When David Bowie sang his song, “Changes,” he probably wasn’t thinking about restaurants. But he could’ve. Because the restaurant world undergoes many changes, specifically name changes. Such was the case for Tejano Joe’s Mexican Café. The name was recently switched from Tejano Joe’s to El Rodeo. And El Rodeo proved that changes don’t have to be a bad thing.
But first impressions do count, and El Rodeo isn’t a stand out. It’s located in a dark, discreet section off W. 86th Street, and you have to keep your eyes on red hot tamale alert to find it. Luckily, my friend and I did. We were also surprised that our car was only one of three at 9pm on a Saturday. However, my friend quickly pointed out the positives: it has outdoor seating. But since Saturday night was freezing, we were quick to jump inside, and hoped for some spicy hot Mexican food.
When we reached the inside, we realized that besides another group that left soon after we entered, we were the only two customers at the restaurant. But hey, who am I to say that popularity is the sign of greatness? Pushing my gripes aside, I opened a dazzling menu full of—literally—a hundred choices. Although many choices, the menu is well organized listing various Appetizers, Salads, Fajitas, Quesadillas, Tacos, Chimichangas, and Mix-and-Match Specials. So where to begin? One of the two waiters suggested the Shrimp Quesadillas. So, after ten minutes or so of deciding, we chose: The Chicken and Rice Soup, the Shrimp Quesadillas, and a Vegetarian Platter.
While we waited, we munched on chips and salsa. The chips weren’t anything special, not too salty. And the salsa was fairly thin and bland. We also scoped the setting. The restaurant itself is large and accommodates big groups, even though none were present while we were there. It would be a great venue for a party or fiesta. The walls are painted a burnt yellow, with spare decorations, like a green, wooden lizard on the wall. A Spanish channel plays on T.V.s and you’re able to watch Soccer or Fútbol games. Two teams from Mexico were challenging each other, and my friend and I would laugh every time the announcing yelled, “GOOOOAAAAAL!” So, the atmosphere was not fantastic, but good, and really just depended on your company and what you made of it.
When the food came, after a quick ten minutes or so, the waiter started us with the Chicken and Rice Soup. I don’t expect terrific things from soups, but so far this semester I’ve been delighted. This soup was one of the tastiest things we tried. In fact my friend said, “It made my mouth as excited as a new flavor of pop rocks!” It serves more like a meal, than soup in that it’s very thick and jam-packed with shredded chicken, peas, corn, green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, and topped with green onion, white onion, sour cream, and shredded cheese. The broth was salty, spicy and delicious too.
I almost forgot we had more food coming, but then the waiter brought out two Shrimp Quesadillas. A unique thing about El Rodeo is their tortillas. They are slightly charred on the outside, but have a chewy, lightly greased flavor on the inside. And inside the quesadilla I found juicy hunks of shrimp, green and red peppers, onions, and lots of melted cheese. The cheese wasn’t stringy like pizza cheese, but creamy, like white queso dip.
We also chose the Vegetarian Entrée that came with a bean burrito, a cheese enchilada, and a cheese quesadilla. A special characteristic about these three items were their toppings. The enchilada came with a dark brown sauce that had a hot and spicy kick to it. And the burrito had a red, salsa topping that also gave the burrito more flavor and heat. The entrees were both under ten dollars, however I was disappointed they didn’t come with beans and rice like other Mexican restaurants.
We still had a little room in our tummies, so we indulged in dessert too. The dessert list is fairly short with predictable choices like Churros, Flan, and Fried Ice Cream. But who said predictability has to be bad? We got the Fried Ice Cream, and it was just what I needed to soothe my spicy stomach. Even after all the explanations, I’m still amazed and confused by how people make fried ice cream. How can it not melt? But cold it stayed contained in a shell of sweet, crunchy goodness, inside a taco shell, drizzled with chocolate, and topped with whip cream, more chocolate, and a big ol’ cherry on top.
Before leaving the restaurant, we scoped out the bathrooms. The room is painted mauve, had some trash on the floor, and was decorated with the most random pictures ever. And according to my friend, “The bathrooms were as cheesy as my quesadillas.” And those quesadillas were pretty darn cheesy. There were some interesting photographs like a Mexican woman sitting next to a pineapple, and an even weirder one with a little blonde equestrian girl sitting next to her horse. But hey, at least the bathroom’s not boring.
We left the restaurant close to 10:30pm, right as they were closing, and smiled when we saw the two waiters, still inside, had their cars running. We too braced ourselves in the cold wind, but left with our insides full of warm, spicy Mexican food.
Address: El Rodeo (formerly known as Tejano Joe’s)
5501 W. 86th St. Suite A
Indianapolis, IN 36268
Hours: Mon-Thurs.: 11-10pm
Fri-Sat: 11-10:30pm
Sundays: closed
Prices: range from $7-12 / meal
First Impression-3
Service- 4
Atmosphere- 3
Quality of Food- 4
Bathrooms- 3
Bang for your buck-4
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