Mi México Restaurant
400 East Broadway, Van Horn, Texas
Whenever a new eating place opens up in our town I just can't wait to try it out and compare it to the other restaurants in town, and my own standards of restaurant quality.
A few things about my standards, though: 1) I'm really old-school in many respects, 2) my tastes in food are highly multicultural, 3) I'm a fairly decent cook myself, and 4) since I'm a heart patient I'm finely attuned to the amount of fat and the type of fat in any given dish.
Mi México opened up for the first time today, and since I was busy at noon our family went to try it out for supper. This post is just my initial impression, keeping in mind that the first day open usually isn't the best example of how things will be. (Ratings are on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.)
Service (rating 6):
The service was above average for the first day. The waitress returned several times to ask how everything was and to check on our drinks. The few delays that happened were more due to the cooks and not the waitress. My guess is that the waitress is likely the owners' daughter, and she was enthusiastically accompanied by her little sister.Food Quality (rating 7):
I ordered the Mole Plate (chicken mole with rice, refried beans, and a whole-wheat flour tortilla), a lettuce and tomato salad, and iced tea. I also ordered a single side-order taco, since I tend to judge Mexican restaurants on the flavor and quality of their beef tacos!The mole sauce was as good or better than any I've ever eaten and the chicken was cooked just right. On the negative side, the chicken had way too much fat and skin cooked into the sauce which means I won't be ordering this particular dish again for the sake of my cholesterol. The refried beans were pretty much like every restaurant's beans, tasting okay but fairly average.
I enjoyed the rice, but both my wife and I thought it was way too sticky for our tastes. The flavor of the rice was more from Spain and not the standard West Texas Mexican food taste. I'm okay with that, but quite a few people I know wouldn't like it. The tortilla arrived somewhat hard and fairly cool; I felt it was purchased pre-made rather than producing it in-house.
My salad was strictly lettuce and tomato, but was exactly what I would expect for my entree and it tasted good. What was different was that it arrived after my meal was half gone and came without dressing, which I asked for later and received. The taco was left off my order in the kitchen, so I can't comment on the one food I wanted to review! Anyway, my bet is that the service will smooth out as the cooks get broken in to the new location.
Menu (Rating 7):
The menu might be better suited to a larger city. Nowadays we have very few places where you can eat out, and a couple of additions to the menu might keep them the good graces of more local customers. Let me explain. In a large city, you have your pick of places to eat and you go somewhere that serves the kind of food you're craving that at that particular time.In a small town where only one or two places are open at a time, you go somewhere to eat and expect to have a variety for everyone to select from. Although I love Mexican food, some of our family and friends can't or won't eat it, and there is nothing on the menu at Mi México for them.
If it were my business, I'd add at least a hamburger, fries and hot-dogs to the menu, and maybe a chicken fried steak. Even if you love Mexican food, you might not feel like having it at the moment. If so, you're just out of luck here and if nothing else is open you might as well stay home.
Prices (Rating 9):
Prices were actually quite good for our area; just a bit below the other establishments in our area. My wife and I ate well for about $15 total including tea and a diet coke.Ambiance (Rating 5):
I can't say really much, good or bad, for the atmosphere. The building was a bar when I first came to Van Horn in 1988, and later became a tortilla factory followed by a succession of unsuccessful but fairly good restaurants.There's nothing special about the decor or the building - it's just a place to hold a kitchen and a dining area, so the food, service and personalities will have to create the mood, something that just takes time.
I was amused at the silverware; most might say I'm nitpicking, but I just believe in the right tool for the job: The ''dinner spoon'' and ''dinner fork'' rolled neatly in my napkin were actually a soup spoon and a salad fork. I know - yes, they work for the job, and most Van Horn eateries don't even give you a spoon unless its for your tea; I just like to use the right utensils.
Highlights (Rating 9+):
About halfway through our meal we were served what the waitress called ''salsa and chips.'' Actually it was more like chile con queso and it was super good! Although the long green chiles were not as hot as I like them, they were obviously very fresh, fire roasted / hand peeled and very high quality. There was much more chile than cheese and the result was excellent.Overall Impression (Overall Rating 7):
I feel like Mi México has gotten of to a fairly good start here in Van Horn, but to stay in business there will be somewhat of a learning curve on the part of the operators. I wish them the best of luck and really hope they do well here.Will we eat there again? Well, it depends who is with us. If my brother-in-law is with us, we'll be eating somewhere else until they add a few things he can eat to the menu. As for me, I'll keep trying until I find something on their menu that isn't so high in fats - gotta keep that cholesterol down no matter what!
