27 February 2008 ~ 1 Comment

El Nopalito

If you remember from my El Mundo review, I really enjoy Mexican food. Now I’m not sure how “authentic” these types of restaurants are – you know the ones with approximately the same menu – but man, they have some Good Eats, as my man Alton Brown would say.
You might also remember my complaining about the lack of free chips and salsa from the aforementioned El Mundo review, right? They flow like the mighty Mississippi here (wha?) at the Nopalito. The waiter brought both hot and mild, which I always appreciate. While I typically prefer the hot, it’s nice to keep your options open. The salsa is apparently made fresh daily, as it’s not too consistent. Today, the hot salsa tasted a bit, well, green, for lack of a better term. Possibly too much cilantro? Whatever it was, I wasn’t too crazy about it. The mild was decent, and I ate more of it. I always have to salt the chips, and it ends up falling off on the way to my mouth. Jam had a better idea…salt the salsa! Thanks buddy…

Enough about the FREE (yes, FREE, El Mundo dudes!) chips…on to the main course. Lunch is served until 2:30 pm, and they have daily specials for $4.25.

I opted not to go with the daily special and spend the extra $.50 on the “Speedy Gonzales” ($4.75). Fitting to the name, the food was served very quickly, as is typical for El Nopalito. The taco was crisp with warm juicy beef and shredded white cheese. The beef enchilada was smothered in a rich enchilada sauce which pleasantly spilled over into the refried beans.

Jam ordered the chicken Chimichanga, fried not soft. It was a bit smaller than I remember, but then I realized I usually get that for dinner, and this was the lunch portion. It was covered in nacho cheese and sour cream (he opted not to get it with the guacamole, lettuce and tomato).

The menu is a bit overwhelming here, but I imagine you’ll find a few favorites here. I think next time, I’ll venture out of the Combinaciones (that’s “Combinations”) section and try something new.

Another thing I’ve just got to mention about the menu…I love it when Mexican places put descriptions on the menu. I can never remember the difference between a Tostada and a Chalupa, etc…

One of my friends and I were laughing the other night about how they put a pronunciation key on the menu. Not just for those tricky words, like Frijoles (FREE-hole-ees, as in Holy Frijoles), but for those more common items, such as Tacos, Burritos, and Nachos (tah-KOHS, burr-EE-toes and NAH-choes for the uninitiated). I also think it’s great that it’s “Cheese Dip” and not “Queso”.

El Nopalito is a great lunch stop, and one of our favorites. You should go there, if you haven’t already, my friends.

And remember, folks: Mexican food is best when served hot. Your plate
has been warmed to keep your food hot so please…BE CAREFUL!

Rating: 8.5/10

Cost: $6.61 + tip (with a Coke)
Address: 2319 Brownsboro Road | Louisville, Kentucky 40206
Phone: 502-893-9880

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)
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One Response to “El Nopalito”

  1. Michelle 27 February 2008 at 9:01 am Permalink

    B and I have been talking about how it’s been forever since we’ve had really good Mexican food. We used to go to El Nopalito way the heck out Westport Road years ago and it was really good. This one is much closer so we may have to check it out soon.


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