EVERETT – Never mind that it was midafternoon, when most restaurants are empty, or that there are five other Mexican restaurants within two blocks, or that it was only the second day Taqueria El Rinconcita was open.
The place was filled with customers.
According to the manager, who took our order at the register, the night before our Saturday lunch the restaurant opened with a mariachi band and an even larger crush of customers. Unlike all these customers, my friends and I were new to this local restaurant chain that’s reminiscent of a fast-food burger stand.
Menus with photos of each dish hang above the window to the kitchen. Selections include easy-to-prepare items such as burritos and tacos plus more elaborate choices such as steak, chicken or prawns ranchero. And there are traditional Mexican-style drinks and four desserts. On Saturday and Sunday, menudo and posole, two Mexican soups, are added to the 44-item menu.
For our late lunch, my friends and I ordered complete dinners – chicken ranchero ($7.49), chicken enchilada ($5.99) and beef burrito ($8.99) plus soft drinks. We filled our glasses from the dispenser near the counter’s pick-up area and headed for the last empty table.
Like most fast-food restaurants, Taqueria El Rinconcita’s interior is functional and sparse. As expected, the utensils are plastic and the napkins are paper.
While we listened for our order number, we noticed all the children in the restaurant. Half the customers were too young to walk and about two-thirds were under 10 years old. Children can be impatient when waiting for food, but none of us had to wait more than five minutes for our orders.
We picked up our orders and juggled trays while filling small paper cups with different kinds of salsa. If you don’t know whether you’ll like any of them, spoon up the red one that fills two bins in the salsa bar, because it’s the traditional mild-to-medium hot topping.
My friends and I topped our main dish with the jalapeno-laced cabbage and, after a few bites, decided we needed a little more chili-generated heat than the cooks used. After tasting our main dish, all three of us said, “um hum.” The beef in my burrito was so tender I almost didn’t have to chew it. My friends said their chicken had lots of flavor and we agreed that Taqueria El Rinconsito makes better-than-average lunches.
For dessert, we shared an order of flan and “tres leche” cake, which is a delicate white cake with whipped cream frosting. These desserts were just as good as ones we’d enjoyed in more expensive restaurants, and we agreed that we’d eat here again.
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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