Pepito's - Shrimp Enchiladas

For today's review, I'm checking out a new place. Pepitos started out in Canyon, on 23rd Street. I've eaten at that location only a handful of times, and it's been probably at least 10 years since I've eaten there. They opened this new place in Amarillo within the last few years.

Pepitos Mexican Restaurant
2909 W Interstate 40
Amarillo, Texas
(806) 356-8244

As I normally do, I walked in after the big noon rush, arriving about 1:30. The large dining room was almost empty. I was seated at a booth, and the waiter took my drink order and brought a big bowl of chips and salsa. As I looked over the menu, I tried their salsa, which was pretty good. Most places give you "tomato sauce"...which only resembles real hot sauce in color. I like some spice in it, don't you? They also had shakers of seasoning salt on the table, something I've grown to like a lot.

The menu is rather large, it took me a few minutes to decide on what I wanted to eat. They have daily lunch specials that are different each day. Today, they had three tacos for $4.99, or taco salad for $5.99. I'd thought about getting the taco salad, but I'd had big salads the last few nights and was ready for something else. I found Shrimp Enchiladas. Never heard of that before. The description indicated it was their grilled shrimp, stuffed inside and enchilada, and covered with their sour-cream sauce. You get three of them, plus beans & rice, for $9.99.

My booth was near the front door, where they have a large waterfall. There was a big concrete barrier between me and the water, but it was still pretty loud. The floor is brick, so there is lots of "hard" space to bounce sound around. I can imagine it being hard to hear your company when the place is really busy. I was talking on the phone to Janda, and it was difficult for her to hear me over the water & the "elevator music". They've also got a little bar, surrounded by a few flat-screen TV's for watching the game. The booth had a wall-sconce for lighting, giving off a nice glow around the eating area, but leaving it fairly dim everywhere else.

The food was served very fast, taking just seven minutes from the time I ordered. The enchiladas were presented to the left of the plate, topped by slices of avacado. To the right was beans and rice, and both were portioned generously. I tried the rice first, it was your regular restaurant spanish rice. To me, it's pretty bland and doesn't have any real flavors. The beans first bite of beans was surprising, it had a smoky character that was really nice. After the initial taste, however, the unique flavor I got was gone, and I was left with normal old beans.

Next, I tackled the enchiladas. I cut into the first one, and the shrimp popped out and onto my plate. What an opportunity to sample the shrimp all by its lonesome. It wasn't overcooked and rubbery, but didn't taste like it was grilled at all. In fact, it tasted like it was simply boiled in water, without spices. Don't get me wrong, I like shrimp, even plain, but I was expecting the smoky grilled flavor to really pop out in the shrimp, and it didn't come through. Periodically through the meal, I would pull a piece out and examine it for those tell-tale grill marks, but never did find any.

Still, this was a really good dish. The avacado was a nice compliment for the cheese and shrimp. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the shrimp instead of plain ole chicken or beef. I think this had a lot of potential, but wasn't truly captured today. The non-lunch menu is a bit on the high side for an everyday visit place, I like to go places where I can eat for under $10 a meal. If you stick with the lunch special, it would be easy to do, but your options are severly limited. The portions are large enough to warrant the price tag, so you're not going to feel cheated by the amount of food you get for your money.

Overall Rating: 81 (scale of 100)
Price $10 ($13 with tax & tip)