goTriad.com

I met my husband in a Mexican restaurant. It was spring 1998, a Thursday night in Salt Lake City. Neither of us set out to be in that particular place on that particular night: I was skipping a dance class I'd meant to attend; Jake had tried eating at another Mexican restaurant until the line had proved too long. Our love of good Mexican food led our paths to cross at the Rio Grande that April evening. The rest, as they say, is history.

We ate many more meals at the Rio Grande in the years that followed (in fact, we either ate there or at the Red Iguana, another Mexican restaurant, and actually was our favorite, at least once a week), and when we married two years after meeting, we held one of our celebratory dinners at the Rio Grande.

I have to say that since leaving the West, it has been hard to maintain our Mexican food consumption at quite the same level. There aren't as many Mexican restaurants here to choose from, and one is often much like the other, duplicating the cheesy, bland version of the cuisine that, for some reason, dominates in so many American cities. We try places and try places and then resolve just to make it more often at home.

But there are a couple restaurants we return to (maybe not weekly, but again and again) when we get the craving.

San Luis, on West Lee Street in Greensboro, is one of those places. Formerly a gas station, the restaurant has a festive, funky, close-quarters feel with high-backed booths, a mirrored wall and friendly servers who speak in soft, playful voices to our daughter and make us feel at home.

On our recent visit, the chips arrived in a basket almost as soon as we sat down. They were warm, thin and crisp, and the salsa we poured into little bowls had deep color, good flavor, a little kick and cilantro we could happily taste.

Like so many other Mexican restaurants, the menu at San Luis is a bit overwhelming with its offerings of one combination after another of tacos, enchiladas and burritos. But there are some specialties that stand out here , and it's worth taking a deeper look to find them.

Particularly if you like seafood, San Luis has a lot to offer. It serves three fish-based soups, including Caldo de Mariscos, loaded with shrimp, clams, fish, octopus and vegetables. There are tostadas topped with shrimp or ceviche, shrimp or fish tacos Ensenada-style and hard-shelled tacos filled with ceviche and avocado. If you like your fish fried, there's tilapia fried whole or fried shrimp wrapped in bacon. And if you prefer it lighter, there are marinated and grilled jumbo shrimp and cocktails containing shrimp, octopus and/or oysters, served in a glass with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeños and avocado. I've heard particularly good things about the cocktails, ceviche and fish tacos.

Hoping to find something like one of my old favorites, I ordered the enchiladas suizas. Different from those I've had elsewhere but still tasty, the San Luis enchiladas were filled with chicken, laid on a tangy bed of tomatillo sauce and topped with queso (cheese sauce), pico de gallo and sour cream. Filling as they were, I saved two of the four for lunch the next day.

Jake, always in search of mole, ordered the enchiladas poblanas –– chicken enchiladas topped with mole poblano and a little cheese. I couldn't quite tell if the mole was made entirely from scratch, but it tasted good. I wish more restaurants offered mole in its countless and distinct varieties.

Other tempting items include huevos rancheros, a chile verde burrito, and chilaquiles (tortilla strips cooked with chicken and verde sauce, topped with cheese and guacamole). On Saturday and Sunday, San Luis offers menudo (a spicy tripe soup that's said to be a hangover cure), caldo de res (hearty beef soup with lots of vegetables) and consome de borrego (lamb consommé with chickpeas and rice).

For two people who fell in love over Mexican food, San Luis provides happy reminders of how it all began.

Casual Dining features local restaurants for diners on a budget. It runs every other week in Go Triad. Contact Angie DeCola at angiedecola@hotmail.com.

Newsletter

Learn More

topCars

featured ads

TriadMarketplace.com