Sometimes I forget how much I love the colorful joy of Mexican décor. Growing up in San Diego, I took it for granted. Now that I live in Oregon, it’s become dear to my heart.

So on a recent visit to El Cajon (just inland from San Diego), I was thrilled to discover Hacienda Casa Blanca. This colorful restaurant is jam-packed with piñatas, rooster statues, hanging star-shaped lamps and paper flowers. Plus the website promised it had a section of comidas vegetarianas, in addition to all the regular stuff.

The menu is huge. I had a half dozen vegetarian choices. My sisters had about 4 pages of meaty wonders to peruse. I narrowed it down to vegetarian fajitas and a big salad with olives, avocado and cilantro vinaigrette. Ultimately I chose the fajitas. The plate was delivered sizzling on a black cast iron platter. I love sizzling dishes. My photo doesn’t do the steam justice. The fajitas featured red, green and yellow peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and onions. All fresh and not too greasy. The accompanying tortillas (choice of corn or flour) were warm, the beans and guacamole good.

Steamy!

But I do have a gripe. This is a restaurant that has a vegetarian section, states on the menu that they don’t use lard or trans fat in anything, and proudly fries food in vegetable oil. But being paranoid, when the server delivered my lunch I asked if the Spanish rice was vegetarian. The server assured me it was made with chicken stock. Why, oh why? When will restaurateurs accept that chicken stock is not a vegetable?

“I am not a vegetable! And neither is my stock.”

Other than the rice issue, I liked this place a lot. They offer a good deal on a daily $9.95 buffet if you really want to tank up.  Or you can get the Sunday champagne brunch buffet for a few bucks more. Buffet-loving vegetarians should ask a server for a buffet tour to make sure they get appropriate foods.