Hay! Chi Wa Waa

[Robin Garr]

Seriously, though, I get tired of "authenticity" used as a measuring stick to evaluate restaurants. Either the food is good, or it isn't. Authenticity is irrelevant.

I think you're drawing a false comparison, Jeff. If the food is good, that's good. If the food is authentic, that's a different kind of good. Is it an orange, or is it a bicycle?

Seriously, though, I get tired of "authenticity" used as a measuring stick to evaluate restaurants. Either the food is good, or it isn't. Authenticity is irrelevant.

I think you're drawing a false comparison, Jeff. If the food is good, that's good. If the food is authentic, that's a different kind of good. Is it an orange, or is it a bicycle?

That may be true, but I am arguing that the good-food good should count for far more than the authenticity good when we're evaluating a restaurant. More than once, I've seen folks here say something along the lines of, "I used to really like [XYZ Restaurant], but they I found out it isn't really [authentic XYZ cuisine]. So I don't go there anymore."

I think that's unfair to the restaurant, which ought to be evaluated on its own merits, not compared to some standard of what's "authentic" in Texas, New Mexico, Guatemala, Napoli, or Guangzhou.

And, in any case, "authentic" is a frustratingly slippery and hard-to-nail-down concept. If a Guatemalan chef is cooking what he thinks is Tex-Mex, in Louisville, who's to say if it's authentic or not? If a white guy goes to Guangzhou, learns Cantonese cuisine from a Cantonese chef there, and comes back and reproduces it exactly in his US restaurant, is it authentic? Some would say yes, because it tastes the same. Some would say no, it can't be, because he's white and it will never be "his" cuisine, he'll always be an imposter.

So I say, to heck with "authentic," eat good food.

I agree that the authentic-to-inauthentic spectrum doesn't necessarily track with the good-to-bad spectrum, and that the priority should be for good food, first and foremost. But when something's authentic, at least someone is trying to cook according to a commonly understood standard. So while it might not be good, it is an attempt at some aesthetic ideal or carries some cultural history with it. On the other hand, a good-to-bad spectrum is inherently personal and not commonly understood at all, which makes it hard to gauge. Hence the phenomenon of Yelp giving mediocre overall scores to restaurants that critics and chefs all adore, and high scores to chain restaurants.

Speaking for myself, I use "inauthentic" to mean "lowest common denominator" food, in the sense of having abandoned an aesthetic ideal in pursuit of foods and methods that return the biggest profit to the seller. It doesn't have to track with a good-to-bad spectrum, although it usually does. Not sure how other people are using the terms here, though.

With Mexican it's easy to run into trouble with terms like "authentic" and "good" because a lot of Americans like bad Mexican food the same way they like bad American food. And while *I* may think they have gross taste in food, they certainly genuinely like the food that they like. There's no arguing with Taco Bell's revenues. Plus to add on to what Robin said, the Mexican food border starts well within the U.S. border, not to mention all the many distinct regional Mexican cuisines and dishes. So it's helpful for me to hear specifics in order to judge if I should give a person's opinion on Mexican food much weight.

Ok, the food is good! I was a little dismayed at being alone in the restaurant at 12:30ish, people trickled in through the next couple hours but obviously the word hasn't gotten out on these guys...and I'm sad they haven't yet set up a Facebook page. This place is worth discovering. Same interior layout as La Columbiana. My dinner partner got Chicken Flautas and declared them excellent, presentation was lovely...this isn't El Tarasco/El Nopal. The Charro beans on the side were incredible, so after one shared spoonful from my side of the table I immediately ordered take out for dinner tonight. I got the Donkey Monkey, a pork and bean burrito, also excellent. The green sauce is great. It's an avocado/sour cream/cilantro/lime/jalapeno concoction that was downright addictive. The red sauce they brought out tasted very fresh, and apparently if you ask they will bring out a hotter version. My burrito also had something drizzled around it called jalisco sauce, red and spicy and yummy. I saw a plate of Shrimp Diablo go by that looked really good, but how can bacon wrapped shrimp not look really good? Another group was having guacamole prepared tableside...service was friendly and helpful. We didn't order alcohol, but it looks like the bar area is set up for business...let's keep these guys in business

Great review, MaryAnn! We'll need to go check it out. Are they open for lunch?
Deb

Great review, MaryAnn! We'll need to go check it out. Are they open for lunch?
Deb

Yes, they are open for lunch. I had a fabulous chile relleno there for lunch last week, Delicious, but a bit pricey at $10.50 for one large cheese CR plus sides. Mary Ann is right about the beans, too. Excellent. Good sauce - not the runny, tomatoey stuff served at a lot of places.

Give them a try.

Yes, open for lunch with lower lunch pricing $6.99 - $10.50. And yes, this isn't your typical cheap strip mall Mexican food. My Donkey Monkey today was $10.75. Considering I can blow $10 at a food truck without table service (and God knows I love my food trucks), I think I got my money's worth.

[Robin Garr]

Good review, Mary Anne! I can't wait to go! Dang, I have a midday meeting at St. Thomas this week, too, but we already have a lunch plan ...

We were in the Lyndon area late this afternoon and stopped in to check this place out...All I gotta say is that there will be people who claim this isn't the best "Tex-Mex" in town....but they'll be wrong.

Really-really good food...Yeah, they've got all the usual cast of characters (Enchiladas, Tacos, Burritos, etc) but everything we tried (and we tried a lot) was awesome and a full notch above any other "Tex Mex" we've tried here in Louisville. Seriously. Go there....soon. You won't regret it.

NOTE: THEY DO NOT YET HAVE THEIR LIQUOR LICENSE - They say they expect to have it next week.

We went there for dinner last weekend and liked it. I'm a little worried though since we were the only customers.

We went there for dinner last weekend and liked it. I'm a little worried though since we were the only customers.

I hear that....We were also the only customers when we stopped in, albeit at the unusual dining hour of 4pm. Perhaps they will get lucky and a local food critic will stop in and then write a review. I've seen that sort of thing do -wonders- for some of the other local places.

We have visited twice in the last 3 days...lunch both times. I enjoyed the Ketucky Donkey so much the first time, I ordered the same thing, although there were many things on the menu that were tempting. I hope they are around for a long time, and many people give them a try. With their location, it will take word of mouth to get the word out. Excellent food at a fair price and attentive service.

Went by today to check if their liquor license had been approved. Unfortunately they are still waiting. Arghh. I have to have a margarita with my Mexican food!

This restaurant is quickly becoming a habit for my family. We have been 3 of the last 4 Sunday nights and it is never very busy, but it should be. The best margaritas in town, choice of three delicious (and warm!) salsas with very fresh, light chips, and some outstanding entrees beautifully presented. Also very friendly and accommodating service. I suppose it is a little bit more than the El Nopals and Los Aztecas of the world but it is much more interesting food, and still a very good value. If you haven't tried it yet, do. You will not be disappointed. I want to see this restaurant succeed.

Can't wait to try it! We've been hitting up the Senor Igunas on Shelbyville Rd recently for our mexican fix, but this is closer to home and sounds awesome

-Scott