The problem with trying to create an authentic ethnic restaurant in this country is that the authentic foods must be shipped in, raising their price and, often, requiring the restaurant to educate its diners. MESA VERDE MEXICAN RESTAURANT in Greenfield (10 Fiske Avenue; 772-2531; www.mesaverdegreenfield.com) is a taqueria that is authentic enough, but it cares more about the quality and taste of its food than pure authenticity.
Most often found in California, a taqueria is a type of restaurant that specializes in burritos, tacos and the like. It isn’t the Tex-Mex style of Mexican food, which Mesa Verde co-owner Amy McMahan refers to as “gloppy beans and rice and sour cream.” Nor is it authentic Mexican food, in the style of one of the states in Mexico. Instead, a taqueria builds on the basic Mexican ingredients and flavors in a decidedly friendly manner.
McMahan and her Mesa Verde co-owner, Jennifer DeWitt, moved to Greenfield in 2002. Not finding what they consider a good burrito, they decided to open a taqueria in the Fiske Avenue spot, which has housed a number of restaurants over the years. A friend of mine took me there for lunch about a year ago, and I liked it a lot. Though I can appreciate stronger flavors and hotter dishes, the food was honest, the price was good and the ambiance was casual and welcoming.
When you walk in, there is a long counter with the menu specials posted on the wall behind you. After spending way too little time exploring your various options, you place your order and find a seat. A server delivers the food.
The menu at Mesa Verde lists burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas and tacos, with combinations of beans, rice, meats and vegetables. California-style burritos are huge things, filled with black beans and rice. I confess I prefer enchiladas and tacos which aren’t so heavy. However, Mesa Verde also offers “bowls,” which are described on the menu as “burritos without the wrap.” We had the Cilantro, Avocado and Lime Bowl. When it arrived, it instantly reminded me of chirashi sushi, which is essentially deconstructed sushi - a bowl of sushi rice and torn seaweed wrappers with the fish and vegetables arrayed on top. The bowl was great, and we ate what we wanted without having to wade through a lot of beans and rice to get to the good stuff.
The flavors at Mesa Verde are clean and true to the ingredients. A roasted vegetable quesadilla was filled with nicely roasted onions and zucchini and was a hit. The blackened chicken chipotle soft taco was tasty and spicy, accompanied by the roasted red onions plus lettuce, tomato and fresh cilantro. Perhaps it is my lack of enthusiasm for burritos, but I liked the burritos the least of all the dishes we had. The Mojo Pork Burrito featured pork in a loose mojo sauce (citrus juice, cumin and cilantro, spiked with a habanero hot sauce) and while the steak fajita burrito was fine, the steak was overwhelmed by the rice and beans. I’ll be getting the soft tacos and the enchiladas, with a big side of the guacamole, when I return. Tempting though it is, I will probably have the Thai burrito, with peanut sauce, as a bowl.
While we were ordering more of the menu than we thought we could eat, a couple paying for their dinner advised us to get the enchiladas. Both my wife and our friend Joan loved the heavily reduced tomato sauce in the enchiladas, but I thought it could use some more punch. I went to the counter to get some hot sauce, which the server handed to me with a warning: “Use it carefully.” Habanero-based, the hot sauce has a decided kick.
Drinks are also something of a surprise. Three People’s Pint beers are on tap (Extra Special Bitter, Farmer Brown Porter and Natural Blond) as well as bottled beers. You can get a margarita and, for the soft-drink crowd, a great limeade. There is a case filled with soda, including Jarritos Mango, a Mexican brand.
McMahan and DeWitt worked in restaurants both locally and in Provincetown before opening Mesa Verde. McMahan, who has a degree in philosophy, and DeWitt, who was an English major, put together the menu in the weeks before they opened, drawing on Mexican restaurant dishes that they liked and embellishing them with their own interpretations. McMahan’s mother, who is Chinese, grew up in Vietnam, and McMahan’s family lived in Ecuador for a while. Whether in her mother’s pho or in Mesa Verde’s burritos, the combinations of lime and cilantro, common to both Southeast Asian and South American cooking, have a central place in McMahan’s repertoire.
All dishes are under $10, with most in the $5 to $7 range. There are two desserts, Mexican wedding cookies and a Mexican chocolate orange brownie that was chewy and filled with the flavors of orange and cinnamon-spiked Mexican chocolate. Mesa Verde is open for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Perhaps it is a reflection of her academic degree, but McMahan is, well, philosophical about the restaurant business. “If a new restaurant’s success is defined as not failing, then it’s not a business you go into to make a lot of money,” she told me. We talked for a while about perfection and her ideal restaurant, where “someone has been making paella or some other dish for 20 years and people come for that dish.” At six years and counting, she’s on her way.
Orginally published, Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 19, 2008
