First Bite: Alegria Mexican Restaurant and Tequila Bar

I had a few presents from my recent trip to New Orleans for

that I had to deliver to the lovely Beth Sachan of the

, and Lord knows I like to be seen out in public with good looking women whenever possible, so I figured it would be worth actually fighting Green Hills traffic to check out the new

. Surprisingly, traffic wasn't that bad, but I did combine the trip with my monthly embarrassing ride to the Hillsboro High School glass recycling center to drop off an unacceptably large number of wine and liquor bottles.

Alegria's dining space is very attractive, with bright colors and several different rooms, each with a slightly different decorating theme. There's even a private room that seats up to 40 if you're looking for a place to hold a small party or cater a luncheon. We were seated at a small two-top in the front room, where I felt the table was possibly a little tall and a little small for our two plates and the complimentary chips and salsa. Since the table was high and my fajita salad bowl was tall, I felt a bit like I was shoveling food directly into my maw. But maybe I was just a self-conscious with a pretty girl sitting across from me.

The soft opening lunch menu was still a little limited, but the dishes we saw looked pretty good, and the slate of appetizers was appealing, with the chicken tinga nachos especially drawing my attention.

Several of the salads also looked attractive. When I ordered the fajita salad I took our server's advice to choose marinated steak instead of chicken on my big bowl. The dressing was kind of an odd shade of orange like the sort of sour cream/taco seasoning mix that I would make at home, but the pickled red onions and corn relish offered plenty of flavor to perk up the salad.

I would certainly try that salad again, but perhaps with the fajita chicken as it's listed on the menu instead of the steak. Gotta save those calories where I can. Beth had the fish tacos, which the server also recommended — and which she said were solid and worth a try if you're a fan. Coming from someone who used to live in San Diego, that's pretty high praise.