In the Frig – Queso Blanco
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Dinner at Queso Blanco
102 S Union St
Westfield, IN 46074-9458
(317) 867-5200
http://quesoblancowestfield.com/menu
Friday night marks the end of a very long week – my mood has been as funky as the weather. What I want right now is a little warmth, something rich and something that makes me full and sleepy. Normally that means I want a meal from my mom, comfort food like salmon patties and macaroni and cheese. But on this nite, I wanted to continue the search for good Mexican places while getting my comfort munch on. However, I wanted to stay close to suburbia. My hubby and I had driven past Queso Blanco a million times on the way to visit friends or run errands, so we decided to finally make a stop and check it out.
Queso Blanco, which means white cheese, is a small family-owned Mexican restaurant. The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife, Terrall from Georgia, and Yolanda, who is from Oaxaca, Mexico (pronounced WAH-HA-CA). Terrall was in the construction business for many years until one day he decided to lease the restaurant in downtown Westfield, IN. Forty five days later, Terrall and Yolanda had the restaurant up and running. That was two years ago, and apparently they haven’t looked back. The restaurant is fairly typical in decor – sombreros and panchos, small tables you would find in a small diner. Fall has fell, so the decor also included pumpkins and scarecrows. It has a very family- familiar vibe. The patrons were largely groups of families, and they seemed to know each other. There was a lot of camaraderie between tables and it just felt, I don’t know, like home.
FoodieGal – Quit Waxing Philosophical and Get to the Food
Let’s get this out up front. Queso Blanco is not Pancho’s Taqueria. It’s a typical Tex-Mex place. You won’t find tongue, cabeza, menudo or pozole on the menu. I don’t know that this absence of the more exotic foods makes Queso Blanco less authentic. I just think it makes it more of what most Americans expect from Mexican fare; cheesy, saucy foods. On the menu you will find chimichangas, burritos, enchiladas, chalupas, fajitas and other familiar dishes. There are several dips, nachos and quesadillas for appetizers and the menu also includes items for the gringo in your group. Translation: you can get a taco salad and grilled chicken salad. The menu also lists several vegetarian items, which was surprising to me, as it seems rare to see Mexican restaurants emphasize this offering. This tells me they have an audience, so vegetarians reading this review, there’s something for you!
Queso Fundido!
Queso fundido is Spanish for melted cheese (spanish fondue). The “fundido” part can include jalapenos, beef, chicken, or pork. In my experience, in most restaurants “queso fundido” is a thick white cheese fondue with chorizo, which is a spicy salty pork sausage. The queso fundido was what I had come to expect, with one major exception: CHORIZO baby! If you cannot tell from the photo above, it’s loaded up with chorizo. I can honestly say I have NEVER EVER had a queso fundido with so much sausage. It was refreshing to see so much meat. Of course, the down side, if carnivores can find a down side, is the saltiness. I admit, I love me some sodium. I would rather eat savory rather than sweet any day of the week. But a little chorizo goes a long way. I think it still tasted good, but the generous helping of chorizo made the dip very rich and filling. In fact, you could get this as your entree with a few tortillas, pico de gallo and a side of refried beans and you have dinner! We still managed to polish it off, dredging the very crispy chips through the slickery sausage fondue (add some of their fresh salsa to cut the salt) – but I have a feeling the wedding ring won’t slide on so easily tomorrow!
The Entrees
As always, our hungry eyes were bigger than our stomachs, as we ordered enough for at least four people. However, the best way to sample is to get a sampling, right? My hubby and I have always wanted to try homemade tamales, so we ordered two ala carte tamales, pork and chicken. For our dinners, I ordered tacos de azada con chorizo and my husband ordered pollo loco con chorizo (notice a theme?).
First, the tamales. Terrall shared that it takes 3 hours to create these little packages of meat and I believe it. They are delicate, but complicated and sensitive to cook. We loved the chicken tamale. You really taste the chicken and the ingredients. It was delicious and, as I said, delicate. The pork tamale was less impressive. If you were asked to guess what meat was in the tamale, you might guess beef or pork simply because of the color, but not because of the taste. You really just got a meaty, almost a little overdone taste. If you dine here and order tamales, order the chicken (actually identified by the waiter as his favorite tamale) and skip the pork.
CHORIZO -PALOOZA!
