Latin Fusion Stand-Off
I freaking love me some Mexican food. I like it authentic, as well as fusion-style. I recently discovered 3 new (to me) restaurants in St. Louis that all serve a type of Latin-Fusion cuisine. All of them are based on Mexican food, but they each have their own twist. But which is the best?
The three restaurants I will be looking at are Flaco’s Cocina, Diablitos Cantina, and Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina. I have been to each of their restaurants at least twice, giving them all an equally fair chance to impress my taste buds.
Flaco’s Cocina
Flaco’s attempts to do something not many Midwestern Mexican/Latin places in St. Louis do – make good seafood. Seeing as we are quite far from the ocean, this can be a tricky task. However, I must say that their Mahi Mahi burrito, Lump Crab Dip, and Lobster Empanadas all left me quite satisfied. Actually, they left me lethargic, as I stuffed my face quite effectively.
This is actually their Tres Quesos dip, which is also delicious.
Pineapple mojito for the win.
Flaco’s is also known for crafting some pretty delightful drinks. Personally, I am in love with the pineapple mojito.
The downfall? Their tacos are pretty lame. While they reel you in with fun names like the Axis of Evil platter, I cannot say that any of their tacos really wowed me. The presentation is a disaster. The plates come out look like a mountain of anything they can find in the kitchen. It’s hard to really experience the taste because you are kind of just assaulted with toppings. The rice and beans were also a huge disappointment. The refried beans tasted as if they came straight out of the can.
Believe it or not, there are 3 different tacos on this plate.
Overall, Flaco’s is awesome for chips and salsa, appetizers, and drinks, but if you are looking for a great taco, look elsewhere.
Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina
This Mexican restaurant just opened up in late 2012. I got in there early to try out as many dishes as possible. For starters, they have 3 different kinds of guacamole, which are all made to order at their speciality guacamole station. They also fry up their chips every 5-10 minutes, meaning you always get a hot, fresh batch.
Guacamole!
Tacos al pastor and carne asada
Their entrees are an impressive mix of truly authentic and crowd-pleasers. You can get some incredible Tacos Al Pastor with crazy juicy meat and pineapples, or go the more Americanized route and get a giant burrito covered in melted cheese. Either way you go, you’ll be stuffed and happy.
Charro beans and black beans with red chile rice
Unlike Flaco’s, Vida has excellent presentation. They also have incredible beans. Instead of the store-bought feel of refried beans, they have both whole black beans topped with queso fresco, or charro beans with chorizo. Both are are delicious as they look.
Vida is also a Cantina, of course, so their drinks are worth sampling. They have the largest selection of tequila in St. Louis and plenty of cocktail creations to tickle your fancy. Their favorites tend to be the Tablerita, which is a huge margarita meant to be shared with the whole table, as well as the Coronarita, a margarita with a little Corona bottle dumped right into it.
I have yet to have a dish or drink at Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina that I did not love. I also generally avoid pork because I don’t usually like the taste, but I can honestly say that I find myself ordering pork tacos here quite often because they are so well made.
Diablito’s Cantina
This low-lit restaurant is full of beautiful spiky lantern things that give the place an awesome feel. I am also a huge fan of the cowboy dinosaur statues on their roof.
My first visit to Diablito’s was unexpected so I didn’t have my camera on me, unfortunately. This means I do not have photos of their quesadillas or their cheese dip, both of which get an A grade in my book. While neither of them screamed authenticity, they certainly were tasty.
For my second trip, I decided to pay for the unlimited salsa bar, which has a rotation of different salsa flavors.
The low lightening made for some pretty terrible photos, but you get the point. I tried all the salsas available that night, and I would say I loved 2 of them, liked 2 of them, and was neutral to the last 2. I really liked that they had whole jalapeños available to add to any salsa for an extra kick. Their black bean and corn salsa was simple and made a great topping for my tacos. The mango salsa was not spicy enough for me, but Pedro loved it. The salsa bar was definitely worth the money.
I’d say the tacos were OK, and that’s a generous description. I was a little sad to find that since I ordered shrimp, I only got 2 tacos, even though Pedro got 3 of his chicken. I felt a bit jipped. Honestly, I would have preferred to stick to all their cheesy appetizers and their salsa bar, because these tacos left me quite disappointed and a still hungry.
Boo terrible lighting
Their margaritas are strong in a good way. The best way to go is to just order a pitcher. It’s a great value. Just make sure you plan on hanging out for a while or have a Designated Driver.
And the Winner is…
Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina! While each restaurant had things I absolutely loved, Vida is the only one of the three that never disappointed me. Every appetizer, entree, and drink was better than I expected it to be. The only downside of Vida is that it is the most expensive of the three. Of course, seeing how it stands up next to the other two, I would say it is money well spent.
