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Tex-Mex always makes us melt at Vallarta's

Tribune photo by CLIFF McBRIDE

Vallarta's is the sort of place you go to get the old favorites — in large portions and at a fair price.

By MARY PATRICK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 14, 2009

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TAMPA - Like authentic Cajun or Cuban food, most Tex-Mex dishes were developed by people looking to stretch readily available and cheap ingredients into as many meals as possible. Only later did a culture always looking for the next new thing elevate something like red beans and rice into haute cuisine.

That's the charm of Vallarta's Restaurante Mexicano. It isn't the sort of place where you'll come across artful presentations or challenging new arrangements of old favorites. It's the sort of place you go to get the old favorites - in large portions and at a fair price.

This is, after all, a restaurant that advertises itself as serving more than 500 menu items, most under $13.

Having visited the north Dale Mabry location many times over the years, but not recently, we stopped by to see whether there had been many changes in recent years. Mercifully, there had not.

One of five Vallarta's locations in Hillsborough County, this spot has been around for more than a decade. It's big and colorful, with a smaller front room near the bar (invariably someone is there, drinking a margarita from an oversized glass) and a larger dining room.

It is in that dining room where they set up the buffet during lunch, which is one of the restaurant's more popular offerings. The buffet table includes fajita mixings, enchiladas, tamales, beans, rice, soup, warm tortillas and hot quesadillas. On top of all that, there is a large quantity of chips and salsa delivered to your table.

It's quite a spread, and it's there every day (11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays) and the price is fair for all you get ($6.95 weekdays, $8.95 weekends). On the other hand, my dining partner wondered how he would stay awake during the afternoon at work. It's not a light lunch.

On another occasion, we sampled some old favorites we can still recommend.

First off, this is one of the only restaurants where you can order a Carta Blanca beer and not have the waiter stare at you, baffled. That's a good thing, as is the salsa, although sometimes it's a bit heavy on the garlic. The guacamole is a winner, as is the white queso dip, which was served creamy and hot.

You simply can't go wrong with the three enchilada entree, which comes with either cheese, beef or chicken. Also top-notch is the tamale, which comes smothered in a tangy chili.

The combination dinners offer all the Tex-Mex staples. A personal favorite is No. 17, which combines the chile relleno (here the poblano pepper is flat and covered with beans and melted white cheese), a taco and a chalupa, which at Vallarta's is a fried corn tortilla covered with beans, lettuce, cheese, guacamole and a tomato.

Of all Vallarta's 500-plus items, our favorite is the fajitas. You can get chicken, beef or the Fajitas Vallarta, which combines the two meats with shrimp. The main ingredients come with sauteed tomatoes, green peppers and onions. Then comes the massive amount of choices to pile on - beans, rice, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo - which you can wrap inside a warm tortilla.

You could serve two people with that dish. An order of fajitas, perhaps more than any other menu item, sums up the Vallarta's experience.

None of the above choices will overwhelm you as epic achievements in the culinary arts. But there's a degree of consistency at Vallarta's that is well above average. And that's a comforting quality to find in, well, comfort food.