El Real?

Alright,

It has been a while since I last posted anything.  I have obviously been way too busy eating that I couldn’t manage to take any time to write.  Last Saturday I went to El Real Tex Mex in Montrose.  I have wanted to try this place for a while but I couldn’t seem to find an excuse or a dining partner to venture in town with me.  Well, I finally had a reason.  Not only was I going there to chow down but I also got to hang with one of my besties for her birthday!

This restaurant is headed by Brian Caswell who also operates Stella Sola (no thanks), Little Bigs (best milkshakes) and Reef (no thanks to seafood).  Since I have had a less than appealing experience at Stella Sola I don’t know why I wanted to try this place as bad as I did.  Maybe it’s growing up in Texas and my insatiable appetite for anything Mexican!

I have to say that I thought it would be way more crowded than it was for a Saturday night around 9 pm.  It felt like it could have been a Tuesday night for all I know.  But it is a pretty big place so I figured maybe I couldn’t see everyone? 

My party of 4 was definitely all about the margaritas!  The prickly pear looked delicious but I opted for a Paloma.  If you have never had one of these it is made with tequila (duh!), grapefruit soda and lime juice.  This is probably one of my favorite drinks but I always forget that I like it so when they waiter told me it was on the menu I didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes, please!’ 

Now, on to the nitty gritty…

The meal obviously began with some chips & hot sauce.  The chips by themselves were nothing special.  It seemed like I could get them at the grocery store.  Some were overly salty and others tasted old.  The hot sauce had a nice kick to it but it’s not something to write home about.  This was probably a good thing because I am trying to start eating better & the not-so-yummy chips & hot sauce prevented me from my usual scarf-all-the-chips-then-eat-none-of-my-meal-because-I-ate-all-the-chips routine.

For my entrée I went with the San Antonio puffy tacos, one chicken and the other pork.  Now, my experience with puffy tacos has been a good one.  They are usually nice & crispy and the filling is more than satisfactory.  Well, these did not live up to the past!  The taco shells were not crispy at all!  I had to use a knife to try to crack them.  In an effort to remain as lazy as I can be and because of the taste of the shells, I ended up only eating only the meat out of the tacos.  The chicken was good but the pork lacked flavor.  In order to ease my disappointment, I turned to the rice hoping it would be the saving grace to the dish.  WRONG!!  It tasted like…..nothing!  Major disappointment.

I should have taken the suggestion of one of my dining companions and gone with the beef fajitas but I just had to be different.  Next time I should listen better.  The fajitas looked & smelled delicious!

The saving grace to the meal was the queso.  Without it, I would have been lost.  We got the picadillo beef in it, which didn’t hurt it on the flavor side.  The cheese was nice and silky & there was a healthy ratio of cheese to veggies (tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno). 

Next time, I think I will go here for drinks and appetizers...oh & definitely the fajitas.  I don’t want to write this place off because I think it could be good but someone needs to stop this ride in flavor town!