlotte Observer. All in all the flavor, strength and authenticity was once step ahead of the nearby On The Border Mexican Grill. The setting was also a bit more my style than On The Border, though that is a matter of taste as they are both very nice.

Charanda should take the time to invest in a bit more stylish dishware to present the meal with, and the overall food presentation was just a shade off the excellent presentation and food down the road.

I really would have to spend a bit more time enjoying the fine food at Charanda to make the close call on the best mexican dining in the Concord Mills Shopping area, but if you are out with the boys and looking for a bit of heat and real high quality ingredient flavor I say choosing Charanda over On the Border would never be a mistake.

The Concord area is definately blessed with great mexican restraurants.