Breakfast Enchiladas at Mi Sombrero

Some people assume that Tex-Mex is watered down Mexican food for Anglos. The menu of the Original Mexican Restaurant suggests something a little more complicated than that was going on. The Original closed in 1960, after an incredible run of 60 years.

On a dinner visit to Mi Sombrero, I asked for a small margarita. The waitress was confused. It turns out they only have one size — it's served in a pint beer glass and costs $3.50. I got it frozen with salt. The salt on the rim of the glass was bright blue.
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I slurped my cocktail while I munched on chips slathered with sides of chunky guacamole and standard Velveeta-esque chile con queso. The salsa was a nondescript, tomatoey puree with minimal punch.

My favorite dinner item at Mi Sombrero was the Tampiqueña plate. It included two excellent cheese enchiladas, creamy refried beans and half a dozen strips of tender marinated fajita meat served with handmade flour tortillas.

If you think of combination plates as purely Tex-Mex, guess again. The Tampiqueña plate was popularized by a guy named Jose Luis Loredo at a restaurant called the Tampico Club in Mexico City, which opened in 1939. The original version included sliced steak called carne asada along with the enchiladas and beans sprinkled with cheese.

Judging by the quality of the fajita meat, I would venture to bet that the beef fajita plates at Mi Sombrero are excellent as well. Thumbs up on all the enchiladas I tried here too.

There were quite a few steaks on the menu. I make a pretty decent sirloin guisada at home — I got the recipe from a woman who grew up on a ranch in Mexico — so I couldn't resist trying Mi Sombrero's rib eye guisada, made with chopped rib eye meat cooked with onions and peppers. It sounded wonderful, but there was just too much gristle and fat mixed into the steak stew.

Another dining companion tried a hamburguesa estilo San Isidro, essentially a burger with guacamole. It would have been good if the ground beef had been even passable. But the burger patty was stiff and dry. The handcut French fries that came with it were the best thing on the plate.

Any Texan could take one look at Mi Sombrero's menu and wisely advise you stick to the breakfasts, enchiladas, fajitas and combination plates and avoid the steaks and burgers. And they'd be right on the money.

Go eat breakfast at Mi Sombrero this weekend, and you'll see why this unassuming little family-run Tex-Mex joint is still going strong after 30 years in business. I hope they make it 30 more.