Las Cruces, Metairie 70005

Central City BBQ has been the best barbecue in town since they arrived on the ‘cue scene a few years ago. I was intrigued to hear that they had a new place in Old Metairie. It wasn't barbecue but rather Tex-Mex, but I was pretty sure it would have great meats for all the dishes this new Tex-Mex restaurant would offer. And I imagined smoked meats would figure prominently in the offerings.

Chef Chris Lusk is an A-lister who wound up at Central City BBQ from the white tablecloth circuit after reopening The Pontchartrain with BRG. Chris grew up in Texas eating Tex-Mex food, and his passion for it has never waned. This is his first chance to bring the food of his youth to New Orleans diners.

Las Cruces Tex-Mex bloomed seemingly out of the ground under the overpass at Labarre Rd. and Airline Dr. It is located directly behind what used to be Pancho’s (to add some romantic irony to its arrival.) The building is a nondescript metal thing with a backyard and play area immediately adjacent to the railroad tracks. There is nothing especially appealing about any of this. It is industrial in a way that even I can't find charming. (I am usually a fan of minimalist industrial.) It is odd in its layout and almost institutional in decor. Bare everything. Melamine plates that are at least colorful. I felt that they had better have great food to offset these limitations. 

I didn’t realize at first that they were banking their fortunes on a business model that had made nearby Fat Boy Pizza a phenomenon. Fat Boy is an enigma to me. The food is terrible but they are wildly successful. Can you build a business appealing to kids? The jury is in on this. As Fat Boy metastasizes to many locations, the answer is a resounding “Yes!”

The difference at Las Cruces is that the food is actually good. We went on a Saturday afternoon recently and the Fat Boy magic has caught on here. The place was crawling with families by 5:30pm.

We had the very good chips and salsa and their bean dip. The chips are crispy and medium thick, hefty enough to hold anything dippable. On our first visit, the dippable was queso, which was smooth and thin with bits of smoked hatch chiles inside. It was creamy and spicy but not exceptional. I doubt I’ll get it again, even though I love queso. 

Conversely, the guacamole we had on the last visit was exceptional, with not a lot of “stuff” in it. The focus was just the avocado, unadorned except for cilantro and some other spices.  This was dense and creamy.

I also surprised myself by ordering the smoked chicken wings. These were pretty great. They were not the bloated turkey-size chicken wings, but smallish and meaty. They had a nice smoke flavor that was not overpowering. I got the Bleu cheese sauce with them and realized that the more I have Buffalo sauce the more I understand what all the fuss is about. Suddenly celery, Bleu cheese, and this wonderful sauce make sense. I wish I had the option for the Buffalo "package" here, but I loved these wings anyway.

Normally I don’t get fajitas, especially not beef fajitas. But if someone is offering a premium beef like hanger steak, suddenly fajitas seem interesting. This was an enormous pile of tender hanger steak served over grilled onions and green bell peppers. I usually want to eat all the fajitas veggies, but that was not the case here. I mostly left them. I don’t know if that was because the meat was outstanding or the veggies were so uninteresting. Both are true. There wasn’t a lot of oil to these veggies, which caramelizes them more, so maybe that was it, but they were forgettable.

The hanger steak came in a cast iron roasting ramekin and was stacked on top of the pepper and onions and served with large corn tortillas. Little salad dressing-sized containers come with this, filled with sharp cheddar, a little pico, some sour cream, and guacamole.

The sides for this were green chile rice and smoked pinto beans.

The last time we were here I got the green chile rice and liked it well enough but it didn’t make a strong statement. The pinto beans didn’t either, and so far I am underwhelmed by the sides.

The green chile rice came as a choice of sides, and the last time we were here I got it with the enchilada plate which came as a threesome in another cast iron baker. They were cheese enchiladas covered in red chile sauce and baked. These were very good and very filling. 

We finished the meal with the Tres Leches Bread Pudding. We were told that it would be different, and indeed it was, but Tom, connoisseur of bread pudding everywhere, liked the twist.

Las Cruces Tex-Mex is part of a new breed of "Mexican" food which seems a cut above the usual, or what we have come to expect from this fake-ethnic cuisine. “Mexican” food is American food with Mexican spices, but lately some of it is becoming more Mexican for real, And that is a pleasant, even exciting change. This one is definitely on our list when we are looking for more interesting food in this genre. And I’ve been told the cocktails here are exceptional. Even better.