Villa Bonita Mexican Restaurant offers more than a few choices that makes it a standout on the Northwest Side.
Open for two years near the corner of Bethel and Sawmill roads, the restaurant offers a dozen raw oysters ($29.99), with lettuce and lime. In one variation, the oysters are topped with house-prepared ceviche ($38.99).
Owner Edgar Brambila said his culinary journey started after he left Mexico for Oregon, where his brothers owned a restaurant and needed a cook.
Ruben Brambila taught his brother how to make simple, comforting Mexican food.
“He was my teacher,” said Edgar Brambila, who decided to move east and cast his fortunes in Columbus, where the opportunities were greater.
His first local enterprise has since been shuttered. He and a former business partner closed Taqueria Guadalajara on Cleveland Avenue and went their separate ways.
Villa Bonita is brightly lit with natural illumination, offering dark wooden tables, a lengthy bar and plenty of TVs.
The restaurant has more seafood dishes than average.
The deep-fried mojarra pescado ($17.99) uses a whole tilapia that is scored in the center so the special spice mixture can penetrate the meat, which is marinated for one day.
“The (meat) is tender and soft,” Brambila said. “It’s crunchy outside.”
The platter is served with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado slices, ranch dressing, rice, beans and tortillas.
In the camarones a la diabla ($16.49), the shrimp are sauteed in butter, garlic, mushrooms and a deep-red house spice mix that suggests the heat is lying in wait. The platter, as with most at Villa Bonita, also contains lettuce, rice, beans and tortilla.
“It’s a spicy aftertaste, not crazy,” Brambila said.
One of the house favorites is the media pollo (bone-in chicken leg and thigh, $14.99) which is marinated and cooked in the oven an grilled to crisp.
Street tacos, served in the standard corn tortilla, are a big thing at the restaurant; pollo, al pastor pork and carne asada ($2.75) are highly recommended options.
Mulitas ($3 each) are a variation of the tacos: The tortillas are crispy and stuffed with the customer’s choice of meat, plus onion, cilantro, spicy salsa and avocado.
The fajita burrito ($13.99) is an ample serving of chicken, sauteed onions and bell peppers stuffed inside a burrito that is drenched in a thick cheese sauce.
“It’s soft, melty and rich,” Brambila said.
Steak en su jugo ($14.99) features strips of sirloin sauteed with rice, beans, bell peppers and mushrooms in a tantalizing salsa verde that adds just the right touch of sharpness to the meal, Brambila said.
Brambila said he opened when COVID infections were raging, which added a lot of stress to the restaurateur. “It was hard the first year but now it’s more relaxed,” he said.
Villa Bonita Mexican Restaurant
Where: 5467 Bethel-Sawmill Center, Northwest Side
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sundays
Contact: 614-717-9988; https://villabonitacolumbus.com/
