Elenita’s Mexican Cafe

As far as food goes, this may be the best Mexican restaurant in Northwest Arkansas. In addition to the Lindell Avenue location, Elenita’s has two other Mexican restaurants in Fayetteville – at 701 S. School Ave. and 2605 N. College Ave. The College Avenue location, in a building that previously housed Rufino’s, opened late last year and features primarily seafood dishes.

For a lunch review, we tried the Elenita’s on Lindell, which is near the intersection of Garland Avenue and North Street.

The decor isn’t flashy. Elinta’s doesn’t go in for pretension and a fake weathered facade like some neuvo Mexican restaurants, but Elenita’s makes up for what it’s lacking in ambiance with excellent, authentic Mexican food.

For an appetizer, we had the large chili con queso (cheese dip served with chips for $3.25) and flour tortillas (30 cents extra). We also enjoyed the free salsa and chips that arrived at the table at about the same time we did. The appetizers kept us busy and gave us something to do until the entrees arrived.

We ordered the No. 6 lunch special, two fajita tacos ($4), and opted for chicken instead of beef. We were more than pleasantly surprised by the meal. It was the best fajita chicken meat we’ve had in this part of Arkansas, and, for that matter, north of the border. The chicken was chunky, seasoned and delicious. The meal was accompanied by rice and beans.

One of our diners, who subsists largely on avocados, had the taco salad ($4.50) and declared it good but noted that the guacamole in the salad was “excellent.”

In the menu, the taco salad is billed as “a meal in itself … served in our incredible edible flour chalupa shell, filled with your choice of spicy Mexican chicken or beef, refried beans, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and topped with chili con queso, guacamole, sour cream and jalapeno slices.”

Lunch specials at Elenita’s range in price from $3.75 to $5. The specials include combinations of enchiladas, tacos, tamales, burritos, tostadas, fajitas and flautas. Lunch special prices are in effect from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. After 3 p.m., the same meals may be purchased for an additional $1.

We’ll be going back to Elenita’s as soon as possible.