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'San Antonio east' cooks up Tex-Mex flavor
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
© St. Petersburg Times, Sometimes when I'm homesick for my native land of Texas, I climb into my car in Hudson and head due east to San Antonio, Fla., home of Pancho's Villa, arguably the best Tex-Mex east of the Sabine River. It's not just that the chile rellenos, chimichangas and fajitas are so yummy I swoon in pure bliss when I eat them. It's not just that the guacamole is made from real Haas avocados and the Mexican beer so cold my hand nearly sticks to the bottle when I pick it up to cool my tongue after a recklessly large bite of hot flauta. It's not even that the chips are thin, crisp, hot and salty or the aromatic salsa is loaded with fresh chopped sweet onions and cilantro. It's that Pancho's also looks exactly the way it should look and sounds the way it should sound. There it sits on the incongruously named Pennsylvania Avenue (the city fathers and mothers should rename it Guadalajara or Matamoros in honor of its most precious asset). You park on a dusty street or even dustier dirt parking lot a few feet away and approach the small, tin-roofed, bright red building with green cacti painted on the front and cactus in a window box, half expecting to see a burro carrying sticks. You pull open the heavy door and stand between lattice walls, waiting for one of the 48 seats that seem constantly filled with happy patrons, no matter the hour or the day. By then, you expect to hear a mariachi band and see smiling senoritas in ruffled skirts dance by clicking castanets. Pancho's Villa is that authentic. Instead, from the kitchen, you hear rapid Spanish and moments later, you see a smiling server swoop through the room holding aloft sizzling platters of beef, chicken or shrimp fajitas ($6.25 lunch; $8.95 or $9.95 dinner), trailing clouds of aromatic steam to a table ringed with eager people, forks ready to dig in. The ubiquitous Tex-Mex things -- tacos, burritos, tamales, enchiladas -- are made special with Pancho's rich, dark chili or mole or reddish, slightly sweet ranchero sauces. Then, besides the expected ground beef, Pancho's offers the moist, tender and much tastier shredded beef or shredded chicken. At dinner, go for an Especiales de Pancho's Villa, things like chile verde -- pieces of pork cooked in a green tomatillo sauce ($8.50); carne asada -- seasoned, grilled top sirloin served with pico de gallo ($8.95); or, if you feel brave,lengua en mole -- beef tongue cooked in a smooth, semi-sweet chocolate/nutmeg mole ($8.50), the grandaddy of all Tex-Mex sauces. All plates come with fluffy, lightly season rice with tiny cubes of carrot, some peas and sometimes corn, and frijoles, which are semi-refried beans that have both the mashed, seasoned beans in juice and big, whole red beans. Leave room for flan, sopapillas (fried flour tortillas drizzled with honey, cinnamon and powdered sugar) or other desserts of the day. If you have 48 hours to spare, I suppose you could drive to San Antonio, Texas, and eat along the Riverwalk. If you don't, Pancho's Villa can take you there mentally, emotionally and right through your taste buds. If you goPancho's Villa Mexican Restaurant, 32804 Pennsylvania Ave., San Antonio. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; and noon-9 p.m. Sunday. Lunch $3.99-$6.25; dinner $5.95-$9.95. Vegetarian plates; children's menu; handicapped accessible. Beer, sangria and margaritas. No reservations.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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From today's Pasco Times Jan Glidewell |
