El Nopal: Tasty Mexican dishes close to home
Wherever you live in metro Louisville, chances are that there's an El Nopal Mexican Restaurant near you. With 19 locations in Indiana and Kentucky, this regional chain parlays a lengthy and tasty menu and huge portions into lots of repeat business.
Sure, El Nopal makes its light, crunchy tortilla chips, salsas and beans fresh every day. And El Nopal has tacos and burritos, filled with ground beef, shredded beef, chicken, pork or seafood, as well as enchiladas, chiles rellenos, tamales and chimichangas. All are prepared the authentic, traditional Mexican way.
But the family-owned restaurant also boasts less pedestrian fare, such as Carne Asada, 10 ounces of sliced skirt steak grilled with onions and jalapeños ($12.99); Camarones a la Diabla, shrimp simmered in El Nopal's spicy Diabla (Demon) sauce and served with lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado and rice; Chori Pollo, grilled strips of chicken and chorizo (a spicy Mexican sausage) with Nacho cheese and rice ($9.99); and Mojarra Frita, crisply fried rainbow trout with rice, salad and a crabmeat enchilada ($9.99), to name just a few. But you can see how extensive the menu is for yourself: Just check the online menu.
Vegetarians will find plenty on El Nopal's menu, with each combination priced at $7.99: bean burritos, chalupas and tostaguacs; cheese enchiladas and quesadillas, and an out-of-this-world creamy, melted cheese dip (the latter at $3.99. You'll also find Chiles poblanos, two mild poblano peppers stuffed with creamy white Mexican cheese before being coated in an egg-white batter and deep fried ($9.25). The dish comes with rice, beans and three flour tortillas.
Even those not enamored of Mexican fare will find something on El Nopal's menu: They serve barbecued ribs ($9.99), barbecued chicken ($8.99) and a grilled chicken salad, albeit tucked into a crisp flour tortilla shell ($7.25).
Little amigos 12 and younger have their own menu, which lists a Fiesta burger, pizza and chicken nuggets, as well as tacos, burritos, enchiladas and quesadillas. Every item on the children's menu costs $4.25.
With El Nopal's generous portions, it's almost impossible to save room for dessert. Fried ice cream ($4.25); sopapillas, fried strips of flour tortilla smothered with honey sugar and cinnamon ($3.25); flan ($3.49) or a sundae ($4.25) finish off a meal nicely.
The bargains don't end with the food. El Nopal serves 16-ounce margaritas made with premium 100-proof blue-agave 1800 Silver Select Tequila for $7.95. El Nopal also serves margaritas made with other tequilas, wine, piña coladas, an assortment of fruity margaritas and a selection of domestic beers, as well as Heineken and Mexican beers.
Chicken or steak fajitas cost $9.50 on Thursday evenings (dine-in only), while, all day on Monday and Wednesday, 12-ounce lime margaritas, whether frozen or on the rocks, go for $1.99 while strawberry, raspberry, peach or mango ones cost $2.50. Twelve-ounce draft beers drop to 99 cents on Tuesday and Wednesday.
El Nopal has 19 locations in Louisville, Bullitt County, Southern Indiana, LaGrange and Carrollton. Click here for locations, including maps.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
