Grand Electric

Grand Electric opened exactly a week ago today. Located in Parkdale at 1330 Queen Street W., its owners are former Black Hoof chef de cuisine Colin Tooke (@ctooke) and former Black Hoof front of house manager, Ian McGrenaghan. With The Black Hoof being one of my favourite restaurants in the city and my love for Mexican food, it is hard not to be excited about Grand Electric (@grandelectricTO).


With my trusty food friends (i.e. people that can eat a lot) Gizelle and Richard from If Looks Could Fill (read Richard's Grand Electric post here) we went to Grand Electric last Friday for dinner. We arrived around 6PM to ensure that we get a table. Thank goodness for that as it would've been a two-hour wait later on.

Beer, cocktails and wine list (left), liquor list (right)

Grand Electric's menu. Churros =(

Michelada ($7) - This was Gizelle's drink. It kinda resembles a Caesar to me. Tecate is a Mexican beer. 

Grand Electric Sour: 1.5 oz vanilla bourbon, agave, egg white, lemon ($8) - This was very refreshing and went down super smooth =) 

Salsa on the table.

It was a unanimous decision between the three of us to order everything on the menu. Yah that's how we rollllllllll.

Guacamole + Chips ($8) - I loved the corn chips since they were made fresh in-house so they were so crispy and light. The guac was tasty too. That's a piece of chicharron in the middle (pork rind), it was so light and crunchy.

Pork Belly Al Pastor, Spicy Arbol Chicken, Baja Fish, and Beef Cheek Tacos ($3.50 each or 3 for $10) 

The arbol chicken was really spicy, even for me and I can tolerate spicy food (Gizelle and Richard had some difficulty finishing it lol). I thought the beef cheek taco was tasty but it was the pork belly taco that blew me away - the pork belly was fatty and juicy...paired with the salsa it was damn good. 

Richard doesn't eat fish so Gizelle and I each had a baja fish taco. The fish was moist and tender with a nice crispy exterior. It was delicious but didn't "wow" me like the pork belly taco.

Tuna Ceviche ($7.50) - This was hard to share but we somehow managed. Probably my least favourite of the night mainly because it was small and well, hard to share. I found it a bit salty while Gizelle thought it wasn't salty at all.

Ensalada Electrico ($11) - A simple salad with sliced avocados with buttermilk and Mexican coca cola dressing. The star here still is the deep-fried braised pig's head. Heaven.

Pollo Frito ($14) - I liked the flavours here, tangy and citrus-y, different than the chicken wings I always have nowdays (i.e. saucy/ breaded / dry). 

Pozole Rojo ($7 / $12) - We got the bigger size (go big or go home!) and this was my favourite of the night. Hot, hearty with a slight kick, this soup was extremely delicious. There was so much pork and other good stuff in this soup! I highly recommend it. 

This salsa is the real deal. It slowly creeps up on you! Add as much as you like though....

Key Lime Vasa ($5) - 3 spoons for the three of us.

I'm glad this dessert was small because we were so stuffed but we were determined to have the whole menu (we had to keep our word). Anyway, this was delicious and I am not even a fan of whipped cream. It was actually the different textures between the whipped cream and the crumbled crackers that got me and that subtle lime flavour was so great after a heavy meal.

I really enjoyed the food at Grand Electric and it was awesome how I got to try everything on the menu =D  Serving great Mexican food with an impressive list of booze and a fun and casual vibe, I'm excited to return to Grand Electric and order my favourites and try another boozy drink.  Oh and I love the loud music~