When I asked the server if this new Tex-Mex spot had anything to do with Manny’s in Uptown, he scrunched his nose up like he’d just gotten a whiff of a durian rotting in the mid-afternoon sun and said, “No, we don’t have anything to do with them.”
Well, that isn’t entirely true. Casa Blanca is, like Manny’s, yet another offspring from Ana “Mama Mia” Enriquez’s spot, Mia’s, down the street on Lemmon. This time, it’s her niece Gina at the helm, and the food is distinctively Mia’s-Mi Cocina-style. Our meal started with a complimentary bowl of soup, a nice chicken broth scented with tomatoes and onions, with a couple of shell noodles and a bit of white cheese floating around. A basket of thick and greasy chips (not greasy in the good way) arrived with two warm salsas: one green, one red. Every night is the night for chilies relleno so I tried one filled with cheese. It was as big as my, let’s say, purse. It was cheesy, eggy, and greasy (in the good way).
To sample a cross section of Tex-Mex, we ordered a Natalia’s, a combo plate comprised of one chicken enchilada stuffed with almost too much chicken (now there’s a gripe you don’t see often); a so-so beef taco; and what has become standard issue in this extended family, an enchilada stuffed with perfectly melted yellow cheese and crispy chunks of raw, white onion. I did note the chili sauce covering the enchilada is “thinner” than its Mi Cocina “con carne” cousin.
If you like this kind of food, there is nothing about this place that makes it stand out from Mia’s or Mi Cocina. But if you live closer to Casa Blanca, you’ll be very happy.
Get contact information for Casa Blanca.
Update: Casa Blanca has closed.
