Steve
10-02-2005, 07:37 AM
Ricardo's of Las Vegas.
Same Old Thing: Ricardo's of Las Vegas is under old management, but offers a middle-of-the-road approach to Mexican food.
By Heidi Knapp Rinella
"Under old management," the sign said. How could I not be charmed by that?
Ricardo's of Las Vegas is one of those Las Vegas institutions, the sort of restaurant whose popularity seems to take on a life of its own when it comes to locals, who had long loved Ricardo's until it all but fell off the map. There used to be west-side and east-side locations, as well as one in the MGM Grand. One by one they rode off into the sunset, although the West Flamingo Road spot continued on under new management. Hence the sign.
The former folks are back, so it was time to check in. What is it about Ricardo's that makes it so beloved? I'm still a little mystified, but my guess is that it's the approachable Mexican food -- the kind a broad swath of the populace can feel comfortable with.
You think most Mexican food is too spicy? Ricardo's is for you. You don't want Mexican food that's earthily authentic? Ricardo's is for you. You want Mexican food that's as familiar as a platter of Super Bowl Sunday nachos?
You get the picture.
Actually, we got the Ricardo's picture pretty quickly -- not long after the chips and salsas arrived. The chips were chips - nothing more or less -- and the salsas were about as far down the mild-to-hot continuum as it gets. One was a basic salsa cruda (or fresh salsa), with nice ripe-red tomatoes but very little cilantro or anything else that could offer some kick. The other was a little more difficult to identify, but the green color and very mild flavor suggested tomatillo to me, and the faint smoky note hinted at chipotle.
How timid are we talking here? The Sampler de Ricardo's appetizer platter ($12.95) should've struck a few sparks, considering that it included jalapeņo poppers and chicken wings. Ah, but no. I don't know where they get jalapeņos this mild, but mild they were, and the filling had all the personality of plain cream cheese (which would be a good counterpoint when the jalapeņos are fiery, but ... see the first half of this sentence). Wings were wimpy as well. The beef taquitos were crisp on the outside, moist within, but again, bland.
Not that the zipless platter was totally lacking in flavor. The triangles of chicken quesadilla, for example, were virtually stuffed with fajita-seasoned meat (so it was mild, but still had some life), and the nachos were a riot of flavor and textural contrasts -- but yes, were pretty much Super Bowl Sunday nachos.
The fajita seasoning also carried the day for the steak fajitas ($13.25), which benefitted, as well, from the prominent grilled flavor and a tangle of mushrooms, onions and peppers, and a mound of fresh tomatoes and cilantro. Beans and rice on the side were fairly standard.
One of the nice things about most Mexican restaurants is the ability to mix and match and sort of customize your dinner. Fish tacos sounded good, but they weren't listed in the combination-platter options and we wanted to try something else as well. So we took one a la carte ($3.95, or $8.75 for a dinner with one taco, $10.75 for two). Seasoned halibut, the menu promised, but we detected precious little seasoning and found the fish's flavor uncharacteristically strong, the white-corn tortilla wrapper floppy though fresh-tasting. On the other hand, the creamy cilantro sauce had lots of personality, and the chopped cabbage added an appealing crunch. The chile relleno with which we sort of designed our own combo ($8.75 with beans and rice) was puffy in the right places and filled with cheese.
We finished with the Crazy Bananas ($4.25), which we expected to be fried bananas but which turned out to be sliced bananas with ice cream and fudgy sauce. It was quite large, and so rich we managed but a few spoonfuls.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of large, be warned about the large margarita, which was a decent enough margarita but both much larger and, at $11.50, more expensive than I expected.
So "middle-of-the-road" pretty much sums up Ricardo's for me. Our waitress was efficient and agreeable, but seemed to have a few tables too many. The decor centered around a nice central-plaza design and had a few interesting accents like a really cool, really huge bullfighting poster, but was about as predictable as it gets otherwise.
Such predictability can be tedious for some, appealing to others. If you're one of the latter, Ricardo's is for you.
reviewjournal.com -- Neon: RESTAURANT REVIEW: Ricardo's of Las Vegas
Same Old Thing: Ricardo's of Las Vegas is under old management, but offers a middle-of-the-road approach to Mexican food.
