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El Pue blito Place

1423 Richmond Ave
TTR W ine Cafe
Houston , TX 77006

RESTAURANT REVIEW

17 Restaurant - Alden Hotel By M. Martin

Arturo's Uptown Italiano
Ashiana Indian Restaurant
Backstreet Cafe
Bistro Moderne - Hotel Derek
Bistro Toulouse
Boom Boom Room
Brennan's of Houston
Coco's Crepes & Coffee
Cova W ine Bar
D'Amico's Italian Market Cafe
El Pueblito Place
Farrago W orld Cuisine
Field of Green's
Hugo's
Kirin One Japanese Sushi Buffet
The Wikipedia defines brunc h as a "late morning meal between breakfast
and lunc h, as a replac ement to both meals, usually eaten when one rises too late
to eat breakfast, or as a spec ially-planned meal…" All true, but overlooking at
least c ritic al issue in defining brunc h—the reason why "one rises too late to eat
breakfast" in the first plac e. Consult the restaurant listings in your favorite food
public ation (hopefully, this one) and you'll find that Sunday brunc h outweighs just
about every other variety. If you didn't know any better, you might think that
brunc h was a marketing ploy aimed at c hurc hgoers—but if that were the c ase, the
Greenway Plaza area around Lakewood Churc h would be thronged with
restaurants offering Sunday brunc h…and it's not. To find the true brunc h
experienc e in Houston, you need to head a few miles eastward. The best brunc h
establishments will be found among the tattoo parlors, gay disc os, and
Goth-infested c offee shops of The Montrose. Good c hurc h-going folk don't do
brunc h, they do Golden Corral. Brunc h is a meal for those missed breakfast
thanks to sleeping off a buzz, or by way of not having slept at all for various
reasons. In any event, it is a dec adent and c elebratory meal, best enjoyed when
the appropriate pic k me up is a Bloody Mary, not diner c offee. Welc ome to "Let's
Do Brunc h", Cuizine's ongoing examination of the best plac es to get the hair of
the dog and a dec ent omelet. I'm your host—let's just c all me the "Grazin'
Gourmet"—sc ourge of buffet lines everywhere and stern reprimander of weakly
c onstruc ted c oc ktails.

Kubo's Sushi Bar and Grill

laidback manor (closed)
Last Concert Cafe
Marine's Empanadas & Bakery
Max's W ine Dive
Niko Niko's
Oporto Cafe and W ine Bar
Pico's Mex-Mex Restaurant
Rouge New American Cuisine
For our first foray, Mrs. Gourmet and I visited El Pueblito (1423 Ric hmond
Ave.) We'd invited a few friends over the night before for Mojitos and c hampagne
c oc ktails, had definitely slept too late for breakfast, and were very definitely in a
mood for brunc h. El Pueblito and its sister restaurant Mango's have made a
reputation in rec ent years as purveyors of authentic south-c entral Mexic an
c uisine, with partic ular kudos for their seafood and pineapple salsa. Having dined
there on many an oc c asion, we were c urious to see how they fared in the early
part of the day. We were not disappointed.
Tec hnic ally speaking, what El Pueblito is serving is not stric tly "brunc h",
but a breakfast menu served on weekends until mid afternoon. Some would argue
that El Pueblito's offering is further disqualified by not being a buffet, but that's
just wrong. If sheer c aloric volume is your prime c onsideration, you should forgo

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Saffron Moroccan Cuisine

brunc h altogether and join the good c hurc h-going folks at the Golden Corral.
Tacos A Go-Go
Buffet-style serving is not important, partic ularly when the ala c arte menu
Tart Cafe inc ludes all the standard items you would find in a brunc h buffet server line, and
espec ially when the individual items are pric ed so reasonably that you c an load
Te House of Tea the table as effec tively as you would on a buffet line for about the same pric e. In
The Lodge at Bayou Bend that sense, El Pueblito's extended breakfast more than qualifies as 'brunc h'. The
menu inc ludes all of the standard items for brunc h-- an assortment of egg entrees
TTR W ine Cafe ranging from the aptly named huevos gringos (boringly standard diner-style fried
Zula or sc rambled eggs) to an assortment of omelets with ingredients ranging from the
fairly mundane, like ham, to the fairly unusual, like fresh basil. Also inc luded are
waffles, panc akes, fruit and other salads.

If the weather permits, ask to be seated on the patio. El Pueblito boasts

one of the best outdoor seating areas in the c ity, heavily planted with ferns and
palms befitting the subtropic al c uisine and several c anopied c abanas perfec t for
a morning-after tryst. Mrs. Gourmet and I opted to sit next to a faux waterfall. The
splashing water did muc h to soothe the fevered pulse in my temples. Merc ifully,
the pounding disc o soundtrac k so evident at many other brunc h establishments
was nowhere to be found.

The c lassic brunc h experienc e is defined as muc h by the c oc ktail menu

as the food menu. Mrs. Gourmet & I c onsider mimosas and bloody marys to be
the two must-have c oc ktails for brunc h. We tried one of eac h, and are happy to
report that both pass with flying c olors. The mimosas are partic ularly noteworthy,
made with fresh orange juic e, generously portioned in a pilsner glass. The
bloody marys are moderately spic ed, suitably potent, and lac king the usual
profusion of superfluous vegetation. For those who prefer a more southwestern
c oc ktail, El Pueblito also serves some of the best margaritas in Montrose.

After a modest interval, the waitress returned for our food order. Mrs.
Gourmet opted for the Santa Luc ia Omelet, I dec ided upon the seafood omelet,
and we dec ided to split a fruit salad and a waffle. The fruit salad c ame to our
table almost immediately. It would have been worth waiting for. El Pueblito's
fruit salad is basic ally a deli fruit tray c ondensed into a plate. Its tropic al
abundanc e inc luded generous portions of jic ama, mango, c antaloupe and
watermelon. Those of the vegan persuasion would regard it as a meal in itself.
We dec ided to take most of it home for smoothies—it was that good, that plentiful,
and that fresh.

Not long after, the entrees arrived. The seafood omelet is stuffed with the
same shrimp c rawfish mix as El Pueblito's signature seafood enc hiladas. Served
with a standard dollop of refritos and c omforting bland pan fried potatoes, it is a
light and flavorful way to get Sunday started. The real stand out, though, was the
Santa Luc ia omelet. Stuffed with mushrooms, blac k beans, tomato, and liberal
portions of fresh basil, it has an intriguing flavor that c leanses the palate. The
aroma of fresh basil is as muc h an eye-opener as the fresh orange juic e in the
mimosas. It c omes garnished with a fruit relish that is a smaller and spic ier
version of the fruit salad.

The waffle arrived next. Waffles are a c omfort food that oc c asionally
aspires to greatness. El Pueblito's waffles have no suc h aspirations, but they are
c omforting nonetheless. This partic ular waffle easily produc ed dessert servings
for two. Lastly, the c hec k arrived, and c onfirmed what I had already
suspec ted—that Mrs. Gourmet and I had feasted as well as we would have at a

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brunc h buffet for about the same pric e.

In summary: Sunday brunc h at El Pueblito inc ludes many brunc h

essentials done right, and a few things done to exc ellenc e—in partic ular, the
differenc e between a mimosa made with fresh orange juic e and one made with
juic e from a c an is worth the trip alone. The tropic al garden patio seating is so
appetizing it almost deserves to be on the menu itself. Servers are prompt,
c ourteous, and attentive. Expec t expertly prepared food, and expec t a pleasant
surprise when the c hec k arrives. Expec t that you'll want to c ome bac k—I know we
will.

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