Hot Tamale Café

	Hot Tamale Café Address: off Hull Street at Deer Run Drive, behind Friendly’s Phone: 595-0138. Hours: Lunch, Tuesday-Friday, 11-2:30. Dinner, Tuesday-Thursday, 5-9:30; Friday, 5-10; Saturday, 12-10; Sunday, 12-9 Prices: $$

Everybody has, or ought to have, a favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant. For years ours was El Matador, a homey place in a converted Hardee’s on Horsepen Road in the near West End.

It was a place run by and for families. The food was simple and good, served by a procession of recently arrived young Mexicans, and the owners, first an older couple and then their granddaughter and her Anglo husband, were friendly folks who came around to ask if everything was fine, and lingered to chat.

We felt like we were part of the family.

Then about three years ago a developer swooped in, bought the building, surrounding businesses and apartments, and built a subdivision, and El Matador disappeared.

Now it has resurfaced, far across town near Brandermill, with a new name, and in building specifically designed for it. The food remains the same, so even though it now costs us $2.50 in tolls, it’s still our favorite Mexican spot.

Owners Tabitha and Ryan Pierce (she’s the granddaughter) built and designed the place from scratch, literally constructing the booths, painting the walls and ceiling, and laying the tile floor.

The result, which might have been designed by a professional, lifts The Hot Tamale a notch above most of its competitors.

The walls are painted in subdued shades of red, gold, green and purple, punctuated with ersatz window frames, a corral fence complete with wooden cowboy and a mural painted by one of the servers, an art student at the Governor’s School. 

The non-smoking section is separated by the entry hall and half-wall divider. Metal lamps extend from the ceilings to just over the booths that line three walls of the main dining room. There are tables in the center for large parties.

There is a deck of cards at each table, but the service is so good that there is little time to play before the food arrives.

The menu has changed a bit from the old place. It now has more of a Southwestern touch, which suits a customer base that is more suburban and white than the regulars at El Matador, which sat in the middle of a Hispanic enclave. From appetizers to dessert, nearly all of the food at The Hot Tamale is made from scratch. A kitchen team headed by a Salvadoran, assisted by a couple of young Mexicans, are busy all day making salsas, guacamole, pico de gallo, tacos, burritos, tamales, tortillas, flan and chocolate chimis.

The large menu includes seven courses from the grill, and our most recent visit, we tried the pork and red snapper. The pork, or carnitas ($8.75), cooked with cilantro and onion, was moist and tasty, served with tortillas, pico de gallo and a mango salsa that is one of the hits of the house. The ten-ounce snapper ($9.95) needed something other than a chilpotle pepper rub to lift it beyond the ordinary. In the past, I had enjoyed the large portion of spicy shrimp, at $10.95 the most expensive item on the menu, which is served over rice.

But you don’t go to Mexican restaurants for gourmet fare—at least not those in Richmond--so we usually stick to the enchiladas, tacos, burritos and quesadillas. They are offered in a variety of combinations featuring beef, pork and chicken, accompanied by charro beans (black beans on request) and Southwestern rice. I usually choose a couple enchiladas and a taco ($6.95). 
Because every meal begins with salsa and chips and is followed by a large main portion, we usually pass on the appetizers and desserts, but we loaded up on our last visit. 

We began red skin poppers ($5.25), a mix of jalapeno and cream cheese dipped in batter and fried crispy, and a guacamole dip ($2.50). The former was delicious, which is why it warrants a place on the menu even though it is not made in-house, while the later was bland until I mixed it with the rice in the main course.

For the finale, we shared flan ($2.50), an egg custard floating in caramel sauce, and fried ice cream ($2.95), a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream dipped in sweet honey and covered with crunchy corn flakes, sugar and spices, sitting on a lightly fried, floured tortilla. Both were excellent.

Our visits to The Hot Tamale usually include a half-carafe of Yago sangria ($7.95) which despite lacking fresh fruit, suits our taste just right. 

Although he is not a drinker, Ryan Pierce, who is ever-present now that Tabitha is home most of the time with two young boys, is building a selection of tequilas, for sipping or mixing, to add to other bar favorites, such as margaritas, daiquiris and eight Mexican beers.

There is a special kids menu (most selections are $3.25), which accounts for the large number of families with children, who add noise and life to the 90-seat dinging room. A family of four can get stuffed for $20 to $25, plus drinks, tax and tip.

This review first appeared in Style Weekly.