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Published Friday
June 3, 2005
Rivera's serves up tasty, spicy Mexican
meals
BY JOHN KEENAN |
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| WORLD-HERALD STAFF
WRITER |
Jesus Rivera Cruz put a solid 10 years into the food
business, most at Grisanti's, but his eight-month-old eatery is the first
restaurant he has owned.
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| Jesus Rivera Cruz, owner of Rivera's
Mexican Food at 121st and Blondo Streets, offers chicken
quesadilla and enchiladas
poblanas. | |
He's gotten it right with Rivera's, a welcoming Mexican
restaurant that impresses with spicy entrees, filling wraps and at least
one excellent dessert.
Cruz works from his own recipes, although the mole sauce
in the popular chicken dish is his mother's. Even if he cribbed from mom
for one dish, his traditional Mexican menu manages a welcome degree of
novelty.
Take the chicken pibil ($10.25), as my wife did. With
chicken cooked inside a banana leaf, the entree initially drew her
attention because she wondered what it looked like.
Rivera's Mexican Food
Where: 12047-49 Blondo St.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays
Prices: Appetizers $5.15 to $6.95;
entrees $7.75 to $10.25
Alcohol: Full bar
Payment: Credit cards, no checks
Wheelchair
accessible: Yes
Smoking section: No
Information: 932-1381
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The taste paid off, too. The huge, green palm envelops a
boneless, skinless breast of chicken, sliced tomatoes and onion. As the
chicken cooks, the leaf traps the steam, which permeates the meat and
injects the taste of vegetables and accompanying spices - especially chili
powder. The chicken comes with two sides: black beans with chopped
tomatoes and rice mixed with corn, cilantro and black beans.
The menu highlighted my enchiladas rancheros ($9.95) as a
spicy dish, and it was. The dish - sautéed seasoned steak, Mexican
chorizo, green onions, a scorching homemade sauce and melted Monterey Jack
cheese - induced forehead sweat. A heaping topping of sour cream and
lettuce barely cut into the spiciness.
The menu also features wraps, fajitas and combo platters.
The six wraps offer a variety of fillings, from black beans and pork to
chicken and steak fajitas, most accented with homemade salsa.
The 15-item entree list contains a variety | 
