Mystery Diner: La Costa Chica Grill — something revolutionary for Johnson City

There is a culinary revolution of sorts taking place in north Johnson City's restaurant corridor. A once-shunned property has been renovated and remodeled into a new restaurant.In addition to the usual tables, chairs, menus and wait staff, this place also has a full-service market.However, that is not what attracted the attention of my dining partner and myself.What did the attracting was the market having its own butcher shop.The location is 2614 N. Roan St. The place is La Costa Chica Grill.First impressionsIn Johnson City, take North Roan Street north toward Kingsport. After you pass through the stoplight at Springbrook Drive, a short drive will show you the entrance to the AT&T parking lot on your right.Across the parking lot you will see the front door of La Costa Chica Grill. There is plenty of parking available out front and to the right side of the restaurant.Open for about a month, La Costa Chica Grill is something that is becoming more and more popular in Johnson City. With a hat-tip to our south-of-the-border neighbors in Mexico, La Costa Chica Grill is a Restaurante Familiar or family restaurant with a food market or tienda sharing the same space. La Costa Chica Grill goes one step further; its tienda has a carniceria, a butcher shop as part of its operations.Once through the doors, you will see a cashier and carry-out counter, and a low wall that divides the restaurant seating from the tienda's merchandise shelving. The carniceria entry is found on your right and the kitchen on your left. The restaurant seating area accommodates 80 or so customers. On the right wall is a drinks cooler containing all manner of delicious and healthy drinks. Notable among these are soursop, coconut, tangerine and some gorgeously green lime citrus soda.La Costa Chica's competent carnicera ("butcher") offers competitively priced cuts of all kinds of meat displayed in its coolers, including my favorite chorizo (spicy Mexican sausage). A central shelf stack holds fresh vegetables. The dairy case is next, containing several large rounds of Mexican cheese in among the other dairy products. Several flat, covered bins containing fresh breads and pastries will surely highlight any meal you have.SelectionsAfter our self-guided tour of the tienda and carniceria, it was time to order our supper. My dining partner chose the Costa Chica Grill's chicken fajitas platter ($14.99) which came with a fajitas-style salad of sour cream, guacamole and pico di gallo. I opted for a plate of aguachiles di camarone ($14.99). I added a tall glass of horchata ($4.99) while my dining partner's beverage was an equally tall glass of iced Jamaica (pronounced "himica" as in "hibiscus") tea ($4.99).How it tastesMy dining partner was very pleased with her chicken fajitas plate. The white-meat chicken was coarsely chopped into strips before grilling with thin-sliced rings of white onion. The side order of seasoned rice was quite good, as were the refried beans. Though relatively minor in the flavor bouquet of the dish, they nevertheless provided an earthy foundation to the pungency of the chicken, onions and rice, making a good foil for the spiciness of the pico di gallo and the guacamole. Between bites, my dining partner found her cold glass of hibiscus tea to be an excellent palate cleanser.My aguachiles camarone was both visually striking and an education for my taste buds. The fresh lime juice had marinated/cooked about a dozen shrimp into delicate pink and white morsels, which were served with round medallions of fresh-sliced cucumbers, purple onions and avocados, plus a hit of a potent green pepper sauce. My glass of horchata, a cooling slurry of rice water and coconut milk, ably acted as fire extinguisher whenever the aguachiles' pepper sauce got, as my dining partner said, "pert."It was a delicate, excellent dish — probably the best I've tasted in a long while.The bottom lineLa Costa Chica Grill is another welcome addition to the Johnson City restaurant scene by our friends from south of the border.Why not see what the grill can tempt you with?While you are waiting for your meal to arrive, take a pleasantly objective walk through the market and the carniceria.Each time you visit La Costa Chica Grill, there will be something new for you to try, taste and (maybe) take home with you.Oh, and Viva la Revolucion!La Costa Chica Grill(Market and Butcher Shop available on premises)1714 W. Market St., Johnson City423-328-7333Dine-in, Carry-outSun – Thu 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.Fri – Sat 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.Available on social mediaCredit cards accepted