Monteleone’s Ristorante Italiano

3023 Gateway West
El Paso, TX
(915) 566-4320

Monteleone’s

If you have driven along Interstate 10 near downtown El Paso and wondered how a Mack truck ended up in a neighborhood next to the freeway, it is actually part of the art work that gives Monteleone’s Ristorante Italiano its unique style. This applies not only to the décor, but I have found the food to be different from anything else served in the city.

Monteleone’s recipes come from the owner’s grandmother from the Calabria region of Italy (via Pittsburgh). Everything is handmade from scratch, and the quality shows. Unlike the “red sauce” Italian restaurants, Monteleone’s uses light and healthy oils with fresh tomatoes that are served in chunks rather than a puréed sauce. I do not have firsthand knowledge of authentic Italian food, but I suspect the food here comes pretty close.

Beware of people watching you when you eat in the Mob Room

Inside the restaurant there is a gangster theme with several busts of Hollywood figures such as Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. With the restaurant being an old converted house, there are several small dining areas that used to be rooms in the house. The “Mob Room” looks like what used to be a small bedroom that now contains some of the more interesting art work as well as a real craps table and roulette wheel from Las Vegas that are now used as dining tables. I consider it a great honor to be able to eat in the Mob Room, as it is quite small with limited space. However, the food tastes just as good anywhere else within the restaurant or outside on the patio.

During the summer of 2007 the restaurant was serving what I think were Italian style hamburgers on the outdoor patio on Fridays and Saturdays (I have not tried the hamburgers, though). This is one of several promotions Monteleone’s has used to create a “fun” atmosphere, including entertainment on weekends when the restaurant first opened. I used to hear Frank Sinatra music played inside the restaurant but I do not know if this is still the practice. Anyway, I do not think Monteleone’s wants to be the type of Italian restaurant with dark lighting where you are paying for the atmosphere more than the food. Instead, it is a good place to enjoy yourself, talk to other patrons if you feel like it, and most of all to enjoy some very good Italian food.

The food seems to be enjoyable in its simplicity. I really do not know how difficult it is to prepare this type of food, but it seems to be just basic ingredients put together in a combination you would expect to find in Italian food. Judging from how few other restaurants match the flavor found at Monteleone’s, though, it must be more difficult to prepare this type of food than it seems. Everything tastes as if it is freshly prepared, with top quality cheese, vegetables, and other ingredients being used.

The restaurant has a small menu with limited vegetarian choices, and for a while this led me to make infrequent visits. However, Gary the owner says other dishes can be made with advanced notice (if you call him several hours ahead of time) such as spinach lasagna or chicken cacciatore. Chicken parmigiana, one of my favorite meat dishes, can also be prepared. I think it would probably be worth the effort to call ahead for one of your favorite dishes, although I have yet to have had the foresight to do so.

Salads and Appetizers

Salad

A fresh romaine lettuce Salad comes with the dinners, and is a welcome change from the ones at other restaurants that are made with iceberg lettuce. Italian dressing is not made in the restaurant, but I was told it was “special ordered.” In quality I thought it was equal to any I have tried in El Paso.

Italian wedding soup

Italian Wedding Soup is another appetizer option, and this was good as well. I thought the soup was a little salty, but it tasted home made.

Pasta Dishes

Tortiglioni with zucchini

Tortiglioni with Zucchini, the only vegetarian entrée on the menu, is definitely something that has not been disappointing. This penne pasta dish has a light sauce with fresh tomatoes, as opposed to a puréed tomato sauce found in the “red sauce” restaurants. The cheese has been excellent, and I have enjoyed everything about it except that it is the only vegetarian dish on the menu. I do like meat dishes, but it is so hard to find vegetarian meals of the quality served at Monteleone’s that I like to take advantage of the opportunity whenever possible. The tortiglioni even passed my “refrigerator” test when I took home some leftovers and they did not smell up the refrigerator with a garlic odor. I would have to say that not overwhelming the dish with garlic is probably one of its secrets.

Fresh rolls used to be served with olive oil, but now come with butter. They are still good, though.

Pizza
The Pizza is a great bargain– it contains very fresh ingredients on a thin crust, and is more than enough for two people. I did not think it was as flavorful as the one at Hello Pizza, but its freshness was a definite plus.

