El Bracero of Owensboro — Restaurant in Owensboro

My wife and I's visit started off with chips that were starting to go stale, mediocre salsa, and freezing cold, flavorless guacamole. For those who don't know, avocados lose the majority of their flavor when chilled below a certain point. Cool guac I am okay with, but this was nearly frozen and a waste of money.

My wife and I both had enchiladas. Poblano cream for me and veggie for her. Thankfully, the server who delivered our plates knew which was which because both plates were dressed identically. So much so that the server who took our order asked if my wife had gotten the correct dish (the enchiladas on both plates were covered in the poblano cream and garnished the same).

The poblano cream looked good but fell short in the flavor department compared to similar offerings in town. Salt helped, but not much.

The tortillas were, again, flavorless. Admittedly, we have a Latino grocery near our house where we get some top-quality, fresh-made tortillas, so I will concede that my expectations in that regard were high.

Perhaps that nail in the coffin for me was the lack of flavor in the enchiladas' filling. The chicken and spinach tasted and appeared to have been cooked without any seasoning, spices, or marinade, just slapped on the grill with some neutral oil.

When the black bean side dish on your plate is the star of the show, there's a problem.

In the end, I dumped the filling out of the enchiladas mixed it with some of the rice and beans, since the rice was properly seasoned, mixed in some of the guac that we had not eaten (which never happens in our family) and scooped up the mixture with the stale chips. A disappointing way to finish a plate of enchiladas.

Sadly, this account closely mimics the experience we had at the Madisonville location. Even down to the teeth-hurtingly cold guacamole. I had hoped that the Owensboro store only had a similar name, but that is apparently not the case.

El Toucan, Don Mario's, Mi Ranchera, La Veracruzana, Ernesto's... literally any Mexican restaurant in town offers better fare than what my wife and I experienced.

When living in Madisonville, I went to the El Bracero there one time and never returned. The same will be the case for the Owensboro location.

After saying all that, I do want to mention that our server was pleasant, prompt, and attentive. She was a definite high point of our visit.

Now if they can just get the food up to a similar...

My review of El Bracero comes down to the following.

I grew up eating at the El Bracero in Madisonville loved it had lots of memories with the football team eating there. The last time I was there I was very disappointed as it seemed old and outdated and the food was not as I remembered. I have not been back. So after getting a haircut today we were driving along and I seen the sign for the once loved restaurant and Ashton Hayes said her mother really liked it. So we tried. The parking lot…. Clean the staff very inviting. A smaller restaurant than Madisonville however the look of a new building and energy, gave a very positive first impression. We were seated immediately, and served the traditional chips and salsa, I was slightly disappointed in the chips as I was expecting fresh ones but they were not terrible. Let’s talk about the salsa, when I tell you it may be the best restaurant salsa I have ever had and the queso cheese dip was better than the local restaurant in Evansville that we regularly frequent. We ordered our dinner and I decided to go with Baja fish tacos. The presentation of the plate was top notch, beautiful spread and my mouth was watering so much. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture so you will have to go order yourself. I ordered the dish with fried fish but had an option of grilled and you could have picked shrimp. It comes with a topping of red cabbage and pico de mango and what I assume was a side cup of a very tasty ranch. I am a very picky and extremely judgmental when it comes to food, I would rate the food a solid 9 out of 10 and the same rating for the restaurant and service. Highly recommend that if you haven’t been, add it to you must do list. We will...

Hmmm... Where to start. First, NOT your typical mexican restaurant chain with the same menu but a different name. By far, better quality food bursting with flavor.

So, I ordered Chunky Tableside Guacamole. It came out and let me tell you, it was chunky... At least two whole Avacados. The medley of cilantro, red onion, fresh jalapenos were a delight to the tongue while the brineyness of the kosher salt and the acidity of the fresh lime did their dance to marry all the flavors together. Delicious! A few bites prior to the main course, but wanted to save it to accent dinner.

For dinner, ordered the Molcajete. Purveyors get to choose the level of spice in the dish with the sauce. Ask for the Tomatillo sauce, their spiciest, but not on the menu with the Molcajete. If you like spice at all, you will enjoy blissfully. Best part was the spiciness without being overbearing along with the great flavor. More steak, chicken and shrimp than one peraone should eat, but paired with the Tableaide Guac, I just couldn't stop. With a healthy portion of red peppers, green peppers and onions, the flavors each exuded their delicate ambiance to the tomatillo sauced surf, turf and bird mixture. Two poblano peppers roasted(yum!) and a large green onion round out the dish.

I'm stuffed! So much so, no room for sopapilla... :-) Please check this place...