New Mexico born Hispanics of my generation grew up watching not only American “shoot ’em up” Westerns featuring rugged cowboys, rowdy rustlers, round-ups and home on the range, but the Mexican equivalent–movies featuring the exploits of charros, the traditional cowboys of central and northern Mexico.
Despite my admiration for the charros of the cinema, it took more than 20 years before my first visit to a restaurant named for the dashing Mexican horsemen who were equally adept with a lasso as they were with a gun.
I had driven past the Central Avenue location of El Charritos for years, first when it was on the south side of Central then after it moved across the street to a modern, capacious building. What a mistake!
El Charritos has the authenticity I crave from New Mexican food–red chile unadulterated by cumin, chile rellenos with a bite and tamales in which the pork isn’t overwhelmed by masa. Mexican music fills the commodious dining room whose walls are festooned with the art of Roberto Perea.
My introduction to El Charritos came in the form of the El Charrito Super Combination: one enchilada filled with melted cheese, one ground beef taco, one pork tamale and one chile relleno served with refried beans, Spanish rice and two sopaipillas.
Only the Spanish rice was wholly unremarkable (a ubiquitous rice and lackluster tomato mixture), a prevalent trend throughout Duke City restaurants. Many New Mexicans I know will tell you “Spanish” rice was never served during any meal at home and Spain certainly makes no claim to having inspired or created this most insipid of side dishes that few Albuquerque New Mexican restaurants leave off your plate. Perhaps it’s served to make everything else seem better.
Lackluster though the Spanish rice may be, the tamale (served Christmas style with both red and green chile) is excellent. The carne adovada in the pork tamale is wonderfully marinated in a richly seasoned red chile that bites back with a sensational, tongue-tingling, flavor that’s just above medium in the piquancy scale. The shredded pork isn’t engulfed in thick corn masa as is often the case. The masa is instead a corn flavored ameliorant.
The chile relleno is generously stuffed with cheese then deep-fried until golden brown. The chile (it’s not a poblano) is somewhat stringy and difficult to cut with just a fork, but it makes up for stringiness with a mild flavor.
The ground beef taco, albeit somewhat greasy, bursts at its seams not just with ground beef, but with a potato filler (a sin in my book). The taco isn’t overfilled with lettuce and tomato, but there is plenty of that on the plate thanks to enough garnish to make a small salad.
El Charritos salsa has the consistency of tomato sauce. It’s pureed almost to a fault, but is thick and served cold as if out of the refrigerator. It’s not the most piquant salsa in town, but has a nice flavor. You can discern garlic and jalapeno most prevalently.
Sunday brunch is a dress-up affair at El Charritos; dress-up that is if you’re a member of the Mariachi Nuevo Tapatio which serenades patrons while they dine with a repertoire of traditional Mexican favorites such as Amor Eterno and La Golondrina.
As absolutely delightful as the mariachis are, the throngs of patrons waiting for a table to empty out dictate that you don’t linger after your meal. You can order either off the breakfast menu or the regular menu and in either case, will be treated to some of the best New Mexican breakfast entrees in the city.
A breakfast entree worth getting up for is the breakfast burrito with chorizo from the Carniceria (Mexican grocery specializing in meats) Chihuahua. The chorizo is perfectly seasoned with nice piquancy for an extra burst of flavor; it complements the red chile wonderfully.
El Charritos also has some of the largest pancakes (easily eight inches in circumference) around. They’re big, thick and absorb syrup like a sponge, but they’re also terrific.
The sopaipillas aren’t the billowing pillows you might find elsewhere. In fact, they more closely resembled Indian fried bread both in texture and in flatness, but there’s no mistaking the nonpareil taste that makes them among the very best sopaipillas we’ve had in the Duke City.
One of the things that distinguishes El Charritos sopaipillas is the fact that they’re not served with “sopaipilla syrup,” the honey flavored syrup with which most New Mexican restaurants in the city fill their squeeze bottles. El Charritos honey is the real stuff.
