Mezcal Los Rios

There is no shortage of Mexican restaurants on the southwest side of Columbus, but most of the larger, more established ones have moved to much to the mainstream for my tastes (I’m looking at you, Tres Petrillos, and your recently dumbed-​down La Vaquera style menu). I went on the first ever Taco Truck tour a few years ago, but I’m a little too addicted to my comforts — I need doors and floors, and someplace to sit and enjoy a dinner. Eating from a truck was to much «street» for me.
On a recent attempt to find an easier way to get home from Harbor Freight than the Broad to Norton route that I’ve learned to hate, I caught sight of a bright yellow building that appeared to be home for a small collection of stores, one of which appeared to be a Mexican restaurant. It had the quaint look of a small, family-​operated business, which raised my hopes that it might be a place where I could find a more authentic and less assembly line Mexican meal than the larger chains now serve. Unfortunately, my wife is not all that adventurous anymore when it comes to trying out new Mexican restaurants, what with her still stinging from what we call The Burrito Incident.
The Burrito Incident occurred at a very Mexican restaurant over on Georgesville road at the Westland Mall, at a place over by where the dollar movies used to be. I can’t remember what I ordered — it may have been enchiladas or something like that, but when I asked for it, the waitress said something along the lines of «At last! An American orders something other than a burrito.» It was a line delivered in a somewhat disparaging tone. It was then my wife’s turn to order. She meekly said, «I’d like a beef burrito.»
She’s never gotten over that.
Last week, though, I had an opportunity to get someone else to go with me. Professor Pete is always open to trying new eateries, so he quickly agreed that we ought to check this new place out for lunch. We were greeted with a hearty and friendly Hola! and within just a few moments we were perusing an attractive menu. It was completely in Spanish, but there were many familiar items (the dreaded burrito, enchiladas, tacos, in addition to a few that I didn’t recognize like Puerco, Pescado, and Sincronizadas) and both Pete and I were able to settle on things we were comfortable with trying. I had the Enchiladas Verde con Pollo, and Pete had (typical gringo!) the Chorizo burrito.
Both were superb! The enchiladas were packed with chicken, while the burrito contained a well-​balanced mix of chorizo, rice, potato, cheese, and more than likely some other stuff that I wasn’t able to inventory in the one bite that he was willing to relinquish for the sake of my scientific research. He’s like that: generous, but not crazy enough to hand over a large chunk of such a tasty lunch. Who could blame him? Not me — he got none of my enchiladas. I’m like that.
I’ll leave it to more sophisticated reviewers to decide whether the authenticity that I had hoped for is actually available there, but I can say with certainty that I very much enjoyed my meal and I will be going back, perhaps with the company of my wife since she has now developed a taste for enchiladas in addition to burritos.