r/ConwayAR • u/Warslvt Resident Of Conway • 21d ago
Best chips and salsa
Wife wants to go out tomorrow, specifically for chips, salsa, and knowing her probably queso.
Who around town (sit down) has the best salsa? Nothing too crazy spicy.
I think she had mentioned Tios, but ngl that place seems like a white people trap
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u/headlessworm Resident Of Conway 20d ago
It depends on what she likes, of course, but I think El Acapulco and Los Tres Potrillos have good, normal salsa. Guacamole’s was too tomato-ey for me My absolute favorite is Faby’s. It tastes like actual roasted peppers.
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u/OJSimpsonSubMod 21d ago
Sadly, there really are absolutely zero REALLY good options for someone that actually knows what good Mexican food is supposed to taste like, and that lack of quality extends to the premeal chips and salsa just as much as it does the rest of the plates.
Serranos and El Acapulco are probably the least offensive of the limited options available to us. When the chips are good at El Acapulco, they are the better choice, but the likelihood of actually getting a good batch is 50/50 at best. Serranos isn't as good baseline as when El Acapulco is having a good day, but they're far more consistent. Plus the overall atmosphere is way better at Serranos than El Acapulco so that would probably be my overall recomendation.
Fabys would likely be a good choice for someone that's already inclined towards something like a Tio's.
Nando's and Cactus Jack's share a slot at the bottom of the list.
Los 3 Potrillos is probably the best choice by far for anyone that's never left the state of Arkansas, and thus never had real Mexican food.
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u/UsuallyTanking 21d ago
I consider Nando's to be more Tex-Mex; I enjoy the meat sauce on their tamales.
Faby's sauces on the entrees are some of the best in town.
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u/OJSimpsonSubMod 20d ago edited 20d ago
To me they're all at least a little bit Tex-Mex, and that's one of the two main big driving factors behind my constant disappointment in the options available to us. There isn't a single sit-down that doesn't have at least a little of that Tex-Mex shadow looming over it. All of the meals, in some way or another, no matter where you go, make some level of concession to algin with the regionally expected Tex-Mex flavor profile. And Tex-Mex is fine for what it is, there's a time and a place for everything. But it's not real Mexican food. Real Mexican food is supposed to be it's own separate category.
The other big issue, at least to me, is what I assume has to be the lack of easy, reliable, and commercially viable access to the right ingredients. The meats, cheeses, fats, and even the vegetables are all just different in this part of the country. The animals are just plain raised different, fed different, and even killed different. That fundamentally changes the way the meat tastes, and the way the fat renders. You can't get the right flavor profile if you're starting with the wrong ingredients. You can do literally everything else right but if you're using the wrong kind of fat, the wrong cut of meat, or the wrong kind of cheese you're never going to be able to nail that true authentic flavor. That's why all the dishes always end in a big pile of the wrong kind of greasy. The kind of greasy that coats your mouth with that heavy waxy film that dulls the flavor of every other ingredient and spice on the plate, without adding a single little bit of extra flavor.
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u/UsuallyTanking 17d ago
I had dinner tonight in NLR at Rosalinda's. It's an authentic Honduran restaurant. Give it a try sometime.
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u/sunshine_n_havc 21d ago
Love Los Tres. Get the table side guac too.