Checking out El Farolito

If you have not yet made the beautiful drive to the El Rito Public Library, you should. This is the prettiest library I’ve ever seen, inside and out and is surrounded by lush trees and open, grassy fields. The building is a humble adobe that has been added onto through the years, starting in 1930 as a one room middle school then morphing into a library in 1989. Many kind and generous folks have and continue to help create this community space that has so many interesting layers that I am not even scratching the surface of this little gem. I drive the peaceful, mellow road, up 554 to 215 almost any time that I get word of something special going on there. My wife and I have gotten all dolled up to give out candy to the local kids on Halloween, joining the awesome lowriders that show up for the annual “trunk or treat'' in the gravel parking lot. For one of the Friday night movie and potluck events, we cooked up a big batch of pesto filled ravioli in a cream sauce to contribute to the other delicious food people brought, and they even had popcorn! 

Sometimes I go just to peruse the various, meandering rooms furnished with comfortable chairs and workstations with computers. And, if you ask nicely and have 10 cents, you can use the printers too. In one room, the walls are barely visible through the gorgeous, hand tailored quilts created by the El Rito Quilting Guild. These ladies can sew! The designs and colors are so beautiful and comforting, it can hypnotize you into staying for hours without even noticing time passing. The books are tidily organized and easy to navigate. There are DVD’s and audio books galore. There are so many wonderful activities and events going on here. We look forward to donating something tempting to this year's annual silent auction to do our part in supporting this magical asset that heightens so many lives, young and old.

Seeing as you are already in El Rito, try to carve out time to dine at El Farolito. This is a tiny, charmingly ramshackle adobe building nestled in the heart of the other ramshackle buildings that create the business part of El Rito. The cafe opened somewhere around the 1960’s, (it’s a hard fact to find), and was infused with new energy in 1975, when the original owner was joined by her brother and his wife, Dennis and Carmen Trujillo. They added a green chile sauce that has won awards and gotten the attention of many huge foodie magazines and individuals.

When we visited last, Marisol, Dennis and Carmen’s daughter seemed to be running the place along with a very outgoing and pleasant man literally running from the kitchen to the dining room and back, delivering food, to try to keep up with the busy hum of hungry patrons. Walking into the cafe takes a moment to absorb the uncommon vibe. It’s small, I mean small. You will find four mismatched, somewhat communal tables, surrounded by empty cardboard boxes and full cardboard boxes, overflowing with all the prepared or cooked or unseasoned goods that are needed to create the items on the menu. While waiting for our food, a trio of women placed their order at the counter and held up 2 lemons to be added to the bill that she’d helped herself to from one of the glass, stand up refrigerators crammed against the wall. I commented to my wife that Marisol handled that very well, assuming that the lemons weren’t for sale, but that she politely sold them anyway. Wrong! After a bit, when my eyes and brain were able to sift through the unusual clutter surrounding us, I focused on an old white board, with a listing of the refrigerators contents for sale. Aha, those lemons were for sale, as well as avocados, milk, eggs, soda, etc. I’m going to guess that almost any ingredient needed to cook with, is or could be bought from the cold case. Earlier, I held the door open for a woman whose arms were full of her takeout order and noticed a 32 oz container of chili powder tucked under her arm. I now understand that she had just bought it from them. 

As a former restaurant owner, I admire their generosity in allowing this kind service to the public as it gets pretty hard to plan for supplying a consistent menu when you’re not sure what ingredients you’ll have left at the end of the day. 

I think the family is still operating under the rules demanded by COVID, as all the cutlery and serving vessels are styrofoam and plastic and the menu is a folded 8x11 piece of paper. Looking back at photos taken by previous patrons and reviewers, I see metal forks, ceramic plates and laminated menus. In light of the health of our planet, I wish they would bring them back, though it’s nearly impossible to imagine fitting a dish washing station into the building.

Now, for the food. After confirming that the tortilla chips were house made and the guac too, we ordered them to start. They were delicious. Still slightly warm, perfectly crisp and salty, but not at all oily. The guac was uniquely creamy and had a pleasant hint of garlic leaving us wishing we had more of it.

We ordered the Farolito Combo plate, which consisted of a chili relleno, a chicken filled enchilada and a ground beef stuffed hard shell taco. The relleno was very good. A perfectly mildly spiced poblano filled with a flavorful white cheese, smothered in green chile and topped with shredded cheese. The chicken enchilada was a little dry, but flavorful as well. The taco was a generous portion of house seasoned ground beef a little heavy on the cumin and salt. The nicely flavored and plump pintos were yummy. We also ordered the tostada, opting for chicken. The large crunchy blue corn tortilla topped with a lot of shredded chicken, iceberg lettuce, a little pico and some grated cheddar made this a crisp tasty snack that I would definitely order again. Because we tend to stuff our faces on these ventures, and the fact that my wife’s love language is, well, food, almost any food, we also ordered a side of onion rings. Sadly, they were not fantastic, likely just delivered from the food supplier and straight from a frozen bag into hot oil. I’d skip the rings and go for the crinkle cut fries that wafted by our table to almost every person dining in. Don’t mistake this place as having only (New) Mexican fare, there are many other items on the menu that we hope to sample on another day including burgers, quesadillas, steak picado, grilled cheese and cold sandwiches too.

Oh right!  Again, because of the face stuffing/love language mentioned above, we also ordered a slice of the homemade apple pie, a la mode. Jeez, we can eat! It was very good but could have been much better if it were toasted or warmed in an oven instead of a microwave. Next time, I’ll ask for it at room temp. The flavors were a sweet heaven and, I think, not nuked, the crust would have rivaled my wife’s.
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There are no alcoholic beverages but a bevy of fun fizzy drinks and coffee are aplenty.  The prices here are pre-pandemic and the entire meal with plenty of leftovers was just over $40 with tip and tax. All in all, I think it’s worth “checking out.”