South by South First
It's All in the Latitude
By Barbara Chisholm, Fri., March 10, 2000
La Reyna
1816 S. First, 447-1280
Mon-Sat, 7am-9pm; Sun, 8am-8:30pm
La Reyna seems to have an almost constantly bustling business, even among so many nearby haunts. The dining area hasn't messed with the note it struck in what appears to be 1967. Perhaps it is unintentional, but the effect is very retro-chic. The folks who frequent the Continental Club would fit right in with their big-fendered cars. Every table (except on the patio) is a booth, so it's a cozy dining experience anywhere you alight.
Begin a meal in that most reassuring, quintessentially Texan way, with a basket of chips and bowl of salsa. The chips are appropriately crisp and are served warm -- a nice touch. The salsa makes a big statement of heat at the beginning, but it mellows as the bowl empties. Then it's on to the menu, which has the comforting familiarity of the classic Tex-Mex restaurant.
The chile relleno platter is a batter-fried enormous poblano pepper stuffed beyond capacity with seasoned beef and smothered with a blanket of melted Monterrey Jack cheese. Accompanying the centerpiece is the typical rice and beans. The beef filling is a savory, if somewhat curious, saute of ground beef, carrots, and potatoes. There seems to be no chilies at all in the mix, which lends the beef an almost sweet quality courtesy of the carrots. The egg batter is not excessively greasy, although the cover of cheese rendered any crispness undetectable. The total effect is of an extremely mild mini-casserole suitable to any covered-dish occasion. A sort of Mexican hot dish!
The chicken flautas are another story altogether. As tightly rolled as a Romeo y Julieta cigar, these flavorful beauties positively shatter upon the first bite. These babies didn't suffer the limp fate of other, less carefully tended, flautas. The seasoned chicken interior provides the perfect complement to the crackly casing. The cool toppings of sour cream and guacamole are obviously added only seconds before the plate makes its way out of the kitchen, so that the integrity of the frying is preserved.
Accompanying the entrees are the standard beans and rice, and standard and somewhat unexceptional they are. Both are tame in their seasonings and acceptable but uninspired in their execution.
La Reyna is the kind of place I frequented as a kid when we would visit my mother's hometown of San Antonio. If you ever frequented Mexican restaurants in the Seventies, this place will be utterly and comfortably nostalgic for you. And the reliable ambiance and food is obviously the secret to the steady stream of happy diners who make the stop here on the busy South First boulevard.
