Colorado Mexican Favorites

[afoodnut]

...the only reason i could see to go there again would be if i was in the dating pool...

scary to think what creatures you might fish out from a dive into that particular pool...

Edited June 13, 2004 by afoodnut (log)

[katzenjammy]

who knew boulder had a strip club--not terribly new age is it?

Ha! Boulder is the only town where a Hooter's has failed (used to be in the building on Arapahoe between 28th & 30th where The House currently is). Though I think it failed less for PC reasons than because you can find better beer and prettier nekkid women elsewhere in town. And those heavy-duty Hooter's pantyhose are SO not sexy....

[rlm]

Mo, you should also try Efrains II in east Boulder (actually out of the city limits).

I am now in love with their Costillas (Mexican Ribs). It's one of the few items that rated a "10" on the heat scale on their menu. (I wonder...can you ask for the green chile poured over any of the other items instead of the red sauce?) Though not as hot as Santiago's green chile, theirs was very flavorful. Tender ribs were served with "country" potatoes, beans, hot tortillas, and a huge amount of green chile. It's difficult to cut the meat off of the bone without splashing your knife into the chile pool, so don't wear anything white if you order this dish.

I was intrigued by their name-sake dish, which was pronounced to be a "manly" meal where they throw a bunch of stuff into a huge tortilla and smother it with "who knows what." Anyone tried this?

I love that they have Mexican Cokes made with real sugar cane. Service is extremely friendly and helpful. Prices are a bargain (my ribs were just $8.95).

I never would have "just driven by" this place if I didn't know to hunt for it from this list, so thank you.

[katzenjammy]

I never would have "just driven by" this place if I didn't know to hunt for it from this list, so thank you.

I'm so glad you liked it! Efrain's is my favorite Mex place; good food and lovely people. You're not the only Mexican Coke junkie in Boulder. And yes, they'll sub in the green chili, no problem.

A (very, very large) friend ordered Efrain's Special Manly Burrito once, but he gobbled it down so quickly I didn't have a chance to see what was in it. Which is perhaps a good sign.

[afoodnut]

Mo, you should also try Efrains II in east Boulder (actually out of the city limits).

I am now in love with their Costillas (Mexican Ribs). It's one of the few items that rated a "10" on the heat scale on their menu. (I wonder...can you ask for the green chile poured over any of the other items instead of the red sauce?) Though not as hot as Santiago's green chile, theirs was very flavorful. Tender ribs were served with "country" potatoes, beans, hot tortillas, and a huge amount of green chile. It's difficult to cut the meat off of the bone without splashing your knife into the chile pool, so don't wear anything white if you order this dish.

I was intrigued by their name-sake dish, which was pronounced to be a "manly" meal where they throw a bunch of stuff into a huge tortilla and smother it with "who knows what." Anyone tried this?

I love that they have Mexican Cokes made with real sugar cane. Service is extremely friendly and helpful. Prices are a bargain (my ribs were just $8.95).

I never would have "just driven by" this place if I didn't know to hunt for it from this list, so thank you.

Those costillas are what I was talking about in my post upstream a bit, when I said:

At Efrains (the Lafayette Efrains is the original location), I like the braised ribs in green chile. Efrains is often very crowded, and there can be a long wait.

I've not found that the 63rd street branch is better; whichever is more convenient works fine for me.

So it must be eat Mexican food time. Now that the sun has finally come out again, I went out to run. Once around the lake, and I was pulled by mysterious forces to run towards downtown lafayette, and public road. La Familia was open, and I had a $10.00 dollar bill burning a hole in my pocket. I know Katzenjammy's been raving about their rellenos, so I decided to go in. I don't usually order rellenos, but I figured I should try what she calls the best ever. I've always found la familia to be just another different, not better or worse, alternative to Santiago's, Efrains, and Casa Alvarez (which has a different style of food). And because of their odd hours, I almost never eat there. [i tried to notice and remember when they're open. If I remember correctly: Saturday, all day 8:00 - 9:00; Sunday, 8:00 (or 9:00)- 3:00; Monday, 6:00 -2:00; Tuesday, closed; Wednesday and Thursday, 6:00 - 2:00; Friday, 8:00 - 2:00, and 5:00 - 9:00.]

I don't usually order rellenos, they're not one of my favorites anywhere, but of course I had to try one. I got a relleno and a tamale, both smothered with green, with a side of beans. It was all good, the chile hot and flavorful, but I didn't find it *better* than the alternatives of Santiago's for takeout, Efrains for eating in, and Casa Alvarez for a slightly different, more refined style of food. They're all good. (Not being a relleno maven, I can't say it was or wasn't the best relleno ever; I'll defer to Katzenjammy for that. I can say it was darn good.) The complementary bowl of chips and salsa were good, with slightly thick crisp chips, and a fresh salsa.

As I left, the old drunk sitting at the bar said "hasta la vista, pretty lady," which made my day. But the rest of my run turned into a walk after that meal.

Edit to add: Grrrr. it's raining again.

