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$30 & Under: We fell hard for this Newport Mexican spot

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Welcome to $30 & Under! 

No long food reviews here. Just the essentials on where to find best local eats to blow your mind, but not your budget. Twice a month, we challenge our team of foodies to scour the town for the best bites for two under $30. This is their latest discovery.

This Week's Find: La Mexicana in downtown Newport

Why We Love It: This Mexican joint in downtown Newport serves some of the most authentic food from south of the border in this south-of-the-river city. The menu is heavy on choices, with five vegetarian options and 15 meat options available for a la carte tortilla dishes, ranging from common favorites like carne asada and chorizo to more adventurous options like sesos (marinated veal brains) and lengua (seasoned beef tongue). 

La Mexicana starts the meal off with a basket of warm chips and bowl of salsa (first round is free, extras are $1.99). The salsa has a nice kick to it without being overly hot. We kept things simple with chicken enchiladas dinner ($10.99) and three tacos ($2.49 each): carnitas (sauteed pork), pollo (marinated chicken) and queso con rajas (cheese and jalapeno peppers). Each taco offered a different, yet tasty, experience. 

This place is pretty easy on the wallet, so we also opted for dessert. We shared the tres leches ($4.99), yellow cake served in a sweet three-milk bath. It was the ideal cool-down after the spicy queso con rajas taco. That filled up the two of us for just $24.86 before tip. 

 

For more great food finds for $30 and under, follow WCPO.com's band of foodies @9OnYourSide on Instagram