RESTAURANT REVIEW

El Zocalo Restaurant

If you’re expecting Taco Bell, this amazing little family-owned and operated eatery is not for you. If Tex-Mex is the only thing you’ve been exposed to when you think of “Mexican” food, prepare to have your sombrero blown off. This is AUTHENTIC MEXICAN. The way real Mexicans like to eat, and the food they love.

“When my family came from Mexico and ate in our restaurant recently, they asked me what Chimichanga was,” joked the handsome Alfredo “Fred” Rivera who along with his soft-spoken wife Sandra opened El Zócalo about a year ago. “They DON’T have Chimichanga in Mexico. That’s either a Cuban influence or it’s purely Gringo,” he laughed. “But we put it on the menu now because people asked us to make it.”

“We don’t have hamburger meat Tacos either,” added Sandra. “People think that Ortega Tacos are Mexican food,” she said with a smile. If that’s your point of reference, prepare your palate for globe-trotting. Having spent several months in Mexico, it was a joy experiencing the food, the real food of Mexico; for I too, once thought salsa only came out of a bottle and chips from a bag. The first thing that sets the tone at El Zócalo in Margate is what an unaffected, homey little place it is. Balconies with flowers decorate the dining area, wood tables and banquettes and a comfortable bar to cozy up to relaxes all.

Next comes the chips. Every table gets a healthy serving of chips and salsa “complimento.” The chips are handmade, homemade and outrageous! Alfredo and Sandra and sometimes Sandra’s mom and their Executive Chef Jesus Cambron make fresh tortillas EVERY day. Everything is made FRESH to order which is why it may take a minute and also why it’s so good. The chips are addictive. Crispy, light (not the least bit oily) and thin, they are lightly sprinkled with salt and are OUTSTANDING.

Tampiquena Steak

“I have been here 18 years,” added Fred. “We opened El Zócalo because we tried every so-called Mexican restaurant around. We craved and longed for the food I grew up with. The food my mother cooked. Either we found a Tex-Mex version and didn’t recognize half the items or it was Latin influenced, Puerto-Rican/Mexican or Cuban/Mexican, but no authentic Mexican. Serving Margaritas doesn’t make you authentic Mexican—we’re a lot more than burritos.”

What you find at El Zócalo can make a believer out of you. Introducing my friend Joy Carter, she liked it so much and was so impressed by the unbelievably affordable prices and quality, she booked her 35+ Girl’s Night Out group. And at our end of the table that night, the Tortilla soup ($7 bowl) was a clear hit. It’s fantastic. A just-right tomatoey base, chock full of diced fresh avocado, slivers of crunchy tortillas that absorb the soup but still manage to give a crunch, fresh cheese that melts heavenly into the soup and a dollop of fresh soup cream. The taste sensation is spectacular. For the price? BARGAIN! My husband who spent part of his youth in South Carolina was excited to see Red Hominy Pork Soup, ($7 bowl/$11 big bowl) on the menu. (Big bowl is a full meal). Thick chunks of oven roasted pork and hominy (like grits or chopped rice) gave this soup exquisite texture and flavor.

That’s the thing here, once you’ve enjoyed one meal here, you may not know exactly what something is, but you kind of eeny-meeny-minee-moe it, just trusting what you end up with is