Messy and Picky

Even though Messy had previously visited Mixto for some seriously unremarkable appetizers and desserts, she was more than gung-ho when Picky invited her to Mixto for brunch. After all, you can't really judge a place by their overpriced chocolate cake if you haven't tried a full meal there. We both love going out to brunch, but we always run into long lines at popular Center City brunch spots. We had no such problem at Mixto — the interior is quite spacious and we were seated promptly. We had a cute table for two in the upstairs dining room, which was brightly lit by the midday sun through a skylight. The place was busy, but not loud, and nobody seemed in a tizzy to get people out of the place to get more people inside.

We began our meal with drinks and some complimentary pan fried bread, which was delicious. Messy had a nice solid cup of coffee while Picky went with a cool glass of freshly squeezed OJ. Picky thought the OJ was very good without too much pulp. Messy, who is not a fan of pulp whatsoever — she firmly believes that orange juice should never involve chewing — wasn't impressed. Picky's main dish was an orange spiced scrambled egg platter, which included three eggs scrambled with a hint of orange with a Cuban chorizo and some fried veggies. The "hint" of orange was more of a notion of orange. The eggs weren't the least bit orange-y, but they were still very good. The chorizo, which was split right down the middle and gently fried with tons of flavor, was the prize of the dish.

Messy had one of her favorite meals ever, huevos rancheros. [The best huevos rancheros Messy has ever had remain those at the mouth-watering hole-in-the-wall of Las Brisas in Port Chester, NY, but she has also had some pretty awesome ones at Taqueria de Veracruzana here in Philly, where they serve them all day long.] Our server happily agreed to substitute avocado slices for the meat that was included in the dish. Messy was expecting huge chunks of avocado, but instead she got a couple of dinky slices. The eggs were quite yummy, but they came with crispy tortillas which made it really difficult to mop up the soppy eggs. The meal was better than average, but Messy still wished for more avocado and more bread.

Although the service was kind of slow, overall, our meal was a pleasant experience. It was our first brunch outing in a while (we like to sleep late, and Picky makes killer omelettes on the weekends) and we were both very happy to find a good, decently priced and convenient location for brunch. Mixto also seems like a good place for a group brunch outing, as we were pretty much surrounded by larger parties sipping Bloody Marys (Bloody Marys are gross). We're both glad we found Mixto for those rare occasions when we go out to brunch — we won't need to wait an hour at a time for those Philly brunch favorite spots anymore!

Messy ***1/2
Picky ***

The final word: A very good, no-wait brunch, with some Cuban flair.

Mixto
1141 Pine St.
Philadelphia PA. 19107
Phone : 215 592 0363
Fax : 215 592 6417
Hours:
Breakfast, Lunch and dinner served daily.
Sunday thru Wednesday: 9:00am to 11:00pm
Thursday thru Staurday: 9:00 to 12:30pm