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El Adobe Cafe
 The
award-winning El Adobe Cafe has never been a restaurant
to rest on its laurels. The virtues of consistency and
cleanliness have been combined with values of hospitality and
hard work to become one of Reno’s best eateries. Owners Abel
Del Real and Raul Berumen have taken their many years
of experience and built a restaurant from the ground up. They
designed and built the dining room as well as created and
perfected the menus. “You have to pay attention to the details
with passion.” said Raul, and after six years, the restaurant
still looks brand new. When we first arrived, the staff greeted
us and we were shown to a comfortable booth. The dining rooms
were spacious and most of the tables were booths. The walls were
decorated with a mixture of artwork, folkloric dance dresses
(courtesy of Raul’s wife) and Mexican metal work.
 As
we settled in, we were immediately presented menus and served
warm, crispy tortilla chips with savory red and green salsas. A
friendly server, Alberto Bejar, came to our table and
suggested the Cadillac Margarita, a premium drink made with
Hornitos tequila. Alberto, like much of the staff, has been with
the restaurant since its beginning. He told us about the
evening’s red trout special and hurried off to get our drinks.
The Margarita, served in a large glass mug, was one of the best
I have ever tasted. The menu has numerous items to choose from.
The owners strive to present authentic dishes from their
homelands, namely Sagatecas and Jalisco. The menu features many
Mexican and American dishes, such as rib eye steak, shrimp
diabla, fajitas, fish tacos, crispy carnitas and tostada shell
salads. We began our
 dinner
with the shrimp soup. A large bowl of tomato-based broth
brimming with cooked prawns was placed before us. The delicious
light tomato broth was seasoned with celery, carrots and onions,
and garnished with fresh, chopped cilantro. Warm tortillas and
wedges of lime were served on the side.
Abel brought out our entrées from
the kitchen and the savory aromas increased our appetites. One
entrée was a combination plate with a chile relleño, two
enchiladas and a taco. He also brought us the specialty of the
house, birria.
Abel explained how beef birria is typically served at very
special occasions because it is so difficult and time-consuming
to prepare. It is a regular menu item at El Adobe, as are menudo
and posole. We were impressed with the tenderness of the beef
birria. The chunks of beef were slow-cooked for hours in a chile
sauce until lean and tender. With the red, pungent spices, I
imagined the wonderful dish to be similar to Hungarian goulash.
The plate was ringed with condiments of fresh guacamole, finely
chopped onion and chopped aromatic cilantro. Next to the birria
were rice and beans. Tortillas were also served with this dish.
Alberto encouraged us to roll up the meat with the condiments
and eat it like fajitas. Each bite was very tasty and well worth
the effort, as far as I’m concerned. Abel had emphasized El
Adobe’s dedication to the freshest ingredients and the time
taken to prep for the menu on a daily basis. This dish was a
testament to that emphasis on quality.
 After
a second Margarita, I was ready for something lighter. Alberto
suggested the house horchata, milk with rice and cinnamon. Just
like the Margarita, it was the best I had ever tasted. The sweet
drink had a smooth, light consistency and was well-chilled and
refreshing. Our combination platter was a real treat for the
eyes and the palate. The relleño was a long pasilla pepper,
dipped in a thin batter, fried golden brown and filled with mild
Jack cheese. It was finished with a mild ranchero sauce. The
plump enchiladas, one chicken and one beef, were juicy and hot.
Each delicious enchilada had its own unique seasoning. The taco
was a very lightly fried corn tortilla folded in half and filled
with seasoned ground beef, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato and
a shredded cheese blend. The refried beans had a nice, earthy
flavor and were cooked without lard. The rice was very light and
perfectly seasoned.
After our plates were cleared, we
ordered an espresso and a cappuccino. Then it came time for
dessert and our hosts brought us flan and an order of
sopapillas. The two, hot sopapillas were
dredged in cinnamon sugar and served with honey on the side. The
flavor brought our appetites back and we dove into the flan. It
was smooth and creamy - another example of Abel and Raul’s quest
for perfection and consistency. When I complimented the dessert,
he again reiterated the importance of details in their business.
He also stressed the value of the relationships they have
developed with their customers. Governor Guinn is a fan of their
food as are many other Reno “celebrities.”
On our second visit to sample the
breakfast menu, Abel was again there to greet us and show us to
a booth. Our server was the cheerful Lupita Delgado, who
saw to our every need with warmth and professionalism. After
bringing two lattés and a glass of horchata, she recommended the
Mexican chilaquiles and the
huevos
rancheros for those are not fans of spicy chorizo. The lunch
menu was also available to us and some of the offerings were
Caesar salad, chicken salad, Mexican pita pocket and a
cheeseburger. We were after a Mexican breakfast, so we tried the
huevos con chorizo along with the enchiladas montadas. The young
and talented head chef, Carlos Martinez, makes his
chorizo in-house and in this dish, the chorizo was scrambled
with eggs, onions and spices. Like most of the breakfast
entrées, it was served with rice, beans and tortillas. The
housemade pork
chorizo was wonderful - lightly seasoned and very lean. The
enchiladas montadas was also a delicious dish made of two
layered cheese enchiladas with topped with sauce and two fried
eggs. The eggs and enchiladas mixed deliciously with the beans
and rice. It is also available with beef or chicken. Lupita
cleared our plates as my companion and I watched the lunch crowd
begin to stroll in. We finished our meal by trying another flan
to see if it could be as good as the first visit, and we found
it to be equally as satisfying. After my great experiences at
the El Adobe Cafe, I will be sure to tell others of the great
hospitality and food they consistently provide.
The El Adobe Cafe is close to
downtown Reno at
55 West Arroyo Street. If you’re coming from the casinos on
Virginia St., take the first right hand turn after the street
widens to two lanes. They are open daily from 10 a.m. until 10
p.m. with live music on the weekends, a full bar, children’s
menu and parking. For more information or to-go orders, call
(775)327-4422.
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