With Cinco de Mayo on the horizon, I thought it would be best to write about Mexican cuisine, and so I share a newfound favorite: Señor Tequila Cantina Grill. While I’ve just discovered the place, located in The Shops at Piper Glen near south Charlotte’s Trader Joe’s, Señor Tequila has been doing a bustling business for years.

Owners Oscar and Maria Gonzales aren’t strangers to the restaurant business, having owned several Mexican and Spanish restaurants in the Queen City. Their level of expertise is evident in the food and staff quality. Currently, Señor Tequila is the couple’s only culinary venture.

Really a hybrid of many Hispanic foods, the menu at Señor Tequila features many Mexican favorites, as well as a variety of dishes with Spanish and Venezuelan influences, a nod to Maria and Oscar’s respective homelands. Before opening any of their Charlotte restaurants, the couple traveled extensively in Mexico and took many cooking classes there. Today they provide excellent Mexican cuisine made with authentic, flavorful ingredients.

From burritos to fajitas
Die-hard Mexican-food lovers will recognize many standards on the Señor Tequila menu and will be happy to know that all are made from scratch and are quite well done. The guacamole is fresh with the creamy taste of avocado; refried beans, attractively served in a small, fried corn tortilla are tasty, too; and the chips that come to the table as soon as you are seated are thin, crisp and crunchy, served with a red salsa made from a slightly spicy tomato base that keeps you dipping while ordering.

You won’t be disappointed by any versions of burritos, tamales, chimichangas, nachos, tacos, quesadillas or enchiladas here. My favorite in this category is the Enchilada Popeye, a large, flour tortilla stuffed with fresh, chopped spinach and cheese topped with a delicious green sauce made from more of the same. It melts in your mouth and leaves you wanting more – if only you weren’t so full of chips and salsa. Likewise, the Southwestern-inspired fajitas at Señor Tequila are among the best I’ve ever had. Chicken, beef and veggies are tender and wonderfully seasoned with a flavorful blend of spices combined to bring out the meat’s very best flavor. Tortillas come warm, while toppings are cold and fresh for a practically perfect combination of flavor and texture.

Signature style
While the standards are all good, it’s Señor Tequila’s signature dishes that caught my attention. The Chiles en Nogada was my first entrée at Señor Tequila and it was love at first bite. In this dish, two poblano peppers – oversized, moderately spicy chilies – are stuffed with a creamy, Mexican cheese then coated with a light batter and panfried till crisp. The pan-fried peppers then are topped with a zesty, tomatobased sauce and served with Mexican rice and refried beans. The final entrée is – like many of Señor Tequila’s offerings – outstanding.

On my second visit, I tried and loved the Huachinango à la Veracruzana, another signature dish, this time featuring seafood. While traditionally made with red snapper, a fillet of sea bass takes center stage here, encased in a banana leaf and then grilled until tender. The fish is presented atop the banana leaf and graced with a tomato sauce made of olive oil, capers, olives and pico de gallo. White rice studded with peas and corn comes on the side as well as two of the softest, sweetest plantains I’ve had the pleasure of eating. Despite that joy, I liked the poblanos better than the fish, but both were dishes I would order again.

Oscar notes that the Huachinango is a customer favorite as is the Cochinita Pibil, a spice-rubbed pork shoulder wrapped in a banana leaf and slow-cooked until fork-tender. The pork comes to the table topped with marinated onions, white rice, sweet plantains and a nopalito – or Mexican cactus salad – on the side.

Another of Señor Tequila’s popular specialties is the Papa con Camerones, a large baked potato topped with a sauté of shrimp cooked with olive oil, garlic, cilantro and spices. The stuffed potato comes atop a fresh salad of shredded lettuce, chopped onions, tomato and avocado. Several friends who enjoy Señor Tequila have mentioned this dish to me, but when I tried it I didn’t love it so much. Everything came cooked as promised, but compared to Señor Tequila’s traditional Cuban beef dish Ropa Vieja or the Tacos de Pescado (fish tacos), the shrimp and potato dish simply lacked the same flair and finesse.

While the combination of warm potato and cold salad was interesting, if you’re looking for salad there are other taste-tempting options on the menu I’d suggest.

Try the delightful Ensalada “Frida” or the Ensalada “Tres Marias.” The first is a fresh salad of romaine, cherry tomatoes, perfectly ripe avocado, cucumber, sweet corn and artichoke hearts, served with orange tequila vinaigrette. The Marias salad is much the same combination fortified with green onions, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds and grilled chicken and this time coated with a cilantro dressing that’s to die for – muy bueno, indeed.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Billotto writes "The Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@thecharlotteweekly.com.

This article first appeared in "The Charlotte Weekly" on May 2, 2008. "The Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in North and South Charlotte and Uptown.

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