First, you get big helpings here, so if you leave hungry, it’s not their fault. Second, um, yum! My dinner was tacos de azada con chorizo, or tacos with meat and chorizo (duh!). Four tacos were served in silver foil to keep them warm and “together” (so they don’t spill their guts on the plate) and came with a side of their fresh pico de gallo. If you cannot tell, the oil from the chorizo coats the outside of the corn tortillas making them a little messy – and delightfully E-VIL! They were really good. The steak was well cooked. It definitely was not rare, but it was not overcooked and it had a great snap along with the chorizo. Again, the chorizo makes these steak-loaded tacos very salty, so if you don’t like sodium, then you shouldn’t order them. To cut the saltiness of the chorizo, spoon some of the fresh pico de gallo over top and you will really enjoy these. WARNING: the pico is fresh which means they use fresh jalapenos! Most times when you get jalapenos in a Mexican restaurant, they are pickled. And if you order a side of jalapenos at Queso Blanco, you will get pickled jalapenos. BUT, in the pico, the peppers are fresh which means they retain their heat and their bite. If you don’t like spicy, avoid the pico. But if you are feeling rather food-naughty, indulge! You’ll definitely feel the heat.
My hubby’s dinner was pollo loco con chorizo! It was a very tasty meal. For some reason most restaurants struggle with cooking chicken. It’s usually an over-cooked, rubbery impersonation of chicken. But in this case, it was tender and moist. It wouldn’t be “con chorizo” if you didn’t have that lovin’ ladleful of that salty, spicy chorizo. Believe it or not, you could still taste the chicken even in the wake of the chunky chorizo topping. NOTE: not for the faint of heart (meaning, do you take cholesterol medicine?). Chorizo is not known for its’ low fat properties. In fact, I believe it’s sacrilege to use low-fat and chorizo in the same sentence. At any rate, you will have a deep orange-red oil slick on your plate. Close your eyes and savor/ The treadmill can punish you later!
A Family-Owned, Family-Run Mexican Restaurant with Great Service
The restaurant was bustling when we arrived – both rooms of the restaurant were filled and the staff was on the hustle from the moment we arrived until we left. Our waiter was the owner’s son and he warned us up front that they were a little behind in the kitchen. I love it when waiters (or other staff) are honest and up front about the hitches in the giddy-up! I find it refreshing to have someone warn me so my expectations are set. He was very friendly and while he was hot-footing it the whole time we were there, he always smiled and he kept our drinks refreshed and apologized for the delays. The co-owner/wife Yolanda was also busy; bussing tables, running to the kitchen and serving food. The same can be said for the daugher-in-law, who had her 14 month old little girl on her hip as she bussed tables. Terrall, co-owner/husband was also busy, serving food, bussing tables. However he still took time to chat with this guests. He proudly introduced us to his grand-daughter (after removing her from mom’s hip) and spoke fluent spanish to her, which made her giggle and wink at us.
Overall it was a very lovely experience. The vibe was very friendly – moreso than any other place I have ever visited. The first visit and you are on a first-name basis. What’s that song from that popular show from the 80s? “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your na-a-ame!” I think I have underestimated how nice it is to have someone be so friendly, but not sickeningly friendly – but genuine. The food was good, some things were great, others were ok. Again, if you are looking for the more bizzare or adventurous cuisines of Mexico, you likely won’t find it here. But the familiar foods will be comforting. Just make sure and take a diuretic before you go, because, wow, it’s salty!
Our dinner came to $40, which is a good deal considering we had queso fundido, two entrees and two tamales, ala carte, a diet coke and iced tea. Oh yes, they do not serve alcohol and you cannot bring it in. If you are thirsting for a margarita, don’t go to Queso Blanco, they are teetotallers! If you really want to enjoy a drink, have dinner at Queso Blanco, then venture a couple doors down to Keltie’s and have a drink at their small bar.
If you are on in the Carmel/Westfield or Noblesville area, check out this little place. And if you are from Indy, be adventurous and take a road trip to greater northside of Indianapolis. Ok, the northside of Carmel. Either way, get off that sofa and check out something off your beaten path.
Directions
You should totally google-map this depending on where you live. But here are some quick and dirty directions. Follow 31 North through Carmel, past Clay Terrace Mall, Best Buy, Marsh, Don Pablos and the WalMart, just keep going until you get to State Road (SR) 32. Turn right on SR 32 and follow a couple of miles to Union street. It resembles mini-downtown Carmel or Zionsville. If it’s after 6pm, you can park in the pharmacy parking lot across the street.
