After meeting up with fellow backpackers Dan and Sarah in Phoenix, our Fitpacking trip to the Grand Canyon headed up north, stopping for dinner in Flagstaff. I’ve always enjoyed Flagstaff, between the cooler climate, the nice setting at the foot of the San Francisco peak, and the more laid back atmosphere, and look forward to trips when I can get that far north. And, in my experience, Flagstaff has always had a good dining scene, especially in the downtown area, with a lot of good restaurants and hang-out spots for nearby Northern Arizona University. But for this visit, we were aiming at a spot just a bit east of downtown on the old historic Route 66: El Tapatio.
El Tapatio (“El Tapatio” is a nickname for someone from Guadalajara) has been in operation for a while; While I’m unsure what year this east Flagstaff location (there’s now another on the west side) opened, the chain itself was started in 2002 with food truck in Grand Junction, Colorado, and they’ve now got over a half dozen locations in Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. But for at least several years, El Tapatio has remained one of the more popular and enjoyed Mexican restaurants in Flagstaff. The outside building isn’t munch, and has a little of that “used to be a Wendy’s” look to it. But stepping inside, the place is very richly decorated, with decorated masks, brightly-painted chairs and panels, Mexican beer signs, and the like, and while starting to border on the excessive level, does make for the sort of restaurant I picture when I think “Mexican Family Restaurant”.
Like most any Mexican restaurant in the Southwest, El Tapatio has an entire page of margarita variants, ranging from the basic house margarita, to upgraded versions with better tequila and liqueur, to a good dozen flavored varieties. I usually try to keep to the classics, so I went for a regular-size Cadillac Margarita Anejo as a good way to splurge before a week in the wilderness, and was quite happy with this margarita: good lime notes, not overly sweet, and a reasonably good (but unnamed) anejo tequila. This was the regular size, I’m now curious how large the grande is…
As a table, we decided to get El Tapatio’s fresh-made guacamole. Those that regularly dine with me know that I’m really not much of an avocado fan, especially in the form of guacamole, which is usually to me a textural and flavor mess. But when I find the rare exception, I adore a really good, perfectly made guacamole. t this was seriously good, and one of the best best guacamoles I’ve ever had. Fresh guacamole that hasn’t gone squishy, cilantro, onions, jalapeños, lime juice, and salt. Perfectly executed, and topped with some good fresh tomato and jalapeño wedges, this was sublime, and I’d not only get this again, I’d detour to come get it.
While El Tapatio has a very broad menu of Mexcican classics, I decided to go for one of the house specialties, a Molcajete Mexico. Served up in a scorching-hot volcanic rock bowl (usually used to grind salsa), this was marinated steak strips, chicken strips, chorizo, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms, served up with a chile sauce with melted cheese. Served with a side of rice, beans, and more guacamole, this is a serious amount of feed, but this was particularly tasty. The combination of chicken and chorizo with some cheese is always a great combination (indeed, if I see a Chori Pollo on a menu, I often will order it), and adding on some steak and mushrooms nicely adds to the dish, with everything getting nicely seared from the hot bowl. I do feel sorry for the kitchen worker that has to clean the molcajete, however.
My colleague Sarah opted to go with another house specialty, a classic order of steak fajitas. The version at El Tapatio is quite nicely done, with the addition of them serving the fajitas up flambéed with tequila, providing both a nice flavor note and a bit of theater.
Overall, I really enjoyed El Tapatio. The food and beverages were both enjoyable, the flavors nice and bold, and the staff very friendly and welcoming. Before coming back, I may want to fast a bit first, El Tapatio’s portions were large, especially if I’m not about to spend a week backpacking. But that house-made guacamole? I’ll definitely be coming back for that.
