Hot and Not So Hot

It is easy in Tucson to find a Mexican restaurant slinging burritos,
enchiladas and tacos with some refried beans and Mexican rice.

However, it is hard to find ones that have truly outstanding food.
Most restaurants seem afraid of bringing a little heat; they cater to
Scoville-unit-fearing tourists more than locals. Well, Little Mexico
Steakhouse is certainly not superior in their execution of
“traditional” Mexican-food-menu items, but they execute well when
thinking outside of the box with their steakhouse grub.

My first trip to Little Mexico Steakhouse, at the corner of Mission
and Valencia roads, yielded little more than standard border-style
Mexican food. Watching the diverse crowd chow down on the bustling
weekend afternoon gave me hope that the food would be delicious and
plentiful. Once seated, we spent a good while looking over the
extensive menu, which is split between Mexican food and steakhouse
fare.

About 20 minutes later, a server finally appeared to take our order,
and came back about 10 minutes later, carrying only a basket of chips,
salsa and a spicy sour cream/salsa mix. Our margaritas ($5), or glasses
of water at the least, would have been extremely welcome, since the
chips were salty, and the dips just a smidgen warm. The small guacamole
fresca ($4.95) we ordered as an appetizer might also have paired nicely
with the chips at that time.

When our entrées, water, margaritas and appetizer finally
arrived (all at once), we eagerly dug into the guacamole, in a small
bowl topped with crumbled queso fresco, as we waited for our steaming
plates to cool. The guacamole, despite its lovely, creamy, chunky
texture and bright, appetizing color, was lacking in flavor. A little
more lime juice or salt would have worked wonders. We left the
guacamole and dug into our entrées. The green chile con carne
combination plate (no. 9, $9.25) was a pile of rather unappetizing
stewed beef chunks with just a touch of tomatoes, green chilies and
onions, served with the standard refried beans and Mexican rice, and
one large flour tortilla. Expecting the large squares of beef to be
tough, I took a hesitant bite … but they were not bad. Relatively
tender and mildly flavored, the beef was certainly short of
spectacular, but on par with other Tucson Mexican-food offerings.

Ted’s Little Mexico combo plate (no. 17, $10.95) included a cheese
enchilada, a ground-beef taco, a chile relleno and a red chile tamale.
The taco was hot and crunchy, and reminded me of tacos from my family’s
“taco night” growing up—it was more like something my dad would
make than something I’d expect at a Mexican restaurant. The enchilada
and chile relleno were both tough and chewy, and the cheese overpowered
all the other flavors. The red chile tamale was the highlight of the
plate, although it featured mild, subtle flavors. It could have used
some more spice, both for a little heat and flavor.

We left generally unimpressed. On our second visit, for a late
weeknight dinner, we were the only people in the restaurant—which
is usually not a good sign. Having worked in many kitchens, I know that
the cooks are moaning and groaning about that last table, trying to
push the food out as quickly as possible, often sacrificing taste and
quality. Fortunately, this was not the case here. We started off with a
Dos Equis draft ($4.50 for 24 ounces) and a Little Mexico cheese crisp,
which featured tomatoes, onions, green chilies and carne seca ($7.95).
The carne seca was crisp and salty, but lacked the depth of beefy
flavor that carne seca can have. The rest of the cheese crisp was,
well, cheesy and crispy—unremarkable, but crispy, cheesy things
are always good.

Now, the good news: Little Mexico may have mediocre Mexican food,
but they excel at the steakhouse fare.

Our entrées came out quickly, but not so fast that we felt
like we were being rushed. I ordered the camarones mojo de ajo (grilled
garlic shrimp, $14.95), and a plate of six gigantic, butterflied and
grilled-in-shell shrimp came out, smothered in chopped garlic. The
smell alone was intoxicating. Instead of the usual refried beans, there
was a nice cup of ranchero-style beans, with almost as much bacon as
beans in the cup. The shrimp were perfectly grilled, and the garlic was
not overpowering, adding a deep, sweet garlicky flavor to the shrimp.
The beans were a perfect complement, salty and smoky from the bacon. I
didn’t even touch the Mexican rice or tortilla that accompanied.

Ted’s steak ranchero, a 16-ounce grilled T-bone served with salsa
ranchera ($18.95), was a huge, hot portion of steak smothered in huge
chunks of tomato and onion. The steak, cooked perfectly to medium-rare,
had an incredible smoky, deep flavor, and was tender and delicious. The
extra-large, extra-chunky salsa ranchera complemented the steak
perfectly, and the potatoes were well seasoned, crispy on the outside
and creamy in the middle, almost like thick potato chips.

I was looking forward to dessert, since there was a
scrumptious-looking selection of flan, fruit chimis, fried ice cream
and sopapillas (all $3.95)—I have a weak spot for sopapillas
especially—but our server never returned, except to drop off our
check. The kitchen had been closed, illustrating one of the reasons why
I dislike being at the last table in a restaurant.

If Little Mexico Steakhouse focused more on their steakhouse items
and less on producing run-of-the-mill Mexican food, they could truly be
something special.

This article appears in Sep 17-23, 2009.