Dessert

Spumoni

The Spumoni surprised me because it was as good as the one I remember from Sorrento’s (which I have not had in a long time but I assume it is still available). To me this is another sign of the overall excellence of Monteleone’s

A Summary
The hours have changed over time but currently the restaurant is closed Sun., Mon., and Tue. (lunch is not served on Sat.). It is now open later than it used to be, but with this type of small restaurant I suspect the hours will ultimately depend on what time customers want to come.

You do have the option of calling ahead for special orders, and this somewhat offsets the problem of the small menu. I do not mind, though, because the quality is excellent to the point that I wish I could find restaurants like this in other cities.

Prices used to be insanely cheap compared to other Italian restaurants, and now I just consider it to be competitive (especially when considering the type of ingredients they use). I do not know where they get vegetables that are fresh enough to make the food taste the way it does, since I usually do not find the same quality food in the local grocery stores.

The rear entrance is located off the alley

The best bet for finding parking is in back of the building off of the alley, but there is additional parking on nearby San Marcial Street. A handicapped space is located behind the building in the alley. The front door is on Gateway West, the frontage road for Interstate 10, located two blocks east of the Piedras exit.

RATING: 25

Cuisine: Italian
Cost: $$
Hours: Wed.-Sat. only
Accessible: Yes (parking is in back off of the alley)
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Wine

Most Recent Visit: Jan. 11, 2018
Number of Visits: 7
Best Items: Tortiglioni, Salad, Spumoni

Special Ratings

	Tortiglioni with Zucchini
	Pizza
	Salad
	Italian Wedding Soup
	Spumoni

Delicious Mexican Eatery

11335 Montwood Dr.
El Paso, TX
(915) 857-1396

Delicious Mexican Eatery on the east side

I count Delicious Mexican Eatery as one of the restaurants where everything is good, and you really can’t go wrong with anything you order. Having said that, though, I thought the enchilada was the best item on the combination plate I ordered, with everything else serving as a very good compliment to it.

For years I have thought of Delicious as being on Fort Boulevard in central El Paso (where it is still operating). It turns out that for a while they had a branch on the west side which is now closed, along with another branch in east El Paso which is still open (and is the subject of this review). From my experiences at the Fort Boulevard restaurant I always thought of Delicious as being a taco and meat item restaurant, but I have now discovered that there is a larger choice of items that are their specialties (which I like and my friends recommend as well).

Chips and Salsa

Chips and salsa

Like most restaurants in the area, Delicious has fresh chips and salsa. I thought the salsa was notable for having a fresh green chile flavor and for being spicy enough but not overly so.

Combination Plate

Combination plate

Delicious lists several choices for combination plates on the menu, but this is just a starting point. You can substitute just about anything and build your own plate. The choice is made easier because all items are visible through a glass and they serve the food on your plate buffet style (although it is not all you can eat). With the quantity they give, though, it really is all that almost anybody can eat.

I thought the best thing about the combination plate was the variety, but the best single item was the Enchilada. This was a red enchilada as is the custom at most El Paso restaurants. The sauce was bright red and more flavorful than most (to me it looked to be cumin free, as the taste demonstrated as well).

The Chile Relleno had no sauce on top and was very good except for the fact that the cheese inside was really not memorable compared to some of the others.

The Beef Flauta was very good except for the fact that I rated the guacamole as four stars.

The Chile Verde was my least favorite main item, although I still put it as five stars (showing an overall consistency in flavor and quality of the food).

The Beans were some of the best anywhere.

Other Notes
Orders are placed at the counter, and because all the food is visible through the glass this makes for a very good build-your-own combination plate.

I did not find the iced tea to be the same quality as the food, which I think was just a fluke and they were having a bad day with the tea.

They have quite a few items which I did not try, and from the Fort Boulevard location I know that they are good on tacos and other meat items.

RATING: 23

Mexican Food Details

Chile Index:
Cooking Oil:	N/A

 

Special Ratings

	Enchilada
	Chile Relleno
	Flautas
	Chile Verde
	Beans
	Chips
	Salsa

Marina’s German Bakery

2033 Trawood Dr.
El Paso, TX
(915) 591-3737

Marina’s German Bakery

Throughout the years Fort Bliss has had a partnership with the German Air Force to provide training and facilities for German military personnel, and this has led to better than average German food being available in El Paso. One establishment that may not be well known, though, is Marina’s German Bakery on Trawood Drive in east El Paso. The company’s web site says the bakery started out near the main entrance to Fort Bliss, but for a number of years I have known it at its present location. Marina’s produces a large amount of bread and pastries that are sold in such high volumes they sometimes run out of certain items, but everything is always fresh.

