I've been here several times now. El Mexicano is a straightforward Mexican joint that serves traditional style, not Tex-Mex style, food. The menu isn't huge (a couple of my fave Mex standards like Chilies Rellenos and Sopes are sadly missing), but what's there is varied enough to fill any needs, and the family platters are sights to behold.
My first trip was to try out their gorditas, which were well stuffed in a thick corn masa shell. It wasn't deep fried, as I've had in some places, but nice and tasty. My wife got the Mojarra, a whole fried snapper (may have been tilapia, but Mojarra is traditionally snapper). It was well cooked, but not overcooked as we've experienced in other places. The tortillas that accompanied it were freshly made, and perfect for clawing out pieces of the fish. All in all, a good experience.
My second trip there was less thrilling. My chicken enchiladas in salsa verde were so salty that I could barely eat them. It wasn't the salsa that was salty, but the chicken inside the enchiladas. Unfortunately, it was a takeout order, and I wasn't willing to drive back to the restaurant to return them. In retrospect, I wish that I had. My wife got the mojarra again, and her fish was also heavy on the salt side. Whomever was cooking that day had a very heavy hand for the salt, and if not for the positive result of the first visit, I'd likely not have returned again. It was that bad.
I almost didn't go back for a third trip, but I gave them another chance, and I'm glad I did. I went in for breakfast and ordered Chilaquilles verde, and they were very good, and the plate was big enough for me to get two meals out of it. The over easy eggs were over medium, but I let it slide.
That meal got them out of the hole they'd dug, and my Tacos de Tripa (ordered crunchy) were a diet cheat delight, and my Rancheros breakfast was very good, and very filling. It wasn't the typical Huevos Rancheros presentation, but all the constituent elements were there, and the taste was on board too. Again, my eggs were more medium than easy, but it wasn't a world ending crisis. The thin slice of beef was also overcooked, but from similar experiences in many other Mexican places, I've come to wonder if that's just the way they do it? Next time I'll ask for it to be cooked just a couple of minutes. The excellent hot chocolate more than made up for it. I'd stop in there just for the chocolate.
in the end, this will be a regular stop for me. They can improve on their four star award by getting my eggs right, serve the beef sides less than extremely well done, and by keeping the salt shaker lid secured in the future, but it's much better than the three star I would have given had I not made additional visits after my second. Unless a restaurant does something God awful (usually service related) to me, I'll not slam a place after just one visit, and I now try for at least a few visits before even reviewing.
Also, please be patient with the servers. English is not a strong suit for some of them, but they're nice, and it's a good opportunity for you to practice your Spanish. read more