In October Chris and I visited Hot Springs, Arkansas on the way back from our camping adventure across Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Coming home from two weeks on the road, we wanted to stop at one last destination and have one more moment of relaxation and enjoyment as we sat still and watched the world pass by. Our original plan was to stop at a BBQ joint famous for pork ribs on the outskirts of downtown Hot Springs. Arriving on Sunday, however, we found that many restaurants in town were closed, including the BBQ restaurant. As a fall back, Chris and I decided to visit Picante’s Mexican Grill which was right in the middle of downtown Hot Springs – right in the middle of the tourist area.
For six years, I lived in Weslaco, Texas just 15 miles north of the US/Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley. There, I learned how to prepare proper Mexican food and the characteristics of really good TexMex. With the wave of immigration into the United States from Mexico over the past two decades, finding a restaurant to enjoy this deliciously prepared south of the border food is not difficult – it’s usually a matter of finding the local immigrant communities. There, you will find Mexican and Central American culture in abundance – from ethnic meat markets and grocery stores to delicious authentic eateries. This is where our journey started to go wrong. We were in the tourist area.
The layer of smoke that filled the air just inside the front door of the restaurant should have also been a warning. I am not talking about cigarette or cigar smoke. I am talking about the smoke generated by heating a cast iron skillet of fajitas then squeezing way too much lime juice on the skillet to generate a customer pleasing sizzle when the meal is served. With lime juice, a little goes a long way. A small squeeze in the kitchen should get the server to the table with a couple of seconds of “wow factor”. At Picante’s, my guess is they go through lime juice by the gallon. Plates of fajitas served with the not so authentic sizzle of lime juice kept sizzling and sizzling long after the plate arrived at the table. The result was a not so thin haze of smoke across the restaurant.
For our lunch Chris tried the spinach enchiladas and I ate the chimichanga. Normally, I stay away from deep fried food in Mexican restaurants, but the lack of selection of more authentic grilled and stewed Mexican entrees left little choice. When the meals arrived at the table, we were both a bit surprised. Both the enchiladas and the chimichanga were soaked in melted cheese. Cheese is an important staple food of Mexican cooking. Anejo, panela, Oaxaca and other cheeses native to Mexico add flavor and texture to everything from enchiladas to chili rellenos. In this case, however, the cheese was just a cover for the lack of seasoning and flavor in the dishes.
The spinach enchiladas resembled little in the way traditional enchiladas are prepared. Instead of a baked dish with a savory filling of spinach and cheese, the dish was made of 3 rolled corn tortillas topped with blanched spinach and soaked in melted cheese. These enchiladas never saw the inside of a oven and had the texture of library paste. The chimichanga was dipped in hot oil but certainly not properly fried. The shell was soggy and the texture of the filling was gritty with little seasoning. The interior of the savory pastry should have been heated through from cooking, but it was luke warm at best.
The few good elements for Picante’s included the side dishes and the chips. The Mexican rice was light and fluffy with good texture and flavor. The refried beans were creamy and delicious. The chips were crispy and two different types of sasla were yummy. We enjoyed several servings of salsa ahead of and during our meal. The one Mexican restaurant on our camping trip was at least not a total bust.
On the surface, Picante’s looks good. The atmosphere is festive, the music is salsa, and the decorations appear authentic. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’re likely to be disappointed. The taco traveler gives Picante’s Mexican grill a generous two tacos out of five.
