Jarochos

I'm addicted to this place!!!!

This restaurant has pretty good authentic food from Veracruz (the state where I was born). I've been tired of having to eat pseudo-Mexican food all the time, so it was a RELIF to see a menu that did not have burritos, chimichangas, taco salads, or other inventions that are not original from Mexico but that are now believed to be staples of "authentic Mexican food".

The first time my husband and I went, our experience was great. The restaurant is small. There is no much decor (not that it needs it), but I love the Jarocho picture that welcomes you in the entrance, and the wooden ship on top of the wall to the kitchen (so classic of Veracruz). I like that it is a family run business. The service did take a bit but it was worth it, for all the food was made to order. One thing I LOVED was the salsas and the beans! For once I got to eat BLACK refried beans as opposed to the pinto beans that are characteristic of western states in Mexico. I got to eat the tamales de hoja de plátano, and the picaditas. All which tasted great. Everything tasted so fresh.

I also liked that the TV was in Spanish. At the time they had Brave, although I wished the TV had better resolution since half of the screen was one color and the other another color. But I was not there for the TV so that does not really matter. By the way, the bathrooms were sparkling clean.

There have been families and some groups of people that go to eat there. I also saw the owner going and saying hi. I think they must be regular. I wanted the owner to come so I could congratulate him and tell him that it had been years since I eat a REAL picada, empanada (quesadilla) made of corn and small filled with chicken), and a tamal in a restaurant that was really authentic to Veracruz style. I think he was too busy with the other people. It's ok, we'll go back as soon as we are in Lafayette area.  To bad we don't live there in order to go as often as I would like.

One recommendation I would make menus can include a brief explanation of what Veracruz food is like and  how it differs form other gastronomies. I think that people should start learning about the diversity of cuisines of Mexico and not to conform with the "usual" items found in the restaurant. I think my biggest nightmare is to have this restaurant change their recipes just to accommodate to a stereotype of Mexican food. It is Jarocho food and that's it. So I would have liked to see some descriptions in the food, perhaps with a little history and places and ways in which people eat them. That will make their selective menu more interesting. Like explaining that they are antojitos, and food used in special occasions, etc.

It does not matter, as long as the flavor stays the same. I can only say thank you for such good food :)

. Every time we drive by, we stop at this restaurant. It's worth the extra two miles off 1-65!!!!!!

LOVE the mole

After trying nearly every Mexican restaurant in town, my husband dreads whenever I mention going to a new one. He is Hispanic, and he has not cared for any Mexican restaurant that we've been to in town (except one that was in the strip mall by K-Mart but they have since closed). However, much to his surprise as well as mine, he enjoyed our meal at Jarocho's.

I found the menu to be a little limited - there are four appetizer options and about twice as many platter options. I ended up going with an order of the quesadillas - my stand-by option when there are limited vegetarian entrees. It was very good. The tortilla was somewhat thicker than ordinary tortilla shells, and my husband proclaimed that it was the "good" kind of Mexican cheese.  He had an order of the cheese empanadas, and he enjoyed them but preferred my quesadillas.

I found the service to be a little slow even though we were the only ones in the restaurant. There was a TV on during our entire meal - the programming was entirely in Spanish, but it was on some odd show which featured people who dressed up like Selena and then performed on stripper poles...?? Kind of odd entertainment.