For years Marina’s main “claim to fame” was that it supplied the delicious fresh bread served in Gunther’s Edelweiss German Restaurant (which closed in 2010). I know that I really appreciate good quality bread, and the hearty freshly baked bread at Gunther’s was some of the best I have ever had.

Some of the varieties sold include Roggenbrot (light rye), Bauernbrot (farmer’s bread), Schwarzbrot (heavy rye), Simonsbrot (whole grain), and others. Most of the choices reflect different proportions of rye and wheat, and are made to go with different types of meats and sandwiches. In my opinion this is the best sandwich bread in El Paso. When I go I usually buy whatever looks tempting and is available (they seem to cook the bread in smaller batches now than when they were supplying it to Gunther’s, so the best choice is probably found in the morning).

Lunch

Bratwurst

Although Marina’s is not primarily a restaurant, it does serve Bratwurst at lunch along with side dishes (sauerkraut, potato salad, etc.). The Bratwurst served here is similar to the ones served years ago at Smit’s Deli in northeast El Paso, although they are made by a different company. A friend of mine who used to live in Germany states that Peter’s in west El Paso uses the same quality meat and cooks it in the correct method, so this would be the choice if you could go anywhere in El Paso. Personally I am willing to overlook this difference since the mustard and buns are very good at Marina’s, and to me are almost the most important part of the sandwich. The bratwurst at Marina’s is also available to take home where you can cook it yourself if you have a preferred way of preparing it, and in this case I think either Marina’s or Peter’s will provide you with bratwurst that is just as good.

My friend also does not care much for the sauerkraut or potato salad here (supposedly the spices are not right in the sauerkraut and the potatoes are undercooked in the salad). I have not tried them so I cannot comment (the photo above is of my friend’s lunch although I did get my own sandwich).

I have found, however, that lunch plates are not the primary mission of Marina’s. They are a nice plus, though, compared to the earlier situation where bratwurst was only available on Saturdays.

Bread

Schwarzbrot

The bread here is as good as I have found anywhere for sandwiches or for eating with German food (I originally found out about Marina’s because their bread was served at the old Gunther’s Edelweiss Restaurant).

Perhaps my favorite bread is the Bauernbrot, one of the lighter ones sold. There were some rye breads served at Gunther’s that went extremely well with the meals, but the Bauernbrot is a good choice for take-home because it has a good flavor and also goes well with just about any sandwich.

When I tried the Schwarzbrot I found it to be very dense, and it is one of my least favorite breads here. It is still very good, though, with German meals (which unfortunately I do not know how to cook at my house).

Pastries

Display case of cookies

While the pastries are also very good, they differ from the bread in that I believe there are a number of other stores that sell ones of similar quality (while it is difficult to find bread that is in the same league as Marina’s). The above photo shows the variety of cookies that are sold, and I found that my favorites are the chocolate.

Display case of pastries

There is another display case for other types of pastries. Although El Paso is a city that seems to be filled with pastry shops, these are some of the few that have a European flavor (they are generally less sweet and rely on just a few ingredients such as the whipped cream that seems to be used in a number of items).

Apple strudel

One of my favorite pastries here is the Apple Strudel, which I found to be very flavorful.

Black forest and cookies

The cookies are excellent, but at about 75 cents apiece I cannot afford to load up with them as I would like to do.

For Black Forest I prefer the one at Peter’s, mainly because of the cherry filling that has a very nice liqueur flavor at Peter’s. I still think the one here is good, though.

Drinks
This is not really a restaurant and does not serve beer (I do not think they even have iced tea). They do have soft drinks, though, along with water which you can have with a bratwurst or pastry.

Other Comments
When I went to Marina’s in 2018 I found that the management had changed (this is understandable since the store has been in operation since 1956). I do not think any of the items I tried were different than before. It did seem, though, that they now carry a smaller stock of bread and some of the varieties I would like to try were not available in the afternoon.

This has nothing to do with Marina’s, but I hope another full service German restaurant like Gunther’s will someday open up so that more people can experience Marina’s bread (which will hopefully be supplied as before) along with an excellent German meal.

