Restaurant Review - Salsa shrine

Nuevo Laredo Cantina summons the hungry with home-style Mexican

Though a native New Mexican, I would groan every time anyone cheerfully suggested Mexican food. The thought of stale tortilla chips, granular, tasteless rice and the congealed skin on refried beans kept me from exploring my own birthright for years. Almost as if to compensate for all those horrible experiences at Mexican restaurants, Nuevo Laredo Cantina offers home-cooked Mexican food that is as sabroso (delicious) as it is sana (healthy). The food on your plate looks fresh, not as if it’s sat under a heat lamp for even a second. While the margaritas are heavy on the mix and debilitated with a wine base, the tortilla chips are fresh, and the salsa, with diced onion and cilantro, is refreshingly, rather than oppressively, spicy. Although you may have to wait a while to make the move from the bar to a table, having ordered we were quickly presented with our food: chicken mole ($10.95) and enchiladas de chorizo ($8.95). The long-grained rice, flecked with carrots, was plump with moisture. The refritos were equally fresh and never congealed an outer shell. I could have eaten a plate of rice and beans alone, so flavorful and satisfying were the sides. The puebla style shredded chicken, though somewhat dry, was nicely covered with a chocolatey mole sauce, which was rich and authentic. The enchiladas de chorizo, however, stole the show as the mostly savory, somewhat spicy sausage was blended with cubed, pan-fried potato and spices, and smothered in Monterey Jack cheese.

From the lunch menu, I would recommend the chicken burrito ($6.50). It was everything you expect a burrito to be — the standard Mexican sandwich, engorged with cheese, chicken or beef — and more. The moist, savory-spicy-sweet chicken was blended with lettuce, jalapeos and tomatoes, and covered with a curtain of cheddar cheese.

The beef chimichangas ($6.50) were also good, but perhaps best reserved for die-hard carnivores; the crisp, lightly fried shell was bulging with nothing but ground beef. Perhaps the same variation of ingredients found in the chicken burrito and chorizo enchiladas would improve this dish, which, after a while, begins to feel like a chore for those of us who are consistent plate cleaners. It came with guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream, which, when slathered over the chimichanga, compensated for the shell’s chewy texture. The guacamole is exactly as it should be, with a tangy kick followed by the spicy heat from the chiles.

When you finally lift your head from the trough-like plate, you’ll find yourself surrounded with the charming clutter of Catholic kitsch and entire walls devoted to group photographs of large, grinning men. Due to its obscure location on Chattahoochee Avenue and the pictures of the Sacred Heart of Christ, The Virgin of Guadelupe and a host of saints, Nuevo Laredo recalls the out-of-the-way places in New Mexico that are filled with shrines like these. I, for one, will happily make a regular pilgrimage to this home-style Mexican café.

Nuevo Laredo Cantina, 1495 Chattahoochee Ave. 404-352-9009. Open Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Closed Sun. Entrées range in price from $5.99-$12.95. Cash and credit cards accepted.