Restaurant Review: Café Castro

Green means go for the chile

By: Patricia Greathouse
Published online: Friday, August 10, 2012
Appeared in: Pasateimpo

Many Santa Feans base their judgments of New Mexican restaurants on the quality of the chile. Adhering to tradition, Julia and Carlos Castro have put their signature red and green on the map. Their Café Castro is a first-rate locals’ favorite with courteous and efficient service, an attractive ambience, and great prices.

The Castros, in the restaurant business for 22 years, have been on Cerrillos Road for the last five, where they attract tourists and businesspeople as well as regulars. Pride of ownership is obvious in the cheerful colors and tidy efficiency that make the place vibrant. It’s an unusual day when either Julia or Carlos isn’t on hand to make sure everything is going right.

The food at Café Castro is home-style, based on Julia’s mother’s recipes. As such, it exemplifies New Mexican food at its best, with the flavors of corn, beans, and chile of primary importance. It’s a what- you-see-is-what-you-get situation; there’s no way to cover up poor ingredients or badly made sauce.

Salsa and chips are not complementary, but Castro’s tomato- and chile-pequín-based salsa is good enough to pay for, so be sure to order some. One appetizer plate (Trio Sabroso) comprises smooth guacamole, picante salsa, and chile con queso with corn chips.

The nachos are not a catch-all. In fact, they’re Spartan compared to the Food Channel versions laden with jalapeños, guacamole, black olives, and beans. But Castro’s bed of crisp corn chips topped with seasoned ground beef or chicken, refritos, chopped tomatoes, and melted cheese makes a tasty, generous start for four.

The appetizer quesadilla is open-faced — a flour tortilla with soft-cooked chicken, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream; it makes a good snack for two. A delicious, juicy carne adovada is the Thursday special, but all the daily specials are available for a dollar more any day of the week. The tender pork coated with hot chile caribe made for great soft tacos tucked into steamed corn tortillas. Add some refritos on the side and a little salsa to amp up the heat, and you’re eating Mexican style.

Castro’s red chile enchilada passes with flying colors because of the strength of the chile. Crisp chicken tacos come with refritos, posole, and rice. At some restaurants, the rice is gummy and too tomato-y, the refritos are drowned in cheese, and the posole is overseasoned. Not at Castro’s. The separate kernels of rice have just a suggestion of tomato, and while the refritos do come topped with a little cheese, whole beans are available without it. The posole is stewed with pork, and the corn flavor shines through.

The chiles rellenos have a not-too-thick, nongreasy batter, and ours came smothered with red and green chile sauces and cheese. The sopaipillas are also good, a nice balance of chewy and thin.

As for that most important ingredient, chile, Castro’s excels. The green chile is roasted and chopped. Too many local restaurants save money by serving a flavorless, too-picante chile in a sauce thickened with flour. The red version of that same aberration — a thin, spicy sauce made with who knows what — is unworthy of our food traditions. The lusty version at Castro’s, which is hot enough, dark, and thick, is made with chile caribe that is soaked and then ground. Dishes come with a choice of red or green. Some dishes, like the chicken tacos, include salsa, too. Get all three; the speedy servers are happy to oblige.

There’s a good selection of beers at Café Castro, and they come supercold with a frosty glass, a welcome treat on a scorching afternoon. A frosty, frothy wine margarita is also a refreshing choice. Desserts are not Castro’s forte, and most are not made in-house. The flan is, however; it’s a light version of the normally thick and creamy custard. There is also a well-saturated tres leches cake. We gobbled up a fried cream-cheese-filled chimichanga drizzled with raspberry and chocolate sauces. A large, warm brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream got the same treatment.