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| - Torn between being posh, slick, spacious and frat friendly and serving quality Mexican food and meeting neither end, Cantina Laredo embodies a niche that caters mildly and passably to both culinary risk-averse Americans and seekers of quality Mexican food.
After sitting down with my parents and them not bolting for the door upon reading the menu despite the daunting task of pronouncing their selections, I at least knew it would be a peaceful, quiet occasion. The entire evening was filled with moments in between:
- Complimentary chips and salsa, too watery to those seeking Frito Lay's interpretation or Pico de Gallo, but not flavorful enough to satisfy those looking for legitimate salsa
- Filet Portabella ($27): soft, succulent beef and a large portabella in a rich mushroom sauce, a yield of decidedly non-Mexican excellence
- Camarones Escondidos ($19): unremarkable chicken, average shrimp, meek sauce
- Monterrey plate ($13): moderately balanced spinach enchilada, a chicken enchilada with a deep, satisfying mole, and a third Veracruz enchilada that I've forgotten already
- Crepes ($6): Apple, more French than Mexican, more sweet to a fault than enjoyable
- "Mexican" Brownie ($6): An overpoweringly excessively sugary heart attack brownie on a skillet with extra artery clogging brandy butter that was not a good caloric investment
There are flashes of brilliance and enough options to placate the uninitiated but like most stealth chains has succumbed to not being able to please all its many masters simultaneously and has settled for being "alright." For mixed culinary company, you could do far worse so it defends its niche, but for a homogeneous party, keep looking.
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