Wait, so you’ve never dined in a restaurant featuring a wall-mounted display of tiny skulls? Well, you need to address that immediately—or as soon as you can get to The Mexican STL (9615 Watson, Crestwood).
Mini-skull displays aside, the draw here is best described as “very upscale Mexican fare.” Monkeying around with Mexican cuisine to make it whatever is Spanish for avant garde has long been popular. Mostly, it comes out like putting makeup on a pig—the pork tastes lovely, but lipstick doesn’t really do anything to enhance it. The Mexican STL charts a different course, respecting the basic elements of the cucina but presenting them in a new, refreshing light.
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The Mexican STL is part of the same fleet as Twisted Tree and Twisted Tavern. If you’re hosting dinner for a large group, this place will be suitable: Nearly 370 bottoms can find seats here across four dining areas with two bars. The separate dining areas are meant to convey a quartet of atmospheres. There’s a patio with giant hangar doors. A more formal room is adjacent, with cool lighting that looks like legions of spaceships are landing. An indoor bar, which our server said is called “The Palacio,” includes more intimate seating, as well as a private dining room. All of it is comfortable, with a happy mix of couples, groups, and families. The weirdly backlit skulls that decorate the entrance are apparently a tribute to the Aztecs.
The salsa that arrives when you’re seated hits your palate perfectly. It’s multilayered, campfire-redolent with the spike of charred poblanos, undercut with a bright, tomatoey sweetness. It’s absolutely the best salsa we’ve dunked around here, and the dipping is done not with crispy wedges but with ticker-tape lengths of fried tortilla.
The menu is restrained; the focus is on only a few dishes. One starter is mandatory: the queso fundido. Honestly, there’s typically not a lot of “fun” in this starter—the cheese is usually greasy and fake tasting. The Mexican’s version is a splendid exception that uses Oaxaca cheese. Think of a richer, saltier mozzarella that’s as wonderfully stringy and gooey as a Mexican soap opera plot. The cheese is topped with spicy nibbles of chorizo and charred poblanos, which add so much to the food here. Instead of the usual chips, the cheese dip comes with corn masa tortillas.
Not ordering the guacamole is a serious error. A hefty bowl is loaded with a combination of mashed avocado, onions, and cilantro. It’s absolutely creamy smooth delectable.
Four seared knobs of sea scallops share a plate with grilled shrimp and thick slices of onions and red and green peppers, all spackled with a chile-spiced zarandeado sauce in the “Surf & Surf”—a standout among the main courses.
Oaxaca is to mole what buffets are to Vegas. The painstakingly assembled sauce defines any place that serves it, so it’s surprising that The Mexican only offers a single mole dish. It’s successful, though: A grande slab of short rib is wrapped in a banana leaf and braised to a moist, flaky beefiness that concentrates the flavor. The house mole has a dark, extravagant succulence that magically transforms chocolate into a savory gravy. A zigzag of lime crema lightens the richness, so the dish doesn’t veer into a cloying heaviness.
On the matter of beef, three steaks get some fancy treatment. A wagyu strip steak is marinated in a pineapple-based pastor elixir that’s usually used with pork. It’s OK but an odd way to treat wagyu. The same can be said for a wagyu flank steak marinated in tequila and lime. One is probably better off with a filet mignon, simply charcoal grilled and served with a guajillo hollandaise.
Marinating works far better with a chicken brined with tequila and brushed with a chipotle barbecue sauce.
Of the taco options—including barbacoa, asada, pork belly, and mushrooms—the shrimp-stuffed tortillas are spectacular. The shrimp are charcoal smoked, splashed with lime crema, and dressed with sliced french-fried onions. It’s swaddled in those wonderful house-made tortillas, and every bite is lovely.
Enchiladas are the other expected Mexican specialty of the house. Tortillas are plump with smoked chicken and topped with avocado slices, Oaxaca cheese, and adobo cream. Flavors and textures here combine, with the smoked chicken playing off the adobo cream.
An entire menu page is devoted to libations. Margaritas and cocktails are mixed with liquid exotica, such as “jalapeño-infused Una Vida tequila,” along with fresh fruits and stuff like “pink Himalayan sea salt.” The bar here has an impressive collection of upscale tequilas. If you’re a fan of the Twisted Tree’s Old Fashioned, it’s featured here with Buffalo Trace. Working one’s way through the catalog could be a delectable challenge.
Come for the illuminated skulls—stay for the deliciously innovative cucina.
