Rattlers Grill Brings Santa Fe To Seattle

XXX Rattlers Grill, 1823 Eastlake Ave., E. Southwestern specialties. Lunch ($6 to $9) 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Dinner ($7 to $11) 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; until 11 p.m. Friday, Saturday. Lounge, full bar. Major credit cards. Nonsmoking areas. Reservations: 325-7350.

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About six months ago, I dropped into the then-newly opened Rattlers Grill. Rattlers seemed a bit rattled back then.

I was going to review it, but changed my mind. I had a sense that Rattlers, which had a tolerable opening, was likely to become a better restaurant over time.

I'm glad I waited. During the next five months, Rattlers turned into a very good restaurant, indeed. It fits well in its space.

The restaurant space was occupied by the Casa Lupita for several years. Casa Lupita had started out well, went through a succession of new owners and corporate managers until it became thoroughly mediocre.

Rattlers Grill is styled after the New Mexican cuisine that migrated out of Santa Fe the past few years. But it has managed to escape the ornate pretensions sometimes attendant to Coyote Cafe copy cats.

The first thing you notice is that the tortillas are hot. Presented in an insulated container, the thin, crepelike tortillas are made fresh on a comal near the kitchen. They are served with two sauces - a red chili and a lively green tomatillo - and a scoop of honey and

orange-laced butter.

You swipe a dab of butter on the tortilla, which then melts, add a scoop of one or both of the sauces, roll it up, and the result is wonderful. In four visits to the place, I have managed to polish off all of the tortillas and all of the sauces before getting to the main courses. (Waiters have discreetly brought seconds in all instances.)

Appetizers may well be unnecessary, especially if you have ordered one of the house's hand-shaken ($1.50!) Sausa Tequila Margaritas to slurp down the tortillas with.

Unnecessary, but not necessarily undesirable. Do order the Tableside Guacamole ($5.75). It is the only version of that soft green classic in town (to my knowledge) to be made and mashed fresh before your eyes. The waiter scoops out the ripe avocado, drops it into a metate-shaped bowl, adds some fresh pico de gallo (made with cubed tomato, cilantro, minced red onion and serrano chilies), dusts in some cayenne and salt, and moistens the dip with a squeeze of fresh lime.

You scoop it up with blue-corn tortilla chips and wonder if you are going to have room for dinner after all.

Rattlers is owned by two cou-

Rattlers Black Bean Soup. . .comes close to being the best bowl of soup in town.

ples, Robin and Shirley Day, and Barry and Christine Bloch.

``I had been going down to Mexico for the past five years,'' Robin Day said, ``and last year, on the way back, I stopped in Santa Fe.''

``Did you try the Coyote Cafe?'' I asked.

``I certainly did. I met Mark Miller (the cafe's brilliant owner-chef) and was curious as to how the concept would work here. Although the Coyote Cafe is more upscale than what we are doing.''

Chipped out, we skipped the nachos and shared orders of Shrimp Tamales ($4.95) and Grilled Beef Steak Quesadillas (also $4.95). The tamales, served with a green-chili sauce, are a taste surprise (you somehow don't expect shellfish flavors to work with steamed cornmeal), and wonderful. The beef quesadilla is almost too spicy; it overwhelms the essential melted-cheese filling.

I haven't tried the house bowl of red, Santa Fe Red Chili, but Rattlers Black Bean Soup ($2.95) reminds one richly of a vegetarian chili. Dappled over with ribbons of sour cream, it comes close to being the best bowl of soup in town - and certainly the heartiest.

Rattlers broils and roasts its meats on a rotisserie suspended over a mesquite-applewood grill. The effect is a pleasant, aromatic and mildly smoked quality that works particularly well with chicken.

For example, Grilled Chicken Breast ($8.95) is marinated in tequila and fresh lime, quickly grilled over high heat, and served on a bed of Tabasco onions. Spit-roasted (half) Chicken ($7.95) is served with a Jalapeno BBQ Sauce, and is the best I've tasted since a recent trip to Confetti's in the Everett Marina (that rotisseried chicken is worth the trip all by itself).

Blue Corn Enchiladas ($7.95 to $8.95) come with a variety of fillings and toppings (red-chili sauce, sour cream and green-chili sauce and mole). The best combination I found was the Spit-Roasted Chicken Enchilada with a complex and robust mole sauce ($8.95 for the complete dinner).

Black beans, corn cakes, salsa and a seasoned rice come with almost all the platters. The beans are fine; the rice a bit too generously seasoned. With all the other bold and assertive flavors, you almost need an occasional mouthful of plain, white rice - or at least a Mexican rice that gives the taste buds a rest.

Even if you are stuffed, share an order of the Honey Flan. It's that good.