El Charro's Fine Food Arrives In Record Time
------------------------------------------------------------------ Restaurant review
El Charro Mexican Restaurant, 15838 Pacific Highway South, SeaTac; 241-9412. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-11p.m.; Saturday, noon-11 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.-10 p.m. Major credit cards, local personal checks accepted. Full bar. ------------------------------------------------------------------
Consistency is something restaurants aim for but may find hard to achieve. At El Charro, it is served up daily, along with a Mexican fare that makes less-authentic competitors' food taste like TV dinners.
Opened in July 1981 by Magdaleno and Carmen Garcia, SeaTac's El Charro (not to be confused with a Kent eatery no longer owned by the Garcias) has spent the past 13 years winning devotees with its friendly family atmosphere and quality dishes that aren't fancy, but are just plain good. Crisp things are crisp, hot items arrive steaming and although there is the requisite cheese, entrees aren't drowning in it.
Its location next to the Lewis & Clark Theater on Highway 99 draws quite a few moviegoers as well as regulars, but waiting time is usually short, if any. And no matter how busy the place is, the service is swift. In a 1987 review, the reporter estimated the complimentary chips and salsa had arrived within 30 seconds. They've got it down to about 15 now.
Another plus is that the L shape of the building allows the nonsmoking section to be well away from the smoking area.
For that person in your party who doesn't desire Mexican fare, there are some alternatives; there's also a children's menu that ranges from tacos to hamburgers.
We usually eat from the combo menu - traditional groupings of tacos, enchiladas, chiles rellenos, etc. But on recent visits for this review we forced ourselves (oh, agony) to sample some of the house specialties, which included some delightful variations on meat, poultry and seafood.
Carne Asada ($9.25) is a charcoal-grilled skirt steak served with rice and refried beans (as are most entrees) and garnished with guacamole. The meat was tender and perfectly done.
Chicken Mexican Style ($8.75) comes with a sauce of green peppers and onions. It resonates with spices without searing the tongue.
The traditional Chile Verde ($8.75) features tender pork pieces in a distinctive green sauce with bell peppers and onions.
El Charro's Chicken en Mole ($8.75) boasts a sauce that begs to be scooped onto tortillas or stirred into the rice. Deep, rich and full-bodied, it is spicy-sweet but is not tricked up with peanut flavoring the way some restaurants make it.
The Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Garlic Prawns) are delicately sauteed in wine and garlic butter, with mushrooms. At $10.25, it is one of the fanciest dishes on the menu and is a generous helping.
Speaking of portions, many diners find it impossible to leave without a good-sized serving of leftovers in a box. One young man counted among his coming-of-age rituals the night he actually finished an El Charro dinner.