El Tapatio

Style: Mexican

My Rating: 4/5 Stars 

Website: None

Likes: Friendly Service, Fun Décor, Ranchero Sauce

Dislikes: There were no dishes with chorizo listed on the menu, food was a little over salted

We were going to see World War Z at the Regal Cinemas at New Town, in Williamsburg, VA. For over a year, we have walked by El Tapatio and said, “We should go!” but we never did. This is partly because there is a decent Mexican Restaurant close by called Plaza Azteca. The tinting outside of the restaurant is also very dark and you cannot see it as you walk by. This did not necessarily intrigue me and heighten my interest in eating there.

As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by very loud Mexican music with lyrics in Spanish. Initially I thought that the music was overly loud, but my husband said that he liked it because it drowned out potential drunks and sports commentary. There was a soccer game on the TVs posted, and everyone can understand how those soccer fans can get!

A nice host promptly brought us to a large booth, with dark wood and white cushions. We were greeted by a server who gave us a large basket of standard tortilla chips and sides of salsa and ranchero sauce. I was pleased that almost as soon as were almost done, the server came and replaced both the chips and the two sauces.

Brad ordered the Chile Colorado. It came out on a large plate with refried beans and rice. We loved this and think that it has been the best chile colorado that we have tried on the eastern end of Virginia. There was nothing fancy about how it was plated, but it didn’t need to be. The chile was spicy with small chunks of jalapenos and cilantro. The refried beans were, in the words of my husband, “standard beans with nothing fancy to mess them up.” They were just as he liked them.

I ordered the Soft Beef Chimichangas. The beef was so tender and soft, falling apart when taken from its wrap. It appeared to have been slow cooked for hours. There was a spicy cheese topping that was thinner than most cheese toppings at Mexican restaurants. I liked it immensely because it had more flavor and was not as gloppy. My sides were Mexican rice and guacamole salad. The Mexican rice was very tasty, but over salted. The guacamole was very fresh and the tomato was not over hard. It was pretty standard, but I was pleased.

And just in case the meal is a little to salty for you, they give you GIANT water glasses.

Now onto dessert. My husband loves churros, so we shared one order. He is usually very patient with me as I make us pause to take pictures of our food for this blog. However, at the moment I went to take the picture below, it was like I got between a mother bear and her cubs. There was fury and there was almost rampage. Therefore I took the picture below very quickly…. Hence the blur.

The best part about our churros dessert was that it came with caramel sauce. Picture a stick of deep fried dough that is slightly crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. It has been drizzled with chocolate sauce, and then you can dunk it in thick, gooey caramel. Yup, just a little bit of PMS heaven.