15 minutes ago as I sat at my dining room table finishing off last night's El Cerrito left-overs for breakfast, I thought man! I should start a blog.....a blog about Belleville and this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that we love so much. Sadly, it seems that only we ('we' being me and my boyfriend) and a few others know and appreciate the folks at El Cerrito. In any other instance, I would love the intimacy of the being the only people who know about this great place.....however, I'm worried that if they don't have more patrons that I might lose out on this cuisine and be forced to go down the street to Marguaritas - which is a far cry with their 50 cent drinks and 20-something-meat-market crowd.
What separates El Cerrito from any other struggling-to-get-a-leg-up mexican immigrant diner? Well, firstly....SERVICE. These guys are great. Always adding that extra touch. Take last night for example. I had the Murjarro, which is a whole fish (yes, the head is still attached) dredged in flour, deep fried and served w/ chopped onion, sliced avocado and rice. I'll tell you that I was a little nervous to dig into a whole fish with its empty eyes staring up at me, but after some teasing from my family I took the plunge. And what a treat! Anyway....about the little extras. So, I ran out of my onion and requested more, to which the server asked if I would like chopped cilantro added to the onion. Ok, maybe I'm easily impressed, but WOW. In my 36 years I've never been offered chopped cilantro w/ my onion - and I'm a fairly well-traveled gal. At least in the arena of local mexican restaurants.
Thinking about the whole fish experience brings me to the 2nd reason that we really love this place.....the menu. Sure, sure, they have the standard fare of burrito, chimichanga, taco, etc., but they also have fried whole fish. I mean, come on, where have you seen that before in Belleville? Maybe off Chippewa in South St. Louis, but not here. So maybe you're not into whole fish. They also have wonderful enchiladas w/ a sampling of green, queso and mole sauces. Yum. Oh, and to-die-for fajitas w/ some sort of red chili sauce that could make you slap your grandma. (I'm speaking figuratively grandma.....no worries)
Obviously, I'm no food critic. Still, you should give it a try and go out on a limb.....get the fish.
El Cerrito
20 Mascoutah Ave.
Belleville, IL