Edited June 20, 2004 by afoodnut (log)

[afoodnut]

In today's Post, there's a short article about Modern Mexican cuisine spicing up local scene. Do any of you have comments about any of the restaurants mentioned?

In the blurb about ajuua! Kyle Wagner says:

This cheery, homegrown set of eateries recently revamped the menus to include a collection of dishes that use updated ingredients and more intricate sauces, including a to-die-for chipotle concoction.

I ate at the Boulder ajuua! a couple of times when it first opened, and was not impressed. I've not tried it since it has its new, improved menu. Has anyone eaten at one of the ajuua!s since the menu was revamped?

[rlm]

I ate at the Boulder Ajuaa about four years ago with a co-worker that recommended it. It wasn't flat-out horrible--just boring. I never returned. I plan on checking out the Flatirons location since it is the only Mexican eatery super-close to us, so hopefully the revamped menu has more sizzle.

I am off to the Land of a Thousand Red Lobsters for the next few days, so please send thoughts of good food my way as I am driving across scenic Kansas stopping at Big Wong in Colby for faux Chinese or Montana Mike's in Hays for an eleven dollar steak meal.

[fredbram]

I agree with you and Robin, afoodnut. It has been several years since I've been to Ajuaa, but I didn't find any reason to think about going back.

Have fun out in the plains Robin--have a chicken fried steak for me. Which I hate, so have one for yourself.

[katzenjammy]

I agree with you and Robin, afoodnut. It has been several years since I've been to Ajuaa, but I didn't find any reason to think about going back.

Especially with the Southern Sun just upstairs--great beer, better (and cheaper) food.

[Chezhoff]

I was intrigued by their name-sake dish, which was pronounced to be a "manly" meal where they throw a bunch of stuff into a huge tortilla and smother it with "who knows what." Anyone tried this?

I've had the Efrain Special or whatever they call it...I think they just throw a little of everything into it and then smother it with both red and green.

It's a gut bomb but pretty tasty.

[katzenjammy]

Here's a quickie review of happy hour at Fiasco's Mexican Grill in Boulder:

We stopped by yesterday seeking a snack, a beer, and free wireless access. A happy hour deal offered $2.50 pints of Fat Tire or Dos Equis, but the beer tap was out of commission, and no deal was forthcoming for the bottled beers. (It took a while to extract this information from the deadpan and frankly clueless counter person.) We paid the premium price for a couple of beers and ordered an appetizer billed as "guacamole, ceviche, and salsa with a basket of chips." Guac was decent, salsa was unremarkable, and the ceviche contained no seafood other than tiny pink cocktail shrimp. The chips were a bit greasy and so stale that they were tough to chew. I asked for, and received a new basket of chips, but they weren't any better.

While we were eating, a managerial-seeming person arrived and began walking the staff around the restaurant, berating them over the large number of dirty tables.

The wireless, on the other hand, was indeed free and worked fine.

Anyone have any better experiences there?

[rlm]

Have fun out in the plains Robin--have a chicken fried steak for me.

No CFS on this trip. In between announcements for a block of radio programming sponsored by the Emporia Livestock Sales Company (?!) and songs with charming lyrics such as, "You can take the girl out of the honky tonk, but you can't take the honky tonk out of the girl," I heard an ad for a place in Colby called the Deep Rock Cafe that featured the magic word "pie." Unfortunately, they did not have any pies with real meringue and their fries were frozen rather than fresh cut. Good BLT with pickles and only a whisper of mayo so I left a 125% tip (I always figure a server stuck in a rural area can really use the beer money).

In a very non-egullet-esque manner, I neglected to eat dinner two evenings in a row. Since I was staying at my cousin's, I was dependent upon the contents of her refrigerator which consisted of various snow cone syrups, Duracell batteries, unwrapped cooked chicken pieces, Kraft powdered parmesan cheese product, Folgers "coffee," Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, Pace Mild Picante Sauce, Vlasic Dill Pickle Chips, Kraft Mayonnaise, Del Monte Ketchup, Plains Milk, a pitcher of sweet tea, Head Country BBQ Sauce, 18 eggs, a block of Velveeta, 2 tomatoes, and Shedd's Country Crock. This was very depressing and I wanted to arrange a culinary intervention for her.

Since this is a Mexican thread, I can tell you I ate at the Tex-Mex chain El Chico in OK. Passable combination fajitas. I don't think there are any of these in CO.

Is the Ajuaa in Broomfield even open yet? Looks like it's going in where the Quizno's used to be before it was seized for non-payment of taxes, but I couldn't tell from the road if it was open or not.

[Chezhoff]

but you can't take the honky tonk out of the girl,"

I've took (and even passed) college level human anatomy but I've have no friggin idea where I'd even begin looking for a girl's 'honky tonk'!

Ok, in truth I have some idea but this is a pg-13 board.

[rlm]

Good-n-greasy fried tacos can be had at Mexico City on Lawrence close to Coors Field. It's a hole-in-the-wall bar one of my co-workers recommended. He said he can only endorse the tacos though and not any of the other items, although a couple of people seemed to enjoy the rellenos with green chile. He found out about it from the owners of Brewery Bar II (who have a fairly decent spicy green chile of their own). I had one steak, one chicken, and one beef taco, all with avocado slices on top. Their salsa is in a squeeze bottle (?!).

