Azteca D' Oro
07/23/2009 - By Trent Rowe The Ledger The Ledger/ Rick Runion
Borrego (Lamb Steak) from the Azteca d' Oro restaurant.
Remember when the soup aisle had, basically, tomato and chicken noodle? Choosing was simple. Now we have yards and yards of choices.
The menu at Azteca D' Oro Mexican restaurant in Winter Haven is like the new soup aisle.
Manager Azual Praciazo says there are 95 choices, and, when you figure in the pick-one-from-column A items, it's about 1,000 combinations. Don't figure on doing it all.
The four Ramos brothers have 30 restaurants in Washington and Oregon. Our store, in the Wal-Mart plaza, is the third in Florida.
Everyone gets chips and mild salsa to nibble while going gaga over the menu that has photos of many dishes.
We started with Chicken Taquitos ($8.50) and got eight pieces of rolled, fried tortilla filled with delicious shredded chicken breast and cheese with sour cream and guacamole.
Stop. Wipe away old notions of nachos before you order nachos here. Small is $6.75. Large is $7.95. Ground beef, chicken or picadillo is $1 extra. Picadillo is usually seasoned ground beef. The picadillo here is like ropa vieja, braised beef pulled into shreds.
Nachos are knife and fork because everything is melted together, that includes the corn chips, in a sea of orange cheese. Add a salad, and this is more than enough for a meal.
With this much food, why do they call them appetizers?
Do get to page five of the menu for Azteca Diablo Shrimp & Tequila Chowder ($3.95 a cup, $6.95 a bowl). Order it early and figure on eating it late. This thick chowder holds the heat and has extra kick from jalapeņos.
Much thought must have gone into how to make Azteca stand out. For instance, not only can you order eight versions of fajitas, but you can get real vegetables instead of just onions and peppers.
My wife got a silly amount of food in the Fajitas Sampler with enough chicken, beef, shrimp, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, onion, peppers, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, rice, beans, and pico di gallo to feed three people if you add more tortillas ($14.95). The shrimp was best.
Grande Platos have combinations of dishes that arrive in plates the size of beer trays.
Tres Amigos ($14.95) had Chile Verde (tender pork chunks in green tomatillo sauce), Chile Colorado (rather chewy beef in mild red chile sauce), and a Chile Relleno (a lightly bitey chile, fried in egg batter and served under salsa and cheese). Everything comes with rice and beans - refried or Rancho.
Pollo a la Crema ($11.50) had a third of a tray of rice, a third of refried beans and a third of chicken breast in a delicious, delicate white sauce with more than a hint of cheese.
This is the first time I have found a lamb shank on a Mexican menu. They call it a Borrego and it comes with (surprise, surprise) rice and beans - plus marinade sauce, pico de gallo, avocado and tortillas. Use the tortillas to get the super sauce or put the rice in it. The flavors are amazing ($12.95).
Cilantro flavor in the pico hit high notes like a Mariachi trumpeter.
We had only scratched the surface of the menu before heading to desserts. Try the super flan, ($3.50) and the Tamalito, ($2.25), a sweet, crumbly corn tamale.
The restaurant met inspection standards on April 28.
A couple of things they can do to improve are:
Serve less salsa and fewer "hello" chips to reduce waste.
Simmer the beef longer for Chile Colorado.
The menu is amazing, servings are huge, and service is fast and professional. Azteca D'Oro earns four stars.
Trent can be reached at 802-7512 and trent.rowe@theledger.com.
