2 for $25: Blue Cactus Mexican Grille

The Chicken Enchiladas, served with refried beans, are $11.

Blue Cactus Mexican Grille

For months, my friend Sarah had been eyeing Fairport's Blue Cactus Mexican Grille, where the Mexican-born chef combines traditional flavors in unusual dishes. So when it was time for our quarterly catch-up session, we met there for a long lunch.

The mood
The vibrancy of the main room, which has multicolored walls and an attractive bar accented by pendant lighting, goes perfectly with the festive Mexican music. White walls give a second seating area a more subdued feel, though it's decorated with photos of Mexican landscapes, colorful artificial flowers and dried peppers. The hand-scraped oak floors are exquisite.

The food
Blue Cactus serves southeast Mexican-style Yucatecan cuisine, which combines European and Mexican flavors. We started by splitting the Ensalada De Nopal ($7.50), described on the menu as a "refreshing, healthy and 100 percent organic cactus salad garnished with chopped tomato, sweet onion and egg." Though I knew it wasn't going to be prickly, the small pieces of chopped cactus were surprisingly tender and tasted a bit like asparagus.

The mixture was beautifully presented in a long bowl, but it seemed more like a really good chunky topping than an entree, and we ended up eating less than one-third of it — even after mixing it in with our Chicken Enchiladas ($11). We also shared this dish — two enchiladas topped with salsa tomatillo (green salsa), queso fresco (a creamy white cheese), crema agria (a Mexican cream dressing) and sweet onion — which was served with refried beans. Sarah enjoyed it more than I did. The cactus salad helped give the dish the flavor boost I needed, however.

There are lots of meat and fish selections on the menu, some seasoned with an achiote paste ground from mild annatto seeds and prepared from the chef's mother's recipe.

The food was decent and definitely interesting, but at these prices ($8.75 for a corn chips-and-guacamole appetizer?) we expected more.

The drinks
Coffee, milk and Jarritos Mexican Soda (pineapple, mango, watermelon, sangria, tamarind and guava) are $2.50 each. Regular soft drinks or pink lemonade are $2; iced tea is $3. Bar drinks include those prepared with 100 percent Blue Agave tequila.

The damage: $25

Next time I'd go for an Empanadas appetizer ($6), crisply fried turnovers filled with beef picadillo or a vegetable/cheese medley and served with salsa tomatillo. That would leave me with enough cash for a Jarritos Mexican Soda.