Handmade authenticity

As you drive down Stadium Boulevard, it’s easy to miss the Mexican restaurant La Tolteca, tucked away in the southeast corner of the Campus Inn building. Co-owner Carlos Hernandez says the authenticity of La Tolteca is what Columbia has been missing.

He said that almost none of the many Mexican restaurants in town serve truly authentic Mexican food.

“The food’s not the same,” he said. “I mean, it’s Mexican, but not really. The burritos have no spices.”

Hernandez credits his truly authentic Mexican food to fresh ingredients.

“I don’t buy anything in cans,” he said.

La Tolteca’s authenticity goes beyond the food. Walking into the restaurant, you are immediately immersed in a Mexican atmosphere.

Bright red walls, employee-made Mexican art and leather-covered handmade tables, chairs and booths, which Hernandez bought back from Mexico, fill the restaurant.

“The people (here) have never seen that kind of work,” Hernandez said. “They are used to plastic booths and chairs. At lunch time here, the freshly cleaned leather smells like a leather store.”

As contemporary Mexican music plays in the background, you can munch on a complementary bowl of warm chips and three types of salsa while looking at the large menu. The three salsas are a green tomato salsa, a white jalapeno and sour cream salsa and a red tomato salsa, the colors of which are meant to represent the Mexican flag.

“We’ve got everything,” Hernandez said.

The menu includes three pages of dinner choices.

For starters, you can choose from appetizers such as nachos, quesadillas or stuffed jalapenos.

If you are in the mood to try a variety of Mexican foods, 25 different combinations, including tacos, enchiladas, chalupas, burritos and tamales, are available from $6.50 to $6.75.

If you want more options, you can build your own three-item combination for $8.50.

According to Michael Angel, a waiter at La Tolteca, fajitas are one of the customers’ favorite dishes.

“They ask a lot for them,” Angel said.

Besides fajitas, other house specials include: burritos carnitas, two burritos filled with pork tips; tacos pescado, three tacos filled with grilled fish; and quesadilla ranchera, a 10-inch flour tortilla stuffed with beef steak.

If none of those dishes suit your taste, you can choose from several beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or vegetarian delights.

“People come here and can order anything,” said Luis Hernandez, Carlos Hernandez’s brother and manager of La Tolteca.

And if you are still hungry after dinner, La Tolteca offers several desserts, including Mexican fried ice cream; flan, a Mexican custard; and ice cream tacos.

Angel said customers usually share when they order dessert.

“I think that the meals are so huge that there is no space for dessert,” he said.

Besides food, La Tolteca also offers a variety of bebidas, or beverages.

According to Angel, Corona is the most popular Mexican beer, or cerveza Mexicana, served there. Margaritas, though, are the customers’ favorite drinks, Angel said.

On Tuesday and Thursday, La Tolteca offers $8.99 pitchers, and on Wednesday, a 12-ounce margarita is $1.25.

“I notice that we have some customers that just come on the special days to just drink margaritas,” Angel said.

Hernandez said the restaurant, which opened nine months ago, is growing slowly.

“I think it’s getting better and better, but very slowly,” Angel said. “I think it’s a very hidden place, so very little people from Missouri really know about this place.”

Angel, a professional painter, just completed an airbrushed mural of a Yucatan pyramid on the restaurant’s back wall.

Angel said the restaurant now needs to focus on advertising.

“I think these guys need some more resources of advertisement so the people can know that this is a great place to be and a great place to have a meal,” he said.

Steven Gosik contributed to this story.