MOUNT VERNON — The menu says “Just Like Home” and the food at La Casita is definitely not restaurant food, but rather home cooking like your Mexican uncle would make.
La Casita, recommended by a reader many months ago, is in a residential part of Mount Vernon and looks like it was once a corner grocery. But my friend and I learned during dinner that this spot used to be a restaurant that served Tex-Mex food. The current owner-chef bought the small restaurant six years ago and replaced the Tex-Mex style with his own. Flower murals and brick-lined archways give the dining rooms a cheery feeling, and attentive service made us feel at home.
The menu has all our favorites: enchiladas ($8.55), burritos ($8.35) and tacos, plus combination plates ($9.95). Many are made with vegetarians in mind.
A few of the house specialties include Baldo’s steak, which is charbroiled and served in the house sauce, shrimp-stuffed chili relleno and chili verde ($12.35 each).
My friend ordered chicken fajitas ($12.35) and we decided to split a La Casita special burrito, which is made with pork, beans and rice in a verde sauce, wrapped in a flour tortilla.
And I couldn’t pass up the sopitas ($9.95). For those who haven’t had sopitas, the corn masa is shaped into little bowls thicker than taco shells, which are filled with beans or meat or both and topped with shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes. At La Casita, the kitchen also adds sour cream and guacamole.
The guacamole is house made and the Herald readers who originally recommended La Casita insisted we try it. So, my friend and I began our Saturday dinner with a guacamole and chip appetizer ($2.99). The chips were fresh from the fryer and the guacamole was good, but it wasn’t perfect because there wasn’t enough avocado (or there was too much chopped tomato). Yet it was all gone by the time we finished our meal.
My friend’s chicken fajitas were made with hearty slices of chicken breast, bell peppers and onions, all expertly seasoned. After a few bites, my dinner companion and I agreed this dinner was among the best.
The ground beef sopita filling was tasty and the bowls themselves were delicious, too. I voted the house burrito No. 1 dish of the day. The marinade for the pork and the seasonings in the sauce that topped the burrito, along with the home-style refried beans, took this entree from yummy to outstanding.
For those of us who don’t have a Mexican uncle by birth, we’ve now got one who’ll make great lunches and dinners for us.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
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