For years now, Casa Sanchez has been serving up delicious, unusual Mexican food in a spartan location in southwest Salt Lake City.
But now, with the opening of a second Murray location (and limiting the Salt Lake store to serving lunch), there's a setting to match the excellence of the food at this family restaurant.
We were greeted at the door and seated by one family member and his almost-3-year-old daughter, who handed out menus with professional gravity. The family matriarch makes every tortilla that's served at both locations, and boy, are they good: my kids kept grabbing hot ones out of the tortilla warmer and gobbling them down plain.
Luckily, the staff refilled our warmers every time we ran out. Other welcoming touches include the toys that "grandma" keeps in the kitchen for kids to play with; the three pots of fresh, homemade green salsa, red salsa and pico de gallo that accompanied our chips; and the general air of hospitality that pervades the place.
Casa Sanchez urges guests to sit back and relax over their meals. Our kids played cars and colored with that charming almost-3-year-old, we talked with the owner about his sources for the fresh fish and pork that make the food so good and, when we ordered a couple of cups of Mexican hot chocolate, the owner told us the kitchen staff had decided to have some, too.
But more on that later. We started our meal with the rolled taquitos, crisply browned with a rich, meaty filling; and the queso fundido, gooey baked cheese topped with meat and served with warm tortillas.
My middle daughter loves quesadillas, and Casa Sanchez' cheese version was just-crisp outside, and chewy with melted cheese inside. Our other daughters had tamales, and I was jealous when I saw the plumply oversized versions that arrived steaming at the table, with barely-sweet cornmeal surrounding juicy pulled pork.
My husband had Casa Sanchez' steak fajitas (other available versions include chicken, shrimp, salmon, halibut and swordfish), which put nearly everybody else's to shame. The meat is lean, juicy and served not only with onions cooked to tender caramelization, but also with green and red peppers, onions, squash and fat quartered mushrooms that have been given the same treatment. On the side were tortillas, rice, beans, a dollop of sour cream and a scoop of perfectly fresh guacamole.
I looked over the extensive seafood side of the menu, which includes everything from fish tacos to swordfish in almond sauce, but in the end chose the owner-recommended pollo en mole. He was right on: the mole was a little sweet, with lots of deep, dark cacao flavor that made the chicken taste sublime. I got to eat only about half of my dish because, once the kids had a taste, they were camped at my elbows, begging for more.
That's OK, though: it left me room for a big slice of Casa Sanchez' rich and creamy flan, plus the excellent and comforting apple burrito, with firm apples rolled in a flour tortilla and dusted with sugar and cinnamon, with vanilla ice cream on the side. Plus, we had the hot chocolate, aromatic with whipped-in chocolate and cinnamon.
Appetizers $3.25-$7.25; soups and salads $2.29-$9.35; combinations $5.99-$6.99; burritos, enchiladas, tacos and the like $3.25-$8.65; tortas and sandwiches $3.75-$6.25, sides $1-$2.75; specialties $8.65-$13.95; seafood $8.25-$12.95; kids' meals $3.75; desserts $1.75-$3.25.
Rating: *** 1/2
Where: 4041 S. 700 East, Murray (lunch location at 389 W. 1700 South)
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Friday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Payment: Major credit cards, checks accepted
Phone: 270-5362
Wheelchair access: Easy
Also: Catering available
Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret Morning News. E-mail: skratz@desnews.com