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In Dining Commentary
In Dining Commentary
In Dining Commentary
Scouting report: La Serenata
Almost every Milwaukee neighborhood seems to have at least one place to grab burritos, chimichangas and a margarita or two.
The challenge, then, for these types of establishments is to create food that is of a high enough quality to attract people from beyond walking distance; people willing to pass one or two similar restaurants along the way to your door.
La Serenata, 4978 S. Packard Ave., seemed to be struggling with this obstacle when I recently visited on a Thursday evening, and my guest and I found ourselves to be the only diners in the vivacious, brightly colored restaurant. Yellows and reds cover the walls, a horseshoe style bar separates two seating areas and tables are dressed with vases of flowers and paper, doily-styled placemats, making the place lively and inviting.
Likely due to the slowness of the evening, our server was doing double duty as the bartender, and mixed up an excellent margarita. Served in a delicate, curvaceous clear margarita glass, this beverage was definitely one of the better you'll find in the area.
Complementary chips came with two versions of salsa, mild / medium and hot. The milder version was a pureed salsa, which can sometimes skew towards more of a ketchup taste than that of a salsa, but that is not an issue at La Serenata. The hot version is a bit chunkier, although still finely minced and carries just a slight latent heat.
In addition to guacamole, taquitos, queso fundido and other common appetizers, La Serenata offers some interesting variation in the form of ham and cheese quesadillas (Sinchronizadas, $5.75) and Bombita ($1.80), strips of ribeye in a tortilla with melted cheese.
Main Courses offer standards like burritos, tacos and enchiladas (both rojas and suizas), and a variety of Mexican plate dinners and house specialties. The menu is extensive, and covers a full four pages, mostly with selections in the $10 range.
Diners should also expect to see tortas, sopas and some of the more interesting Mexican dishes you won't find in a cookie cutter Mexican restaurant.
Chicken and ribeye milanesas both make the menu (breaded, fried cuts of meat), mole is fairly prevalent and beef tongue (lengua) makes a few appearances. As added bonus, La Serenata offers a children's menu and a fairly substantial daily breakfast menu.
We tried two dishes with very good results. Both the enchiladas suizas de pollo ($10.50), and a tostada dinner ($9.95) were excellent, and the freshness of the ingredients was noteworthy, as were the generous portions. The enchiladas suizas in particular were quite excellent with corn tortillas and just a slight bite of heat. And unlike other restaurants which charge extra for sour cream now, La Serenata includes it with most of their entrees.
Overall, La Serenata has all the makings of a top-notch Mexican restaurant, from margarita to flan and fried ice cream. And with three years under its belt, hopefully this South Side eatery will draw in more people and thrive.
Next time I visit, I hope to see many more people enjoying the food as much as I did, because without a doubt, I would happily again drive past the three Mexican restaurants on the way from my home to go back to La Serenata.
Talkbacks
older/wiser | March 22, 2010 at 10:31 a.m. (report)
Okay Mokerado. Still waiting to read YOUR highly esteemed review and comments. Many 5:00s have come and gone. My special needs are simply good food from a clean restaurant with a healthy kitchen.
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BIGMEX72 | March 9, 2010 at 8:48 a.m. (report)
oh boy, Review and comments to come after 5pm need some time on this one. Chupa Cabra, jimmy jones and Older Wiser, give it up, you MUST have special needs. more to come
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older/wiser | March 9, 2010 at 7:48 a.m. (report)
I would really love to hear any recommendations for decent and 'close to authentic' Mexican food restaurants from chupa_cabra. Sounds like you might be the more qualified reviewer at this time. I enjoy chili rellenos and ceviche as a starter if you need specifics. These may not be authentic Mexican food, but I've had the best of both in many visits to Mexico. Poppers and smothered nachos just are not Mexican, I agree.
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chupa_cabra | March 7, 2010 at 11:13 a.m. (report)
Maybe this restaurant is worth trying at least once, but I have to take issue with the jalapeno poppers. Perhaps they were delicious, perhaps they were made from scratch. The fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as an "authentic" popper, because they are an American invention. My wife, born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico before moving here at the age of 27, has never heard of a jalapeno popper. The look on her face was priceless as I tried to explain it to her. If this restaurant was indeed a truly authentic Mexican restaurant, then they wouldn't have something so ridiculous on their menu. Some well-meaning but nonetheless ignorant soul probably advised them that "people love poppers" and they decided to add them to the list. Here's a short list of a few authentic dishes you rarely see in Mexican restaurants in Milwaukee: pozole, tinga, birria, ceviche, cochinita pibil, papas con chorizo, hand made corn tortillas, tamales with any filling other than pork or chicken, albondigas, mole, garbanzos, lentejas, caldos, calabacitas - to name a few. I admit that it has been my good fortune to have enjoyed these wonderful dishes because of my marriage, but I cannot understand why they haven't made their way into the local restaurants considering the size of Milwaukee's population of Mexicans.
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hammerschmidt53092 | March 3, 2010 at 9:44 a.m. (report)
I would agree that we should have heard about this place sooner, although I think the fact that the place is a bit off putting from the outside is what has stopped most from going in. I lived here a little over a year and have drivin past saying the same thing. The place was not empty the two times we have gone, as a matter of fact was fairly crowded. I also agree that We are lacking authentic mexican food in WI in general. To commercial. to Americanized. This is not that place Authentic, made fresh. And the home made poppers. NOT your gross fozen crap. I am not a fan of poppers but the others with us ordered them. I am glad they did because they were amazing as was all the food served on our two visits. Please don't listen to those that judge a place that they have never eaten at or set foot in. I moved to Cudahy from Mequon a year ago. And have learned that just because a town is mainly blue collar, and lacks the architectural and trendy look of downtown, riverwest, bayview, the north shore, and the eastside, doesn't mean that the food isn't good, or the people are any different then I. The people on the south side are hard working, real, respectful, and caring, and I am not judged by what brand of jeans I am wearing, what kind of car I drive or how big my house is. Just saying.....don't judge a book by it's cover. I am not the owner and I am not friends with the owners. I just went and ate and enjoyed, and wanted others to go experience the food too.
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