El Charritos
4703 Central, N.W.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 836-2464
LATEST VISIT: 22 December 2007
# OF VISITS: 7
RATING: 18
COST: $$
BEST BET: Tiwa Taco, Corn Fries, Mutton Stew, Blue Corn Pancakes, Pojoaque Carne Adovada Plate, Mama’s Burrito, Biscochitos, Prune Pie
Pardon, an Addendum to 6/11/16:
Caveat…I greatly appreciate we don’t want to go off track politically herein. However, just read that the New Mexico Restaurant Association (NMRA) supports STOP ART. While El Charritos faces a direct abhorrent abomination IMHO, apparently restaurants of the NMRA feel ART will also effect them in other ways which will impact their bottom line and thus, presumably, what they are able to offer Us’all. See here http://tinyurl.com/hso2qa8
Again, my sincere apologies as there is no intent to offend ART lovers!
FULL DISCLOSURE: A) Don’t read if sensitive to things that possibly may be interpreted as “political” B) I oppose ART.
(OBTW: Ha ha and Thanks Foodie Star for reminding me that language is free. Ergo, I’ll use up some more herein! LOL)
Geez! its been four years since I’ve supported this small, Local business owner who’s been employing people in a nicely appointed venue http://tinyurl.com/j52zcay while keeping the iconic nostalgia of Rte. 66 alive for 33 years! While I have no first-hand knowledge, I’m thinking it might be a challenge for many restaurants to keep such a business open, but ‘especially on the Westside’ of the river. It, IMHO, is more than a shame to see this http://tinyurl.com/hcgrsuy coming down via Eminent domain for El Charritos. It reminds me of when the RailRobber was shoved down our throats whereby, in addition to $400 million to buy it, we pay $20 million annually to keep it running.
In contrast: they say elephants never forget. Is Karma (let alone shades of La Llorona in some convoluted way), sadly catching up with El Charritos ala http://tinyurl.com/hk5qzpk ?
Had a Native, i.e. a gal who grew up on 7th SW; knew it was Bruno’s Market before it being the Barelas Coffee House; best ft. long (NM)chile cheese dog as The Dog House; went to St. Mary’s etc., visit the info desk I was subbing in Old Town…she was gathering history stuff for an out of town G-daughter’s homework…LOL. Anyway, while trying to trip each other up on ABQ trivia, she avered El C’s, in her humble opinion, was the best New Mexican food , so I trotted over for lunch, which is not my regular eating time and had the Stuffed Sopa with beans/ground beef (they don’t serve chicharrones) and added a fried egg. Aw come on Guyz…it was the size of a nerf football!!! Lotaburger could’ve made two burgers easy…including enough cheese for same!
What I really, really liked was that The Green was made almost the way I’d do it at home…actual chunks of chile!! albeit I would thin the ‘broth’ a bit as the sopa got a tad oversoft. Nice kick as well. A nice upbeat setting apparently from the smaller “house” they started out from 29 years ago. After reading a couple of wall plaques by a former (??) Journal reviewer, Kelly Koepke, one thing stands out per the 7ish intervening years…a formula for success for a neighborhood place has been captured by a local owner…it is based on Consistency….the quality of the food, “fair” prices, and cleanliness of the place right down to el bano which Kelly noted.
From the boom days of the ’50s and 60’s and from the mouth of the Canyon to the Top of Nine Mile Hill, Route 66 ( http://tinyurl.com/7nmaplm *)
has seen some hard times after being “bypassed” by I-40. Kudos to the owner for hanging in there to offer this stretch of SW Valley barrio a quality venue.
*(Per you Foodies who are saying “Geesh, their names are on the Tip of my Tongue!”, no pun intended, t’were Maharis and Milne, but I thought the Vette would be yellow http://tinyurl.com/7kwuspk )
Yes, the Charritos steak fingers with eggs…otherwise know as the button buster…is a very good breakfast! The stuffed sopapillas, the green chile cheeseburger, the hamburger steak, and the tostadas are among my favorites.
I’ve become a real fan of El Charritos steak fingers and salsa. Their salsa is indeed almost pureed…very very garlicky…and the perfect dip for their fingers. I like their breakfast version the best…served with eggs ( I like mine over medium and they cook them perfectly ) and beans and rice. Their beans are excellent.
We are visitors to ABQ but no stranger to native cuisines of many nations. The last sopaipillas I had were in Gallup-40 years ago. I never forgot the taste and appeal of this “dessert”. You turned the clock back for me with your version-and with real honey-thank you!
The meal was generous in portion and the tacos were made with stone ground corn giving the shells both soft and crispy a taste of their own that held up well to the fillings.
We will be back as we continue to explore ABQ and the cuisines of the city and re-visit our favorites.
Cliff and Joann
High Desert RV Park