The smell of fresh paint has worn off the walls at El Burro Pancho Mexican Restaurant on Main Street. Two weeks after opening its doors, the front is bustling with business. Meats are sizzling on the grill. Potatoes are bubbling in oil. And the salsa bar is chilling pico de gallo and jalapeno and tomatillo sauces on cubed ice.
Besides the view of Mesa Verde National Park, some of Burro Panchos offerings include a salsa bar, burritos as big as your head, enchiladas, Spanish rice, pinto beans, and lunch and dinner crowds can enjoy bottomless bowls of corn chips and salsa.
Specialties include barbacoa (Mexican-style barbecue), flautas (flour tortillas stuffed with meats, rolled into a cigar shape and deep fried), roasted garlic chicken, smoked-chili chicken, shrimp with smoke-dried jalapenos and thinly sliced grilled beef served with rice, beans and tortillas.
Taco meat varieties are shrimp, chicken, pork and beef.
Mexican-style sandwiches include a flatbread, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and choice of grilled steak, deep-fried pork, marinated beef or grilled steak with bacon, bell pepper and onions. Taco salads have crisp, flour tortilla shells, iceberg lettuce, cheese and choice of chicken, beef or picadillo (Mexican hash).
Breakfast meals include giant burritos packed with hashed browns, cheese and choice of ham, bacon, sausage or chorizo. Their huevos rancheros are overeasy eggs topped with secret, rancheros sauce. Ham quesadillas are served with french fries. And their Huevos Mexicanos have scrambled eggs, tomato, onions and jalapeno, but theyre not spicy, Casillas says.
Something happens when the jalapenos are cooked, he says.
After working as a server for more than four years at Fiesta Mexicana in Page, Ariz., Gustavo Casillas has chosen to go into business for himself. His searches for the ideal Colorado locale, beginning in Denver, landed him in Cortez.
It was easy for me to open my business here, Casillas says. The people are treating me very well here.
When asked why open another Mexican restaurant in Cortez, he says: How can I have people competing with me? I have the best people, people with character, and affordable prices.
Meals range in price from $2.75 for a taco and $6.75 for dinners.
Casillas was employing four people Friday, Nov. 11, and looking to hire more.
He wants to start small and work his way up, he says. In order to succeed, he welcomes all locals and travelers and is offering affordable meals that taste good, he says.
I have to pay attention to how it runs; Im here all day long, Casillas says. El Burro Pancho Mexican Restaurant, 1430 Main St., Cortez, is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
While dining at El Burro Friday, Nov. 4, Ralph Calvillo, owner of Happy Valley and The Mesa RV parks, said his meal at Burro Pancho was good, and hell come back. But Calvillo wishes there were tables near the window.
Casillas says he will either add new or rearrange existing furniture after signage and electrical work is complete.
Cortezs new restaurateur says he will try his best to keep El Burro Pancho open for at least one year.
If a restaurant is going to work, its going to work from the start, he says.
For more information, call El Burro Pancho Mexican Restaurant at 565-4633.