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Vera Cruz
For those who remember the Bedford Avenue of the mid-90’s, two eateries spring to mind: The L Café and Vera Cruz. The L Café is gone but not lamented, while Vera Cruz still pulses to the Northside beat. Hordes of other restaurants, bars, cafes and snack shops have moved in, everything from big-box Thai to intimate upscale continental, but Vera Cruz still reigns as one of the neighborhood’s most popular spots.
The always-crowded bar is a local hang-out where the drinks are cheap and the bartenders are pleasing to view. Shove your way in and demand a margarita on the rocks. The house tequila is Montezuma, not the college Cuervo that many in the crowd remember from those first semesters away from home. Ah, those were simpler times. Nowadays, there are a lot of tequilas to choose from, but the list at Vera Cruz is simple – you don’t need an agave guru to guide you to the anejo of your dreams. Someone sitting nearby is bound to have an opinion – and an upcoming gallery event.
If you want more than a drink at the bar, check in with someone who might be a host. Several people will try to get you a table. You might even get two. Ask for one in the garden – the long, narrow dining room with its flapping kitchen doors and parade of diners, service staff and bathroom-goers is frenetic. Relax in the garden and resist that ever present basket of deep-fried tortilla chips sitting in the middle of the table. Sip your margarita and eavesdrop on the two servers hovering nearby as they swap tattoo stories or argue over sidework.
Stick to the basics. The best things on the menu are those that require the fewest descriptive words. If you are sitting in the garden in a romantic capacity, keep a few things in mind. It is almost impossible to be elegant and poised while eating corn on the cob. A very traditional item, “elote” is grilled and salted, then covered with a Mexican mayonnaise and a kiss of chili powder. It is extra delicious, but gnawing on it in front of a potential romantic entanglement might not be the way to go. Order the seafood estafado appetizer or the Vera Cruz salad.
If you are there with your beloved and are used to eating from the same plate, get two orders of “elote” and one entrée to share. The entrée portions are immense. A good choice is the “pollo mole”. The mole, a special sauce built around poblano chiles and cocoa, is reliable and believable. The only thing that detracts from this dish is the ubiquitous plop of refritos, or refried pinto beans. The Vera Cruz version is bland and doesn’t really add anything to the rest of the dish.
The biggest disappointment will be the fajitas. They will be soggy and the vegetables wilted, instead of char-grilled. They will not excite you and you will regret ordering the massive heap of food that will drop in front of you. If you want meat, order the steak with chipotle sauce – and ask to hold the refritos.
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Posted on 9/14/2005
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