My wife recently spent two weeks in Henderson visiting family & friends. That's a long time and she got pretty bored with the salad bar at TGI Friday's (one of the few gluten free options around) so, as my wife tends to do often, she decided to venture out. Asking around she was led to Henderson Mexican Restaurant based on several recommendations. Now, being from Austin TX (at least for the past 15 years, by way of Richmond VA) we think we know good Mexican food when we taste it... the truth is, my wife enjoyed her meal at HMR quite a lot and suggested we go together next time we were in town.
Lo & behold, a couple of months later we returned together along with our almost three year old daughter. As soon as we made it to town my wife "carried" us down across the tracks to HMR. Gravel parking lot, cinderblock building, bars on the windows, faded sign in the colors of the Mexican flag... inside was part bodega, complete with a variety of interesting trinkets for sale, part old diner with a worn counter and small stools fixed to the cracked linoleum, and part family room with grandmother and her daughter quietly attending to their guests while the mother's three young children entertained themselves at a table in the back between drawing with crayons and watching Sabado Gigante on the small TV.
This place is the real deal. I felt more like I was in Mexico than even somewhere in Texas; we were amazed to learn HMR has been operating in Henderson at this former hot dog grill for 14 years! A true family run place... the mother takes the orders then went to the open kitchen with the grandmother to prepare the meals, the older of the children even got into it by answering the phone which oddly seemed to ring frequently.
We started with chips & pico de gallo which was literally prepared at that moment - on the other side of the counter in the kitchen the mother chopped fresh tomatoes, onion, avocado, and cilantro and squeezed a generous amount of fresh lime over the salsa, while the grandmother deep fried a big batch of their in-house made corn tortillas in a large pot of oil on the stove. This was also served with a nicely spicy tomatillo salsa and a less spicy but quite rich red salsa. For the meal, my wife ordered the tacos al pastor - tender pork, crisp white onion, fresh cilantro. My daughter got a ham & cheese sort-of-quesadilla - basically a ham & cheese sandwich with lettuce & tomato between two flour tortillas, flat not a wrap and served cold (we'd probably pass on that next time). My mother-in-law & I both ordered the chicken enchiladas verde - five plump corn tortillas wrapped around shredded chicken topped with a tangy tomatillo sauce and sprinkled with salty cotija cheese. For beverages my daughter had papaya nectar, wife had mango, mother-in-law had a Dos XX, and I had a couple of Bohemias to wash it all down.
All-in-all a fine experience... service was great, food was very good, and the atmosphere was welcoming and enjoyable. I'm giving them a little extra nudge, up to four stars, for their perseverance. Sure, you could go to a "better" part of town, maybe to Cracker Barrel and have a meal perhaps marginally as good as Henderson Mexican Restaurant, but I prefer my down-home feel a little more authentic... plus, I'm a huge fan of Sabado Gigante and I'm pretty sure that's not playing at the Old Country Store! read more