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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Plenty of Mexican food in area

Patrick Jacobs The Spokesman-Review

I spent a lot of space in a recent column complaining about the noticeable lack of decent Chinese food places here in Coeur d’Alene.

However, when it comes to great Mexican places, we are lucky to have a “mucho grande” number to choose from.

I could make a wild guess and say that North Idaho has more Mexican restaurants than any other style of dining. They range from walk-up taco trailers and build-your-own burrito bars to the places that offer a gourmet, authentic experience.

Falling somewhere between fast and fancy, Cafe Chulo on Neider Avenue has become one of my favorite Mexican haunts here.

Chulo opened in the fall of 2005 in the glorious Kmart parking lot, taking over a formerly cursed building that had housed a series of failed burger joints, none of whose names I can recall.

Not that it matters, because the proprietors have transformed the place into a bright and breezy cabana. Cheerfully painted stucco blends with colorful handmade tiles in an open atmosphere. The tables have fun retro posters underneath their glass surfaces.

The place always seems impeccably clean, and there always seem to be open tables no matter how busy it gets.

When I was in Sacramento, Calif., several years ago, the big trend was “fresh-Mex” cuisine, which is a way to describe Mexican food that doesn’t rely on deep-frying, gray gloppy refried beans and heavy mounds of melted cheese.

Cafe Chulo is Coeur d’Alene’s first “fresh-Mex” place, and the food is astonishingly fresh and quite delectable.

The flour and corn tortillas are made on premises on a constant basis; the salsa is made up several times daily and never sits around too long.

The menu is a bit minimal but each order comes with a choice of chips and salsa or beans and rice.

Plus, the food just seems so different from that of your average Mexican place – it’s like trying these foods for the first time.

On a recent visit to Cafe Chulo, I quickly realized that the man behind the counter seemed to speak almost no English.

Unlike certain outspoken members of our community, I love to see language diversity in action; sometimes, I just wish I had taken Spanish in high school instead of wasting my time with years of French lessons.

Of course, the man did speak enough English to take our orders, but it would have been fun to have surprised him by ordering in his native tongue, as I’ve seen some other clever Chulo-goers do.

His friendly teenage kitchen helper spoke perfect English, however, and I told her to load up my chicken tacos with fresh cilantro and pico de gallo.

My lunch partner ordered the beef nachos, which took three trips under the broiler, with new layers being added each round.

Everything comes on a shiny aluminum round tray, wisely eliminating any dishes.

We moaned and groaned in ecstasy as we dug into our meals.

The flour tortillas holding together my chicken tacos were hot off the press and perfect in taste and texture. The grilled chicken inside was pure, delicious white meat cooked just right so it practically melted in my mouth.

The salsa added a perfect hint of sweet and spicy that accented the tender chicken perfectly. The lettuce added a healthful crunch, a far cry from the wilted green stuff that many lesser taco joints serve.

Caf Chulo went quite light on the shredded cheese, a wise decision so as not to overwhelm the succulent flavor of the entire package. Each bite was just a tease for the next bite.

I know I probably sound like I’m going a bit overboard here, but these tacos were truly that good. I have never tasted anything else quite as dynamic.

The accompanying beans were actual beans rather than mush – whole black beans with a delicious sauce. And the smallish portion of rice was quite flavorful and a perfect way to chase down the main event.

Meanwhile, my ravenous lunch partner wordlessly toppled and overtook the largest pile of nachos I have ever seen, smothered in huge strips of peppery grilled steak, piquant brown hot sauce and guacamole so fresh you practically could see the poor avocado shivering.

Amazingly, almost every meal on Cafe Chulo’s menu is priced near $6. Considering the quality of food the place offers, the low cost is truly jaw-dropping.

Plus, there’s a handy drive-through, so if you’re in a hurry, you can treat yourself to something healthful rather than a slimy Jack-in-the-Crack burger.

The only complaint I have about Cafe Chulo is that it charges a couple of bucks for a basket of chips and salsa rather than offering them free like most places do. Certainly, that doesn’t mean you will leave hungry.

I’d also love to see the restaurant bring some horchata into the scene. I get frequent cravings for the sweet rice and cinnamon beverage, but it’s all but impossible to track down in our fair burg.

But such trivialities are unimportant when measured against the big picture of what Caf Chulo has to offer. Since it opened, I must have sampled nearly the entire menu, and everything I’ve tried has been nothing less than enticing and delicious.

Highly recommended.