We also had some spicier high hopes for the pork steak in mole verde ($18), but again, the dish errs on the milder side. The shrimp were well cooked, but the adobo sauce seems to be missing a touch of heat. Green rice, a small ensalada and a cup of black beans round out the dish. The shrimp tinga ($21) brings fresh shrimp served in a chili adobo sauce and topped with tortilla strips and a mild crema.
We did most of our dining on Odelay's house specialties.
There's also an a la carte section of tamales, tacos and the like that lets you customize the precise meal you seek. There are seven combo plates of various tacos and enchiladas, served with rice and fried beans. Odelay's entrées cover more common Tex-Mex ground. Perfect is a bold claim, but these nachos come close to the ideal. We added cubes of succulent grilled chicken to our nachos for an extra two dollars tenderloin steak is an option for three bucks more. The chips border a plate centered by guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo. For a half order, a whole tortilla is quartered and fried, then loaded with a healthy portion of cheese, refried beans and pickled jalapeños that would overwhelm a lesser, soggier chip. On another night, we opened our visit with a half order of Odelay's Perfect Nachos ($8). The quartet of fried bites comes with a scoop of fresh guacamole and buttermilk chipotle crema for dipping, but a party of four may want to double their order. On one visit, we also opted for chimichangitos ($13), which are bite-sized fried tortillas filled with black beans, chicken and corn. Yellow queso ($7) from the popular pandemic-born Ritas & Queso pop-up reappears, or there's a queso blanco that offers a creamier alternative for a dollar extra per cup. It's refreshing that Odelay hasn't joined the trend of offering a litany of salsas at the table, but a little more dinamismo wouldn't hurt either.įortunately, other appetizers allow Odelay to flex its Tex-Mex chops. The single red salsa offered only flirts with spice and never fully commits to heat. The fried chips arrived fresh, crunchy and hot, with just the right level of saltiness. Once seated, diners are quickly served the mandatory chips and salsa. Several fresco murals are painted along one wall, including one depicting Jerry Jones pitching the Cowboys head-coaching gig to Jimmy Johnson at Mia's Tex-Mex on Lemmon Avenue in 1989. Stucco walls, wooden beams and Saltillo-tiled floors provide ambiance, along with dozens of La Catrina dolls at the entrance. Barsotti gives the bulk of the credit for the food to Sosa for "scaling up small recipes" for the daily masses.Īlison McLean Barsotti and his partners gutted the former Cafe Express in Inwood Village, transforming it into a colorful hacienda. Tortilleria la Nortena in Oak Cliff provides the corn tortillas, and Odelay's chef, Jesse Sosa, created an in-house flour tortilla program. Wagyu beef is sourced from Rosewood Ranch, the pork is Berkshire and the seafood is caught from the Gulf of Mexico. "The most obvious examples are the proteins we use." Then, for that personal approach, he called up some staff meals, like chimichangas and snapper calabacita.įrom there, he focused on the fundamentals. "We wanted to make the commitment to high-quality ingredients, with no compromise," Barsotti tells the Observer. But for him, it had to be personal and differentiated from competitors. For the menu, he says he started with the greatest hits of Dallas Tex-Mex and added a few outliers (see the New Mexico section). "Always, my first meal when I returned home was Tex-Mex."Īnd while Barsotti has several revered local Italian restaurants (Nonna, Fachini and Carbone's), he was approached by now-investor Mike Kerr with the idea of opening a Tex-Mex restaurant a couple of years ago. Alison McLean "When I lived in the Midwest, and later in California, the taste memory I missed the most was Tex-Mex," Barsotti says.
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