If food could camp, enchiladas' and burritos' tightly zipped sleeping bags would keep them safe from hungry bears and bread-based sandwiches would be toast. Cozy up to campable cuisine with today's Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of authentic Mexican fare at Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant in Shawnee.
Ixtapa's chefs serve up a menu of California-style Mexican meals complemented by owner Jesse Garcia's family-recipe cremas and moles. The comienzos (appetizers) amuse bouches with a bevy of bites, including Super nachos topped with all the fixings ($6.75–$7.75), and the diminutive deep-fried burrito ($8.25). After slinging starters, servers swiftly sidle by hoisting house favorites such as boneless chicken en mole swimming in a sweet mexican sauce ($11.95) or camarones a la crema, which slathers sunbathing fried shrimp in a protective layer of sour cream ($12.95). Children 12 and younger can chomp on a choice of taco, enchilada, or quesadilla ($4.25), and childlike adults may dine on deep-fried ice cream, a dish almost as oxymoronic as an iced-magma sundae ($2.95).
Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant in Shawnee
Just as Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant's name honors the owners' oceanfront hometown in Jalisco, Mexico, the menu honors Mexico's iconic cuisine. These pages brim with favorites such as enchiladas, hefty burritos, and sputtering fajitas with marinated portions of beef, chicken, pork, or shrimp. The choices seem familiar, but there's no denying that their roots cross the International Date Line that separates California from Mexico. Mexican Coca-Cola fills glasses alongside a handful of imported beers, and the tangy crema sauces and vaguely sweet moles are all based on family recipes.