By Heidi Knapp Rinella
"Under old management," the sign said. How could I not be charmed by that?
Ricardo's of Las Vegas is one of those Las Vegas institutions, the sort of restaurant whose popularity seems to take on a life of its own when it comes to locals, who had long loved Ricardo's until it all but fell off the map. There used to be west-side and east-side locations, as well as one in the MGM Grand. One by one they rode off into the sunset, although the West Flamingo Road spot continued on under new management. Hence the sign.
The former folks are back, so it was time to check in. What is it about Ricardo's that makes it so beloved? I'm still a little mystified, but my guess is that it's the approachable Mexican food -- the kind a broad swath of the populace can feel comfortable with.
You think most Mexican food is too spicy? Ricardo's is for you. You don't want Mexican food that's earthily authentic? Ricardo's is for you. You want Mexican food that's as familiar as a platter of Super Bowl Sunday nachos?
You get the picture.
Actually, we got the Ricardo's picture pretty quickly -- not long after the chips and salsas arrived. The chips were chips - nothing more or less -- and the salsas were about as far down the mild-to-hot continuum as it gets. One was a basic salsa cruda (or fresh salsa), with nice ripe-red tomatoes but very little cilantro or anything else that could offer some kick. The other was a little more difficult to identify, but the green color and very mild flavor suggested tomatillo to me, and the faint smoky note hinted at chipotle.
How timid are we talking here? The Sampler de Ricardo's appetizer platter ($12.95) should've struck a few sparks, considering that it included jalapeņo poppers and chicken wings. Ah, but no. I don't know where they get jalapeņos this mild, but mild they were, and the filling had all the personality of plain cream cheese (which would be a good counterpoint when the jalapeņos are fiery, but ... see the first half of this sentence). Wings were wimpy as well. The beef taquitos were crisp on the outside, moist within, but again, bland.
Not that the zipless platter was totally lacking in flavor. The triangles of chicken quesadilla, for example, were virtually stuffed with fajita-seasoned meat (so it was mild, but still had some life), and the nachos were a riot of flavor and textural contrasts -- but yes, were pretty much Super Bowl Sunday nachos.
The fajita seasoning also carried the day for the steak fajitas ($13.25), which benefitted, as well, from the prominent grilled flavor and a tangle of mushrooms, onions and peppers, and a mound of fresh tomatoes and cilantro. Beans and rice on the side were fairly standard.
One of the nice things about most Mexican restaurants is the ability to mix and match and sort of customize your dinner. Fish tacos sounded good, but they weren't listed in the combination-platter options and we wanted to try something else as well. So we took one a la carte ($3.95, or $8.75 for a dinner with one taco, $10.75 for two). Seasoned halibut, the menu promised, but we detected precious little seasoning and found the fish's flavor uncharacteristically strong, the white-corn tortilla wrapper floppy though fresh-tasting. On the other hand, the creamy cilantro sauce had lots of personality, and the chopped cabbage added an appealing crunch. The chile relleno with which we sort of designed our own combo ($8.75 with beans and rice) was puffy in the right places and filled with cheese.
We finished with the Crazy Bananas ($4.25), which we expected to be fried bananas but which turned out to be sliced bananas with ice cream and fudgy sauce. It was quite large, and so rich we managed but a few spoonfuls.
Oh, and while we're on the subject of large, be warned about the large margarita, which was a decent enough margarita but both much larger and, at $11.50, more expensive than I expected.
So "middle-of-the-road" pretty much sums up Ricardo's for me. Our waitress was efficient and agreeable, but seemed to have a few tables too many. The decor centered around a nice central-plaza design and had a few interesting accents like a really cool, really huge bullfighting poster, but was about as predictable as it gets otherwise.
Such predictability can be tedious for some, appealing to others. If you're one of the latter, Ricardo's is for you.
reviewjournal.com -- Neon: RESTAURANT REVIEW: Ricardo's of Las Vegas