The Blue Santa Mexican Grill is perhaps the trendiest restaurant in town.
Recently opened in the Polaris area, Blue Santa offers an optical overload of skulls, vibrant paintings, striking handcrafted sculptures, outlandish lamps and other bric-a-brac whose disparate shapes and colors seem to bounce on top of each other in the spacious dining room. bedroom.
Manager Danny Hernandez said the owners did a top-to-bottom rebuild, so the space, at 1025 Polaris Parkway, bears little resemblance to its previous incarnation as Godavari, an Indian restaurant.
“Everything is imported from Mexico,” Hernandez said.
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The menu features classics, such as tacos, street corn and quesadillas, but Blue Santa has put its own twist on a number of items, such as guacamole, which customers can season to their own specifications, mini chimichangas, so diners can sample different flavors, a pineapple fajita with the hollowed-out fruit cut in half and filled with pina bites, chicken, steak and grilled vegetables.
Most entrees are between $15 and $20, with steak and seafood platters costing more.
The menu features many interesting finds, such as the quesabirria, which is braised shredded beef placed with cheese in corn tortillas, which are then grilled and served with beef broth and salsa verde for dipping.
“We basically made our own dishes so the menu was ours,” Hernandez said.
Mexican esquites feature steamed corn cut on the cob and tossed with mayonnaise, lime, queso fresco and tajin. Mexican street elote is a do-it-yourself act, where customers are served corn on the cob and apply Mexican cream, queso fresco and tajine at the table.
Quite rare in central Ohio, ceviche is on the menu at Blue Santa. Customers have the option of ordering a flight of four people to sample the dish.
It’s not the only thing flying in the friendly skies of Blue Santa. The customer can choose a flight of margaritas, four glasses offering a mix of two each, delivered to the table in a wooden model airplane.
Hernandez has his own elixir, Danny’s margarita, which has a “smoke” bubble in the middle. The recipe is a well-kept secret.
“Basically, this margarita represents me because I worked in restaurants for a long time and got to know the customers and what they like,” he said. “So I found this margarita.”
The restaurant had a small problem when it opened as Blue Agave a few months ago. It shared the name of another restaurant group that had opened stores in Columbus, so it became Blue Santa.
Nonetheless, Polaris fits the bill for the property, Hernandez said.
“It’s a good neighborhood – big, popular,” he said. “They thought the restaurant could work here. When they went to the restaurant, they wanted something fancy and unique. Polaris was exactly the kind of place that was what they were looking for.”
Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 614-396-8439.
