La Morada

La Morada

Written by Rachel Youens Monday, 07 January 2008

When I asked owner Chuck Swisher for a bowl of sherbet at the end of my meal, he knew I was a long-time customer. I wasn’t yet born when the restaurant opened in 1983, but I grew up eating La Morada’s fresh food, watching the giant piranha swim through the restaurant’s fish tank and finishing my Mexican meal with a bowl of sherbet brought to me by Chuck’s father, co-owner Ike Swisher.

Things have changed since I was a kid. The piranha is still there, only now he’s stuffed and hangs on the wall, and the price of sherbet got so high they started handing out mints instead. But the food is the same colorful fare I’ve always enjoyed.

The restaurant’s recipes are native to the Nuevo Laredo area, Chuck said. He is also quick to acknowledge that indeed Swisher is not a Mexican name, but what the family lacks in Mexican heritage, they have made up in education and experience. Other Mexican restaurants, including Herbert’s Taco Hut (a favorite of San Marcos River tubers) allowed the Swisher family into their kitchens to learn recipes and processes.

For its “gringo” background, La Morada steers clear of the homogenized bland Mexican food and offers traditional staples, such as Menudo ($4.95), Tacos Al Pastor with achiote paste ($6.95 for dinner) and Posole hominy stew ($4.95).

One of the highlights is the lunch menu which offers the distinctively titled, “The Choice.” For $7.10 (or $5.65 for a lighter version) diners can mix and match from a list of items including tamales, enchiladas, soup and salad. All of the items on the lunch menu are scaled down versions of the regular menu, both in price and size. The price for most enchilada dinners hovers around $5.25 for two enchiladas. Even the light lunch was filling.

I was worried when I ordered the chalupa that I was going to leave hungry, but I was served a large fried tortilla piled with beans, cheese and vegetables. The Tortilla Soup ($3.25 a cup) was unusually creamy, rather than a broth and lacked the chunks of chicken.

I appreciated that my waitress wasn’t stingy with the salsa and that during the entire meal she kept the bowls full. Salsa is the measure of a good Mexican restaurant, and La Morada offers two types: one that’s thin and spicy and another that is chunky and dark.

La Morada’s size and atmosphere are deceptive judging from the strip-center exterior. I was seated in the middle of a tiled room with a skylight at a table with a large umbrella poking through the middle, and to my right was a full wall mural depicting rural Mexico.

For nearly a quarter century, La Morada has thrived in this neighborhood, and not just because of their food. Their support of local little league teams and company happy hours are what bring customers in. The food is just what keeps them coming back.

La Morada en La Mañana

• La Morada has recently begun serving breakfast on Saturday and Sunday starting at 8 a.m. until noon.
• Breakfast includes breakfast tacos, omelettes, pancakes, biscuits and gravy and traditional Mexican dishes like Menudo.

La Morada, 12407 N. MoPac, 836-6611, www.lamo.com