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Mia R. Cortez
Editor
|  More than six months before their grand opening in the Shoppes on Mesa last November, owners of María Chuchena Mexican Cuisine gave a simple hint: “Mexico is coming.”
They’ve since unveiled the complexity of the statement. With the opening of their U.S. location, Grupo Root, made up of El Pasoans Omar, Oscar and Roberto Herrera have replicated the service and food offered in the Mexican María Chuchena counterparts. There is currently one María Chuchena Mexican Cuisine in Juárez, on Blvd. Tomas Fernandez in the Campestre district, but at one point the brothers owned two locations in Juárez and one in Chihuahua City. The restaurant is named after an old Mexican folk song about a woman with magical hands who creates wonders in the kitchen.
Manager Omar Herrera speaks openly about their move to El Paso and the deteriorating restaurant industry in Juárez.
“All of this was born in Mexico, we want to keep business going over there for as long as we can,” Herrera said. “But the fact is that Juárez is at war. While María Chuchena in Juárez is doing well (it could be doing a lot worse), the restaurant industry in our sister city has plummeted. What was once a flourishing Pronaf is now completely dead.”
Their goal, however, was not to move their concept out of Juárez, but to bring the experience to El Paso. Herrera says they make every effort to remain 100-percent true to that initial statement. They ran into a roadblocks trying to find American distributors for such indigenous Mexican ingredients like huitlacoche (corn fungi), the multitude of essential ingredients for mole, some chiles and blue corn.
Once they found them, they hired a well known chef of Mexico City, German Navarette, as a kitchen consultant, and brought in chefs from the capital to work in their own kitchen. Then they interviewed bunches of applicants to find a completely bilingual wait staff, well versed in Mexican service etiquette. Then they held a two-week training for the wait staff. Their instructors? Waiters from Mexico City.
“We didn’t cut any corners,” Herrera said. “When we said Mexico is coming, we meant it. And the response has been awesome.”
That’s not to say they haven’t made any mistakes. Herrera admits that there is always room for improvement when it comes to perfecting the dining experience.
“Some may have come in the first few weeks after opening and not had a great experience, I know we made mistakes,” Herrera said. “Right now we’re really getting into it. We hope they’ll try us again.”
Enticing old-world aromas
Authentic ingredients with indigenous roots make up the restaurant’s affordable menu. Some of the offerings include The Trio Mixteco ($8) - three chicken breasts in three mole sauces (including verde and adobo), the Malinche ($8), chicken filled with huitlacoches and covered in a squash blossom sauce, and even the familiar Tampiquena steak ($10) topped with crumbled cheese and a blue corn green enchilada. There’s also the Barra Vieja, a beautiful dish of seared red snapper marinated in chili and garlic served with roasted potatoes and artichokes.
Biggest lunch deal in town
María Chuchena offers one menu all day, with prices ranging from $6 - $17. But for lunch, weekdays from 12 - 4 p.m., you can choose a plate for $8 - $10 or the lunch special, which includes an entree, soup, dessert and drink for $13.
Throw in the espanolas (hot sesame crusted rolls with cream cheese filling), thick fresh tostadas and the molcajete full of salsa made at your table to your liking, and you have a meal big enough to take home and eat for dinner too.
The soups include Azteca ($5), a thick tortilla soup topped with cream and chile pasilla, or Chileatole ($4), green chile soup centered around a cob of white corn.
“We wanted to surprise people - to come in, enjoy a big meal and be pleasantly surprised with the check,” Herrera said. “And so far the people of El Paso have welcomed us with open arms.”
Not over the top
The look of the restaurant is modern and upscale, but the ambiance is casual and the music is pleasantly reminiscent of authentic Mexican eateries without being loud or tacky. You won’t find caldo de res or greasy tacos, but you won’t be confused or overwhelmed by the menu either. The chefs do a great job of combining the right exotic ingredients with favorite staples - like green chile enchiladas made with blue corn tortillas and queso fresco or steak tampiquena with long green chile strips. They also serve breakfast, which does include menudo and chilaquiles for under $9 and Herrera said they will be adding more seafood dishes in mid February.
María Chuchena is open seven days a week, starting at 8 a.m.
They will offer their regular menu on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. There is also an area for private events and lunch meetings. For more information, visit mariachuchena.com or call 581-9511.
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail swsenior@elpasoinc.com
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