RATING: N/R

Cuisine: Bakery
Cost: N/A
Hours: Closed Sun.
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: No

Most Recent Visit: Jan. 8, 2018
Number of Visits: N/A
Best Items: Bratwurst, Bauernbrot, Apple Strudel, Chocolate Cookies

Special Ratings

	Bratwurst
	Bauernbrot
	Schwarzbrot
	Apple Strudel
	Chocolate Cookies
	Black Forest

Villa del Mar on Interstate 10

For years Villa del Mar has been a popular destination in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico for locals and people crossing the border from El Paso. Known for its “Boquilla bass” (fresh water bass caught from the Boquilla Lake in Mexico) and other seafood items such as shrimp and oysters, it has always been fresher and better prepared than just about any seafood place in the borderland.

Villa del Mar is actually one of my long time favorite restaurants, even though I only ate at the El Paso location for the first time in 2005 (it is located on the frontage road to I-10–take the Yarbrough exit on the east side of town). The original Boquilla bass is long gone, I think both in El Paso and in Juárez. I have heard that the lake is now contaminated, but I don’t know the full story.

The large dining room with TV screens and a bar area

I am impressed, though, that Villa del Mar continues to look for sources of fresh tasting fish, and there are not only more choices available now, but they seem to be better. Just as in the early days when Villa del Mar found good sources of fish that most other restaurants did not serve, I also think the same is true today.

Villa del Mar used to serve whole fish using both bass (that I think was farm raised) and snapper. They now use tilapia from China for the fillets, but I am not sure if this includes the several styles of whole mojarra fish on the menu (Wikipedia explains mojarra as several types of shallow water fish including tilapia).

I don’t know… after a meal I had in Matamoros, Mexico on the Gulf coast I don’t think anything in the desert could ever come close to that experience. However, I do enjoy the fillets at Villa del Mar. The concept of the food here seems to be that they will use whatever is the freshest.

One waiter indicated to me that the fillet is now their highest quality fish rather than the whole fish, but I am sure it is best to ask any time you go. I know I certainly have had good results ordering the fillet.

Freebies

Fish soup and salad come free with dinners

A salad comes with dinners, and it is hard to complain about anything that is free. I did enjoy it, though, especially because of the dressing.

The Fish Soup was outstanding, though, and was also free with the dinner.

Chips and salsa are excellent

The Chips and Salsa are excellent (but I like the regular salsa better than the pico de gallo style).

Appetizers

Fish ceviche

The Fish Ceviche is one of several choices from the appetizer menu. This had good fish, but I did not think the ceviche came off quite as well as others I have tried. I recommend the half order as an appetizer, but for a meal I would go with the fish or shrimp dinners rather than a full order of ceviche.

Shrimp quesadilla

The Shrimp Quesadilla makes a flavorful appetizer, although appetizers are usually the idea of my dining companions because I get quite full from the meal itself.

Filete Veracruzano

Filete veracruzano

The Filete Veracruzano has traditionally been one of my favorites that I order at different restaurants. Many times the topping covers up the taste of a less than premium fish. Here, though, the fish not only tasted fresh, but the tomato, celery, and olive topping was one of the best, if not the best, I have had in El Paso. Although this is not a spicy dish, the olives, tomatoes and other ingredients make it interesting.

Lemon Pepper Fillet

Lemon pepper fillet

The Lemon Pepper Fillet had a great breading that brought out the flavor of the fish, and was very well prepared. It came in a large serving that was very satisfying, but not expensive compared to other restaurants.

Filete Diabla

Filete diabla

At other restaurants I have enjoyed the Filete Diabla with a spicy chipotle sauce, but I found the one here to be a bit overwhelming in the spiciness. It was also a bit surprising considering that the other fillets I have tried have been markedly on the mild side.

Side Dishes
The mashed potatoes that come with the fillet are excellent, and the rice is just there (nothing special). This is apparently the traditional way to serve Mexican style fish.

Additional Comments
It should be obvious that the fish here is not like it is in Baja California or the Gulf Coast, but they do a pretty good job for an inland seafood restaurant. The fish has a good flavor, but mostly what I like are the toppings and side dishes that come with it.

I particularly like the veracruzano style fish here because it seems to be very traditional and in my mind sets the standard for the way it should be done.

This restaurant is actually Villa del Mar #2–the original is in Ciudad Juárez, and a third is now open on Mesa Street in west El Paso.

RATING: 23

Mexican Food Details

Chile Index:
Cooking Oil:	N/A

 

Special Ratings

	Filete Veracruzano
	Lemon Pepper Fillet
	Filete Diabla
	Shrimp Quesadilla
	Fish Ceviche
	Fish Soup
	Salad
	Chips
	Salsa
	Pico de Gallo