Also this issue: The Right Trax The pun may be obvious, but this restaurant by the railroad is indeed doing things right. -Maxine Keyser

October 10-16, 2002

food

New Mexican

by Elisa Ludwig

Mere minutes after the closing of Washington Avenue’s longstanding Vietnamese eatery Saigon, it seemed a new tenant had already moved in and refashioned the sign outside. The owners of Plaza Garibaldi were in such a rush to open that they left the restaurant’s interior, down to the fishtank and its contents, intact.

But they've added some of their own personal touches, including a few wall-hanging serapes, a jar of fresh jugo -- the day we visited it was "pineapple water" -- and a menu of authentic Mexican cuisine. Plaza Garibaldi, by the way, is the name of a raucous square in Mexico City (add that to local restaurants Zocalo and Xochimilco, also named for M.C. landmarks, and looks like that rumor about Philly being a little

Paris needs to be readjusted southward).

Menu offerings cover breakfast (huevos and omelets), lunch (tacos, burritos and tortas) and dinner (a few pages' worth of meat and seafood entrees). For starters we sampled sincronisadas, which synch up ham and cheese. These lunchbox items are grilled between two tortillas, then sliced into quarters and served with a smoky, chipotle-tinged dipping sauce. Queso fundido, Mexican fondue, is given a special Garibaldi treatment. Served in an onion soup crock, the molten cheese is studded with chunks of mushrooms, chorizo and ham. Both dishes were deceptively simple and admirably flavorful.

Entrees were less precisely prepared. Enchiladas suizas made a nice presentation with their curls of sour cream and crumbles of queso fresco. But their underseasoned filling of shredded chicken badly needed an added dollop of salsa verde. Shrimp fajitas, with nicely browned ribbons of sauteed onion and green pepper, were similarly bland, and a side dollop of guacamole had already discolored when the dish arrived on the table.

Not to be discouraged. Better to have Mexican restaurants in progress than none at all. It is, after all, early yet for Plaza Garibaldi, and we still can't take our newfound wealth in tacos for granted.