This is a tale of two Mexican restaurants that, at first glance, seem to have much in common. They’re competitors, to some extent, located within a mile of each other – one tucked into a longtime shopping district, another surrounded by a sprawling outdoor shopping mall. Both opened during weak economic times, when diners are harder than ever to impress.
From the start, COA(named after a tool used to harvest the agave plant)faced a bit of a perception problem. Co-owner Marc Bianchini, who opened Osteria del Mondo in 1994 at the tender age of 23, chose the menu descriptor “Mexican street food” to brand the 7-month-old restaurant. For the interior of this space – formerly, the high-end Cameron’s Steakhouse – Bianchini steered away from the stereotypical. With its horizontal lines and a modern, nightclubish look, the 7,000-square-foot COA is “schwanky,” as one of my dining companions put it. Before the restaurant opened, Bianchini told me the prices would be “ridiculously cheap,” going on to say that most of the items “you can readily find on the street … if you were taking food home in Mexico.”
But there’s non-street-food flair here. Bianchini uses ingredients like veal and ahi tuna for taco fillings; offers a side of pinto beans cooked with bacon and Mexican beer; and thankfully doesn’t bookend his tortilla creations with sides of sour cream, cheddar cheese and shredded iceberg lettuce. The latter trio is not a signature of Mexican street food, but it’s the kind of accoutrement that frequenters of Mexican-American restaurants have come to expect. COA tacos are also not a buck or two. They run $3-$5. But instead of ground beef or dark-meat chicken, these have ground chorizo, Nueske’s bacon (more Midwest than Mexico), Strauss free-raised veal and sautéed shrimp. I would not call the menu ridiculously cheap, but quality necessitates a little more coin, and that, I think, is fair.
Outside the mall, a few blocks east on Silver Spring Drive, sits the new El Guapo’s Cantina.In a mere week’s time, the Mexican café sprouted out of the roots of underperforming Berkeley’s Café. It’s run by the same owners as Berkeley’s – the partners who head Gracious Catering and Wauwatosa’s Firefly Urban Bar & Grill. When it became clear that Berkeley’s wasn’t driving the city into a wild spending spree, co-owner Marija Whitman says they reached for the concept they’d originally considered but ditched before opening Berkeley’s. The transition took place in late 2009 and included ambiance changes (clay-colored paint, wall-hung sombreros) as well as a new menu of the Mexican works (tacos, burritos, tostadas and enchiladas), plus a few American standbys like Buffalo wings and burgers.
Something Whitman says she learned from her Berkeley’s experience is that “people are extraordinarily price-sensitive.” Bingo. Many diners may prefer a plate half-filled with rice and refried beans to the creamy sage polenta and poached green beans that used to come with Berkeley’s pork tenderloin.
After a closer look, there isn’t a whole lot of overlap between COA and El Guapo’s, aside from cohabitating under the “Mexican” umbrella. The differences are in style, intention and execution.
COA has matured dramatically in recent months. The weak service that made a crushing impression in the beginning has been smoothed out. The “street food” – a vague catchphrase – was good from the get-go, but tighter now that the kitchen has more than six months under its belt.
The gratis chips that arrive immediately are freshly fried flour tortillas – greasy, but thick, and awfully good with the homemade salsas (a fine tomatillo that leaves a flicker of fire on the back of your tongue, and a thin, smooth red).
As appetizers, you can have flaky, golden pulled pork empanadas ($5) or rich, cheesy queso fundido ($6; the dip is even better with chorizo, $8), but with spoon in mouth, there’s nothing more satisfying than a bowl of tortilla soup thickened with avocado, Chihuahua cheese and strips of fried tortilla ($4). A spritz of fresh lime releases a tart fruitiness to the chicken broth. The tomato broth base in the shrimp soup is thin, not pulpy, leaving lots of room for chunks of potato, sliced carrots and still-tender shrimp ($7).
COA’s list of a dozen kinds of “street” tacos is full of kindred-sounding pairings, carnivorous and vegetarian. From several visits of mixing and matching, I’d go down this taco road again – spicy chicken tinga with cilantro, onions and chipotle sauce ($4); and braised short ribs with Yucatan-spiced caramelized onions ($4). But what’s missing? Ahh, just a squirt of lime…
Among the big-plate offerings, the restaurant makes the obligatory burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas – the latter are best with the sweet, un poquito despicy green sauce (pork or chicken $12; steak $14), although more sauce would have helped the dryness of the two enchiladas.
