Restaurant Review: Favela's Fusion in Fairfield, California

I always felt that somewhere in the heart of Fairfield there is an up-scale restaurant just waiting to open. Favela's Fusion is that dream turned to reality.

Favela's Fusion, located on 1500 Oliver Road next to Starbucks, is a high-end Mexican restaurant with all the perks and none of the price. I could go on about the intricate, Mexican-themed dishes. I could talk about Favela's tequila menu and expansive bar. But for now I'd rather muse about Favela's sheer beauty which sets it far apart from any other restaurant in Fairfield, California.

One of the first things you notice about Favela's are the paintings on the left wall. They are giant pieces of work created especially for them by an artist in Mexico. Unfortunately he has since passed away. If he were still alive today he could enjoy watching people's jaws drop once their eyes get a glimpse of them. They look like blown-up black and white photographs of true Mexican people and culture, lightly touched with that familiar deep red tone associated with the Mexican heartland. Next to the bar is a stunning painting of a Mexican worker in the middle of an agave plant field, very well-placed by the tequila bottles. To the right of the door is a brass-constructed sombrero-wearing trumpeter figure that is slightly beyond life size. The chandeliers look almost too heavy and too beautiful to be hanging from the ceilings in Favela's. Heck, even the plasma screen TV over the bar is encased in a beautiful frame topped with candles! Favela's Fusion is simply a work of art in itself.

The menu at Favela's has a fair price range between $10 and $20 for main entrees. This is extremely generous given the high-end tag applied to Favela's. Yet the food is obviously more complicated than any meal you'd get at a standard taquerias or a chain restaurant. You can actually find dishes with mole (pronounced Mow-lay) sauce, a down home Mexican gravy concocted from chocolate, raisins, pine nuts and several other special ingredients that take over an hour to cook and countless acts of love to prepare. I ordered one such enchilada dish covered in the mole sauce, while my wife ordered some super quesadillas. We ordered a carne asada Mexican sandwich for the children to split.

The mole dish took some getting used to for me. It was not a texture I was familiar with, but Favela's assured me it would be great. And they were right. I don't have a direct comparison for the mole sauce, but I instantly felt transported to someone's house in the Yucatan Peninsula. Again, Favela's Fusion's surroundings do nothing but enhance the experience. I was just mesmerized by the richness of the sauce and the layered textures involved. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the super-quesadillas, deeming them fresh and above the norm.

Yet the surprisingly satisfying meal was the sandwich. My kids didn't enjoy it because we didn't know it came with a slice of avocado, one of those vegetables they don't like. So my wife and kids switched meals. She took one bite and muttered an "oh, my goodness" under her breath. I took a bite and knew exactly what she was talking about. We've had bad luck with carne asada in restaurants around town. Some do an o.k. job with it, but most have over-boiled the shredded pork and seasoned the outside but left it flavorless inside. Favela's Fusion cooked their carne asada with love. "When you cook carne asada, THIS is what it should taste like!" my wife said. Every bite had spice and sensuality. It almost felt illegal to order this sandwich and eat it for only $8.

We came back at the end of the week to have lunch and ordered the carne asada sandwiches again.

If you are willing to take yourself out of the taquerias and want to have a delightful dining experience, I highly recommend Favela's Fusion. The beauty of the restaurant may overcome you but the food will keep you.