One of the most versatile plants of the Sonoran Desert is the mesquite tree. Not only does the species provide greater shade than the more plentiful Palo Verde, but it also serves as a food source, both directly and indirectly. The direct use is the pods that fall every year. Those can be ground into flour. Indirectly, mesquite wood or charcoal derived from it can be used for grilling. It’s that last application of the tree behind the name of El Mesquite, a Mexican restaurant in South Phoenix that specializes in hearty, comforting dishes that often incorporate grilled meats.
El Mesquite grills, simmers, and fries in a shopping center location at the corner of Baseline and Central, across the street from the station currently being built at that intersection as part of the South Central extension. The entrance faces a parking lot along Baseline Road, and the nearest bike rack is found outside a gym just slightly to the west in the same strip mall. At first glance, it looks like there are two entrances, but the only working one is on the left when facing the restaurant. During busy weekends, there is often a waiting list on a clipboard outside the door.
On weekdays, it’s usually just a matter of walking in and being directed to a seat by any of the bilingual servers who roam the room with platters full of tacos and bowls full of steaming soups. Despite a fair amount of promotional posters and banners from Mexican beer brands accentuating the restaurant’s decor, the bar is just a small workspace in the corner. Instead, customers sit in two dining areas that are separated by a half wall. The space is colorful with blue banquettes, red and gold walls, and a few potted plants that add a touch of green.
A printed, laminated menu outlines the restaurant’s standard array of Mexican favorites, along with recurring specials on specific days of the week. A white board near the back touts additional specials such as a meatless calabacitas platter offered during Lent. The menu begins, as at so many local Mexican restaurants, with numbered combination plates offering crispy tacos or supple enchiladas filled with different proteins and presented in various configurations with sides of rice and beans. These are available throughout the day for lunch or early dinner.
The default taco fillings are shredded beef or chicken garnished with lettuce. cheese, and tomato, but the Cha Cha tacos are distinctive with creamy beans punctuated by pockets of spice from chorizo. Equally interesting are enchiladas stuffed with cool guacamole inside warm tortillas topped with red sauce and melted cheese. Back to meat, carne asada with a slight, smoky char is prominent on the menu, as is the machaca, shredded beef seasoned with slight heat and deep taste from chilies, tomato, and onions with the option to add scrambled eggs.
El mesquite offers both chili verde and chili colorado. The green chili has a slow burn that makes its presence known after a few bites. The red one is not spicy but instead relies more on garlic for its rich taste. Either can be served on a platter with rice, beans, and tortillas.The corn tortillas here are quite good, but the flour ones are particularly outstanding with slight char adding a bit of crispness while their thick interior retains a yielding texture. With that in mind, the smothered green chili burrito with rice and beans combines the best of both meat and starch.
Tortillas are also provided as means of soaking up flavor from the soups and stews on the menu. Menudo and pozole are served every day. El Mesquite’s version of the latter is a familiar red version. It’s mildly seasoned but served with plenty of cilantro and onions for added flavor. Birria de chivo, goat meat, is also served daily, and it’s a simple, straightforward alternative to the gooey quesabirria trend, as much fun as that can be. Pata, or beef feet, provide the protein source in another adventurous daily soup, with their natural gelatin thickening the hearty broth.
Other soups vary with the day of the week. Cocido de res, a hearty beef soup with corn, celery, carrot, cabbage, squash, and potato, is served every Thursday here. This is a soup to be eaten with the hands, not just a spoon. The meat is served on the bone, which seasons the stock. Chicken soup is available on Wednesday, and it’s an equally hands-on affair with pieces of bone-in poultry in a rich broth. Seafood is not a major emphasis here, but shrimp are available in both dishes like camarones rancheros with a tomato-based sauce and in a big bowl of soup.
Since El Mesquite’s hours focus on the daytime with an early closure at 7 PM, the restaurant also has a breakfast menu with morning favorites like huevos rancheros and chorizo con huevos. Instead of fries or cubed breakfast potatoes, the restaurant offers thick-cut sliced papas as a breakfast or lunch side. There is generally no dessert served, although some seasonal specials like capirotada, Mexican bread pudding, are occasionally offered. Horchata and jamaica, two popular aquas frescas made on site, offer another way to add a sweet taste.
Additional beverage choices include sodas, iced tea, coffee, and bottled Mexican Coke. The restaurant has a liquor license, and the small bar serves bottled beer, margaritas, and micheladas. Those drinks are seen more frequently on weekends when the crowd shifts from workday lunch breaks to a more leisurely pace. With a view of South Mountain in the distance, it’s easy to imagine hiking among some of the mesquite trees found there. After that workout, some hearty Mexican food at a restaurant bearing the plant’s name seems about right.
26 E. Baseline Rd. #120, Phoenix AZ 85042
PHX Rail Food 