Guatemalan Your Mother Would Love (Restaurante El Mariachi)
Restaurante El Mariachi, 762 Roebling Avenue (corner Anderson), Trenton
(Directions)
Olga, owner of Restaurante (and Taqueria) El Mariachi
Taqueria El Mariachi, on N. Olden Ave, has been one of our favorite restaurants since the inception of this website, despite its obvious drawbacks: it is located in a funky retail block, and itself is a dive (one I appreciate and enjoy, but a dive nonetheless). Restaurante El Mariachi is its brand new (as of July of 2010) sibling. It is owned by the same woman. The menu is exactly the same – outstanding home cooked Guatemalan specialties (the food may even currently be slightly better, simply because the new restaurant is getting the full attention of the owner right now). Prices are the same, and for the quality and quantity, are incredibly reasonable ( a dinner/feast for under $10/head, truly, and it’s byob).
The biggest advantages of “Restaurante” are 1) It’s not a dive. It’s actually kind of cute with newly tiled floors, white table cloths, and pleasant murals. 2) It’s located in a quiet, stable residential neighborhood in the heart of Chambersburg, that’s pleasant to visit. 3) It’s bigger, which means you can show up with a group, even on a weekend, and hope to be seated quickly. It’s also conducive to special events, as one or more dining areas can be set aside for a party.
Main dining room
Small dining room at end with mural of Antigua, Guatemala
My favorite meals are the Chicken Tostadas and Tacos Al Pastor, which will stuff an extremely hungry man, and cost $6. Piscivores will enjoy the fried fish (a whole porgy, fried crispy), and the seafood soup (available weekends). Vegetarians will love the guacamole tostadas and the pupusas with cheese or cheese and loroco (an edible flower that tastes like broccoli).
It’s the kind of restaurant you can take your mother to, without having your sanity questioned. Indeed, after eating the food, and especially if mom picks up the tab, she’ll be raving about the experience for the rest of her days.
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I went to El Mariachi yesterday hoping to love it as much as Taqueria El Mariachi but that wasn’t the case unfortunately. The service is still friendly, but the food preparation was slightly off. If I never tried Taqueria I probably wouldn’t have noticed. The avocado salsa was too thick, the tortillas were larger and taken off the grill too soon and the beef tongue was on the dry side (still very tender though).
I like that there is more space and think it would be great for family dinners or parties. I’ll go back and try other dishes soon. I’m a loyal Taqueria customer so I have to give it’s sister another try.
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Editor’s Comment: These seem like normal variations to me, not a systematic issue with Ristorante. In my experience the salsa verde goes from soupy to thick and spicy to fiery depending on the batch, and when it gets scooped out of the tub where they store it. The hand made tortillas vary a lot, depending on who’s making them.
Thanks for this post–my husband and I went there for dinner tonight (he had the enchilades verdes and I had the tacos al pastor and we both had shakes and shared the guac and chips) and it was hands down the BEST Mexican food we’ve ever had!