Stopped by La Popular on the way back and picked up one red chile and one green chile tamale for later (turns out they are pretty good on their own even without my friend's homemade green chile poured on top).

[katzenjammy]

New taqueria in Boulder: Tortillaria Rey on Valmont just west of 30th now serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Half a dozen tables, limited but expanding menu (currently traditional soft tacos, burritos, tortas) and both Mexican Coke and horchata. We had two plates of tacos (5/$4.99) -- carnitas, which were fantastic, and adobo, which were OK but nowhere as good as the carnitas. They'll be adding chilaquiles to the menu soon, mmmm.

[rlm]

On my way back from inhaling a million sublime corn cups at Jack-N-Grill, I noticed a bunch of places on Federal that I haven't seen mentioned here in any detail. Anyone have the scoop on El Mercadito, La Nortena Bakery, Las Palmas, or El Padrino? Any specialties/must-order items? What about Las Delicias downtown on 19th?

Ooh, another place to get my Mexican Coca Cola fix! Thank you, katzenjammy. Will have to check that out.

Edited July 7, 2004 by rlm (log)

[fredbram]

Las Delicias is the only one of that list that I have ever been to. There are numerous places just like the few that you mentioned scattered throughout Denver, especially the west side, and I just drove in on Colfax from Peoria the other day and passed about a dozen similar spots on east colfax that I've never been to. I do stop into one of these low-profile taquerias occasionally, and they usually have pretty good food, sometimes much better than that.

There is one on the southwest corner of Evans and Broadway that we frequent, I can't remember the name, but their food is very good, tacos and soup/stews, they have a goat stew on weekends that is really good.

Las Delicias has a special place in my heart, because years ago, maybe 1982, '83, '84 it was the place that I first had relatively authentic mexican food as opposed to tex-mex topped with tons of cheese mexican food. At that time it was a tiny hole in the wall with about 6 tables and we ordered tacos al carbon-the first soft tacos I had eaten, and carnitas estilo michuocan, which was wonderful tender stewed pork with pico de gallo (also new to me at the time) delicious runny refritos (probably half lard) and green chile. They are both still on the menu, but over the years we've grown apart, alas. I don't think their food is quite as good as it used to be, and there are many competitors now with even better food.

The other place I remember fondly from that ewra is Mama Elenas, which was on east colfax at about Cherry or so. Anyone else here been around Denver long enough to remember Mamas?

[afoodnut]

Anyone else here been around Denver long enough to remember Mamas?

I remember Mamas...

I can only echo Fred's take on Las Delicias. Years ago I loved it, have not been back in ages. I don't know if Las Palmas is related to some others around town, Las Palmas II, Las Palmas (I?), if so, stay away.

A couple of other nostalgic Mexican restaurant memories---the original La Loma, and Chavez near Elitch's.

Edited July 7, 2004 by afoodnut (log)

[fredbram]

I used to love the food at Las Palmas II, but I think I was taking my life in my hands due to lack of good sanitary practices--I believe they were closed down for good a couple of years ago by the health dept.

[afoodnut]

I used to love the food at Las Palmas II, but I think I was taking my life in my hands due to lack of good sanitary practices--I believe they were closed down for good a couple of years ago by the health dept.

I can't say I'm surprised, only out of date.

So I just tried googling to see if I could find any more information, and there's apparently still a Las Palmas in Thornton that's been around since 1986; as well as taqueria Las Palmas on Federal (probably the one Robin saw?). Are they all related? Quien sabe...

[bhavenst]

Just wanted to say thanks for the recommendation of La Panda in Longmont. We've been there twice since, and they do have excellent, very authentic Mexican food.

[fredbram]

Welcome to egullet, bhavenst, nice to hear from you. Are you a Boulder/Longmont resident?

[rlm]

Really disappointed with a recent visit to Juanita's in Boulder. Maybe we didn't order their specialties. The salsa had a nice bite, but the entrees were unremarkable. Reminded me of Tom's Tavern next door (not offensive but nothing special). Should have walked over to West End and tried their "church picnic deviled eggs" instead.

[pepperedpalate]

On my way back from inhaling a million sublime corn cups at Jack-N-Grill, I noticed a bunch of places on Federal that I haven't seen mentioned here in any detail. Anyone have the scoop on El Mercadito, La Nortena Bakery, Las Palmas, or El Padrino?

Robin--

El Mercadito is brilliant -- a taqueria/grocer with amazing soft corn tacos and a wide variety of salsas; also an excellent selection of Mexican cheeses, chiles, and really terrific beef fajitas (in the meat department, not as a menu item). Tacos Y Salsas, way the hell down East Colfax is very good, too (an ndisputable dive), as is Tacos Jalisco on 38th and Tennyson and El Azteca on Federal, a few blocks south of Hampden. I like El Tejado as well, on S. Broadway.

-Lori

[mtdew]

Has anyone tried Taqueria Los Tres Reyes?