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Monday, October 19, 2009

REVIEW: El Palmar

123 Gause Blvd
Slidell, LA


Overall:3.5 stars
Service:2.5 stars
Atmosphere:3.5 stars
Food:3 stars
Price:$

Pros: Good food at reasonable prices.
Cons:
Nothing too exciting about the typical Mexican menu.
Bottom Line: Up to par Mexican food and cheap margaritas.



The sign for El Palmar, a Mexican restaurant in Slidell, has been up for what feels like years. But finally, after months of a sign with no restaurant, El Palmar has opened for business. On the corner of Gause Blvd. and Front St., the restaurant has a prime spot on a busy corner. So far, the location has seemed to bring them in a good bit of business.

Inside the restaurant is the typical casual and festive Mexican decor. The space, maybe since it's so new, feels open and clean. The service wasn't as smooth as it could be, but the restaurant and the waitstaff are new, so we'll give them a pass for now. Once we ordered, we were brought chips and salsa. The salsa was stored in a carafe and was delivered with individual bowls in which to pour it. While the salsa was a bit liquidy and thin for our liking, it did have a good flavor. We also sampled the frozen lime margarita. We ordered a small, but it was plenty enough for the average person. And at $3.50, it was an incredible deal. The margarita had a good taste, which was perhaps even enhanced by the warm, tingly feeling you get when you know you got a good deal. The sign on the door says margaritas are only $1.50 during LSU and Saints games -- so you can stretch your dollar even farther during these times.

Salsa and Margarita


For our first entree, we got a grilled chicken & bean burrito, which was covered with queso and sliced avocado and served with rice and beans. This was pretty good. The chicken was juicy and had a great flavor. The avocado was fresh, and the queso was...well, how can you mess up queso?? In our opinion, the burrito would have been even better if the beans in the burrito were black or pinto beans instead of refried, but that's a small complaint. The rice & beans sides were up to our Mexican standards.

Grilled Chicken and Bean Burrito


The second entree was the El Burro Loco - "loco" because it's a "huge" burrito, according to the menu description. Sometimes you wonder when a menu claims something is "huge," especially since the first burrito was more expensive and relatively small. However, we had to remove our jaws from the table when this burrito came out. We have never seen such a massive burrito. This was the type of burrito that looked like it should have been free if you could finish it in one sitting, with the victor getting his name up on a plaque. This burrito made Izzo's Illegal burrito look like a petty crime. This burrito was...well, you get the idea. (Notice we had to put a fork with it in the picture, as a point of reference.) Stuffed with beef, shredded chicken, rice, beans, and cheese, this burrito didn't come with sides because, well, there aren't any plates large enough to fit this burrito and sides. In case the filling wasn't enough, the burrito was topped with enchilada sauce, queso, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and guacamole. This massive dish tasted pretty decent, but, really, do you order this burrito for the taste? Not only was this entree a dollar cheaper than the first, it provided enough leftovers to feed dinner to a family of four.

El Burro Loco


The sign for El Palmar has been tantilizing us for many, many months. Once the restaurant actually opened, it took us another month or so to finally make it there. But now that we have, we are pleased. While it didn't necessarily knock our socks off, it provided good Mexican food for a good value. It may even be able to compete with the Hippos' favorite Mexican shop in Slidell, Los Tres Amigos (on Pontchartrain, not Gause). We'll have to return to El Palmar soon to sample their non-burrito entrees because so far, so good.

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