Dos Caminos

House-made guacamole is fresh and made to order.

Queso fundido (a skillet of cheesy goodness) comes four different ways, including plain, roasted garlic, artichokes and spinach, and chorizo with roasted chiles.

The Caesar salad comes with smoked chile croutons and shaved manchego cheese - and that’s just for starters.

Dos Caminos in the Palazzo is a young, fresh, modern restaurant with a great vibe and similarly superior Mexican food. The atmosphere is fun, flirty and a casual-dressy place to have a great night out. Loud music pumps from the sound system and artful decorations give the restaurant a modern Mexican feel.

Skulls adorn one wall and pieces of art, themed in a muted palette, line the other. Rich woods and earth tones carry throughout the restaurant. A large cubic lighting installation running the length of the main dining area gives Dos Caminos a soft glow. Regular tables and chairs are mixed with large circular booths (they’re extra comfortable). The casual modern-earthy décor makes it a pleasure to munch on chips and guacamole.

Chef and partner Scott Linquist serves a quality of Mexican food that simply takes Mexican dining to the next level. Bocaditos, or starters, include tortilla soup, roasted plantain empanadas, a Mexican chopped salad, or shrimp empanadas.

Tuna ceviche is served with soy-lime marinade, grilled cactus salad and chiles torreados. Lobster ceviche is served with coconut, lime, habanero and fresh mint.

Tacos are prepared with either chicken, fish, steak or pork. The chicken tacos come in soft corn tortillas and are topped with onion, guacamole, yellow and red peppers and served with fresh lime wedges. There are three tacos to an order.

House specialties include farmer’s market vegetable quesadilla for vegetarians, avocado leaf crusted big eye tuna and grilled shrimp quesadilla. Traditional fare includes slow roasted suckling pig, sautéed plantains, habanero pickled onions and achiote sauce.

One not-to-miss dish is pescado Veracruzano, achiote marinated Chilean sea bass in a traditional salsa of tomato, garlic, jalapeno, Mexican oregano and Spanish olives. The perfectly cooked blackened sea bass is served with thinly sliced crispy-cooked fingerling potatoes and haricot vert.

Desserts like white and dark chocolate fondue and Oaxacan chocolate mousse cake with morita chile and pistachio ice cream make Dos Caminos a dessert destination spot. Crepas de cajeta, warm pistachio crepes, bananas, vanilla ice cream and cajeta caramel sauce, are also rich and a perfect way to end the meal.

Desserts are accompanied with Mexican hot chocolate, served in a shot glass and topped with whipped cream and a mini churro.

There are lots of drinks at Dos Caminos. Consider that the other camino, if you will. A selection of wines by the glass or by the bottle are available as well as beer including Dos Equis, Pacifico, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo and Tecate.

Margaritas include El Camino, which is made with milagro bianco, triple sec and hand squeezed lime juice. A blueberry pomegranate margarita is made with partida bianco, blueberry pomegranate and fresh lime, and the red Cadillac margarita includes Patron resposado, cointreau, aperol and red pepper puree.

No margarita is complete without tequila. In addition to a variety of tequilas, Dos Caminos also offers tequila flights, a sampling of three different tequilas served with chile salt, sangrita and lime.

The restaurant has a main dining room, a private dining room and the Sala Lounge for a variety of dining options. Sala Lounge at Dos Caminos is open during restaurant hours, but after the diners go home, it turns into a nightlife hotspot in the Palazzo. Sala offers a separate lounge menu, bottle service, and live resident DJs spinning your favorite beats into the wee hours of the morning.

Dos Caminos is the place to go for great food, great atmosphere, and a great night out.

-- Review By Nikki Neu