This month we headed to The Painted Burro for Restaurant Club, which is in the space where Gargoyle’s on the Square used to be. It was probably the noisiest RC we’ve had, which made it a little difficult to hear each other…but it was nice to not be the only loud and lively group. Sometimes we get dirty looks for being too loud.
Their house margarita is on tap, just like their tap beers. I was skeptical of this, but it was still pretty delicious, and pretty strong. They also have a lot of other interesting and creative cocktails.
Per the usual, we ordered a bunch of appetizers to share:
- Fundido – one with chorizo, one with veggies
- Guacamole “el mero mero” with pork belly and roasted grape tomato
- Empanada with local goat
- Ceviche del mar
- Appetizer special – shrimp with house-made cocktail sauce
It was tough to decide what to order for dinner, especially because I wasn’t that hungry after all of those yummy apppetizers. I did a three-way split with a couple of friends:
- Yucatan Meatloaf – sirloin stuffed with chorizo, ham, chicharron, green olives and toasted almonds, topped with 2 fried eggs, and served with housemade mole sauce (that’s a whole lotta meat)
- Chicken enchiladas
- Chile rellenos filled with peaches, apricots, and cheese and topped with toasted walnut mole
I also tasted the Chupacabra tacos that someone else ordered, which also had a whole lotta meat (chorizo, pork “cochinita”, and skirt steak). The chicken enchiladas were my favorite of the main dishes we tried.
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| Chicken enchilada goodness |
We tried three desserts, and I think there was only solid “I like it” consensus on the tres leches. I think it was a pretty even love/hate split on the corn ice cream, and more than half of the table did not like the lime-tequila popsicle. I actually liked both the corn ice cream and the popsicle!
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| Lime-tequila popsicle |
This place definitely gives Ole (Cambridge) a run for its money. I would definitely go back…great pick Kim!
The rundown:
The Painted Burro
219 Elm Street, Somerville (Davis Square)
Kara Cooks and Eats 