The roasted garlic sauce with the poblanos rellenos is neither subtle nor overbearing ($12). It clings seductively to the smoky, skinny poblano pepper, filled with shrimp, potato and avocado. It strays further from the common chiles rellenos in that it’s not stuffed with cheese, dipped in egg batter and then fried. The poblano is itself wrapped in mild melted cheese.
From the roster of specials – for instance, chipotle-habanero shrimp with fried potatoes (Mondays, $12) – there’s a day for moist, wonderfully tender baby-back ribs prepared Yucatan style. This is Tuesdays, $14. The Mexican flair to that dish comes out in the chile-achiote marinade. The finger-friendly pork also absorbs the tropical sweetness of mango and orange.
The menu has several good sides (an exception being the COA rice, which is just bland). Steeped with bacon, chorizo and Dos Equis beer, the pinto beans put many bean creations to shame. Other illuminations are the Mexican jicama-cabbage slaw in a light honey-cream dressing ($4) and the calabacitas ($5), which is like a Mexican version of ratatouille.
At the small, storefront El Guapo’s – which translates to “The Handsome’s” – I see a more varied appeal for the masses. For every he who orders the chicken mole, there may be a she jonesing for the Casa burger and fries. On one visit, as a matter of fact, I find a lone French fry poking out of my basket of tortilla chips. Sadly, it’s not quite right for the smoky, pulpy tomato salsa.
My server holds back nothing in the way of praise for the grilled fish tacos (two tacos, rice and beans, $9.95). And they are pretty good – although the spiced crèma and salsa from the chips were necessary to jack up their flavor. They come with standard rice and refried beans. While the restaurant doesn’t offer the taco variety of a place like COA, there are the straightforward choices – shredded chicken, ground beef, bean and shredded barbecued pork. And of those straightforward dishes, the chicken taco is well-stocked with meat, but needs guacamole – $2 for a side of chunky, fresh-tasting guac – and salsa to turn up the flavor level. The beef tostada is so layered with meat, lettuce and cheese that the hard taco shell is soggy ($4 or $10.95 for combo plate).
The tortas (aka, Mexican sandwiches, $9.75 and $10.75) start with a bun, then follow with a south-of-the-border list of ingredients. Mine has strips of grilled flank steak with bell peppers, avocado and pickled onions – a nice marriage, but I’d have liked a sturdier bun. The restaurant runs a lunch special of a half-sandwich with soup or salad ($7.25). What’s cool about it is the soup is a sizable bowl, and while it’s not Mexican, the thick, house-roasted tomato soup with rosemary cream and crostini is very fine.
A welcome surprise, in quality, is the chicken mole – a smoky, sesame seed-topped sauce clinging to pieces of chicken, the firm, meaty breast down to the tender, rich drumstick and thigh ($12.75). A lovely plus is the porridge-like hominy polenta, instead of rice. It’s also served with a sour-ish slaw.
Bianchini has smoothed out the initial creases at COA. Strauss veal and Nueske’s bacon may not qualify as “street food,” but I give him license to be creative with his own menu. El Guapo’s success may depend on how it’s received by people in the Bay – while COA draws from a potentially more diverse mall crowd. In any event, we’re talking more dining choices in this corner of the North Shore, which otherwise sees a scarcity of sopes and Mexican slaw.
COA: Bayshore Town Center, 5750 N. Port Washington Rd., 414-967-1451. Hours: Sun 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Prices: small plates $3-$9; soups, salads $4-$12; tacos $3-$5; dinners, daily specials $8-$14. Service: improved in poise, experience and knowledge. Smoke-free. Handicap access: yes. Credit cards: M V A DS. Reservations: accepted.
El Guapo’s Cantina: 342 E. Silver Spring Dr., 414-897-8624. Hours: Sun-Mon 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Tues-Thurs 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Prices: appetizers $3-$10.25; soups, salads $3.75-$7.75; sandwiches $8.50-$10.75; entrées $7.95-$18.75; desserts $5. Service: a little slow; at times, appears understaffed. Smoke-free. Handicap access: yes. Credit cards: M V A DS. Reservations: accepted for 6 or more on Sun-Thurs.
