It isn’t often that you come across restaurants that name themselves an exclamation. There aren’t many diners calling themselves “Now, This Is a Lot of Grease!” or pizza places identifying as “OMG, I Can’t Handle the Cheesiness!”
Farmington’s Mmm Que Rico!, on the other hand, does — prompting hungry eaters to wonder if the restaurant’s Mexican cuisine really will have them exclaiming, “How delicious!”
The first thing we noticed upon entering was its cute interior. In addition to the typical Mexican restaurant decor, there were a handful of other things that caught our eye. For instance, we smiled at the cartoon employees painted above the passage leading back to the kitchen.
The second thing we noticed, upon opening the menu, was the selection of margaritas. There were the usuals, of course — pretty much every place will make you a strawberry margarita. But then there were a few that we don’t see very often at all. When deciding which one to get, it came down to either platano (banana) or miel (honey). We were less able to imagine what a honey margarita would taste like, so we chose that one.
The honey margarita was pretty great, if only because of how subtle the honey was. It tasted like your basic margarita, but just slightly sweeter and honey-flavored. Otherwise, it was the classic lime juice and liquor concoction. As we sipped it, ideas about how to make it at home wandered through our thoughts. (We will also have to get the banana margarita as soon as possible, as that’s also not something we’ve ever tried.)
As we waited for our beverage, we chowed down on the complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa roja was pleasant — not much to report there — but the chips had a noteworthy taste and texture. They had a give to them as you bite down that, paired with how they tasted, felt freshly homemade.
[image:2]For our main meal (a lunch), we were torn between terrestrial and seafood, of which Que Rico has quite a selection. Ultimately we settled on Enchiladas de Mole, as mole is one of the sauces that we’re always interested to see how different cooks create their own interpretation of it. Mole, the Nahuatl word for “sauce,” has all sorts of varieties and even within the same one, making it with slightly different ingredients or quantities thereof can change the flavor quite a bit. This time, what came through the most was the chiles, and not necessarily in a capsaicin-spicy way. Instead, we could really taste the flavor of the flesh of the poblano or ancho chiles, which was interesting … in a good way.
We were also delighted to see that the enchiladas were absolutely stuffed with chicken. For a relatively small dish, it was incredibly filling. The rice and beans were relatively average, but complimented the enchiladas just fine.
Ultimately, Que Rico was actually quite a bit rico.
The restaurant is located in the pack of restaurants on East Main Street pretty much equidistant from the big box store part of town and Farmington’s downtown area, making it kind of centrally located in a sense. (It was also about 3,000 feet due south of Lauter Haus Brewing Co., a position we approve of, as the brewery does not necessarily have its own food.) We’ll be back.
Nick Gonzales