El Camino

Sunday, we went to one of my favorite Mexican spots --

El Camino
225 South 87
Tulia, TX

(806) 995-4083

I may have mentioned this before, but one of my life goals is to find the best chili relleno in all the land. El Camino is at the top of my list. It's been several years since I've eaten here, it was a nice suprise to get to come here.

We came here with my brother and his family, there were nine of us all together. We came after church, and got there a bit late (about 1:30). The parking lot was very full, but that was expected. We hoped that most of the folks would be getting finished as we came in. We walked inside, there was another group waiting in the entry, but there was enough room for us to sit down. We were told we'd wait about 25 minutes, so we obliged and continued to sit.

While sitting there, we saw a bunch of old friends walk out. It wasn't too long of a wait, and all of the boys were getting along fine, not fighting, everything was good. We finally get seated, they combined a couple of tables near the kitchen. The decor in El Camino is pretty unique. The dark brown walls are decorated with lots of Kenneth Wyatt paintings, and most (if not all) are for sale. Mr. Wyatt is a fantastic painter, his works really come to life and are great western pieces. His studio is in Tulia, if you can arrange a tour, it would be well worth your time to go look. I can guarantee you'll find something you really want.

Our waitress was very attentive, refilling drinks as needed. El Camino does something that is a little frustrating to me, but it's simply because I'm picky. On soft drinks, they provide the first refill free, you pay extra after that. As I said, it's not a big thing, but something to mention. Most kids will down the first one before their meal gets there, and you might have to pay extra for that.

Time to order -- I got the #2, my favorite, which has a chili relleno, beef enchilada and a crispy taco. I got beans and rice on the side (extra again). While we waited our main dish, I filled up on chips. Their chips are pretty normal (good, but nothing special). The hot sauce, on the other hand, was very good. It had a nice spice to it. Hot enough the kids didn't eat a lot of it...and my kids like hot stuff. I ate way too much of it, but it sure was good.

Our order arrives, fairly quickly. I knew the relleno would be good, so I saved it for last. I started with the beans, which were seasoned very nicely. They had a bit of spice to them, a bit peppery, but they were not bland, which was good. The rice looked heavily spiced, but it tasted normal too me. I don't know if the exceptional beans took away from above-average rice, or if the rice was just average.

On to the taco, it was good, but again, nothing special here. Topped with the regulars -- cheese, tomato and lettuce. I could taste the beef, but it didn't have anything stand out. It tasted under-seasoned. Still edible, no doubt. The enchilada was very good. I haven't had too many bad enchiladas, and this was right up there. The sauce was not overpowering, and the relleno sitting beside it was imparting some if it's cheese sauce to it's neighbor which was very good. I was getting full about half way through the enchilada (due to over-indulgence on the chips!)

Now, the part I'd been waiting for -- waiting for what seemed to be years. It had been years since I'd had a truly awesome relleno. The first bite brought me back to the first time I had this. Little did I know at the time that it would be one of my very favorite things. It happened to be one of the first few rellenos I had eaten, how lucky was I? They relleno is stuffed with cheese. Lots of cheese, and that's it. No celery or other things that just don't belong in a relleno. Just good ole cheese. It's also topped with a different cheese sauce, it's fairly thin, has some spice to it, but it goes great with the relleno (and that enchilada got in on this sauce too).

The breading of their relleno is what I think sets it apart from most others. If I were comparing it, El Camino is comparable to the breading of fried chicken, but thinner. It's not really thick, but it is dense. Most other rellenos I try have a light batter coating, and you can taste all of the oil that gets sucked up by that light breading. I would love to figure out what this breading is, it really is the difference to me.

We enjoyed this trip to El Camino. The food was excellent, service was good, and the time we got to spend with our company was much needed and very nice. I'd come here again in a heartbeat. It won't be years before I'll be back here again.

Overall Rating: 93 (scale of 100)
Price $12.00