Let's tacobout M(mmmm)exican food in the 405

This news is served with Free Queso!

Last week we had a lot of news related to Asian cuisine, this week we’re talking Tex-Mex, err Okie-Mex. (Just doesn’t have a ring to it, does it?)

A legendary name in local-Mex left the 405 diningscape recently, but first some movement.

84 Hospitality announced Monday that it had sold Rev Mex (previously Revolucion) to Shared Plate Hospitality, which operates Social Deck and Dining and the Plaza District’s Aurora Breakfast Bar.

Shared Plate principles Jamie and Jordan Winteroth have already taken the reins, and Rev Mex never closed its doors. Jamie said she and Jordan have no immediate plans for change, but will no doubt make adjustments in time.

"As 84 Hospitality Group continues to grow and evolve it is with excitement that we turn over the reins of Rev Mex to long-time friends and fantastic operators, Jamie and Jordan Winteroth,” said 84 Hospitality Group Founder and CEO Rachel Cope via press release. “I personally am excited to watch them give Rev Mex the love and attention it deserves as we focus on the expansion of Empire, Burger Punk, and Remix Ramen. Many margaritas will be had over the next several years supporting Jamie and Jordan and supporting our former concept.”

Rev Mex originally opened as Revolucion in 2017. It was 84 Hospitality’s third addition to the market. Originally inspired by taqueria and cantina vibes, with the name shortening came a move toward Tex-Mex staples. The loss of the cochinita pibil tostadas a few years ago remain an open wound. Rev’s neon cactus has its own following on Instagram. Here’s hoping Jamie and Jordan can make its next chapter flourish.

Taco Empire, the popular food truck that’s been slinging its tacos with quesabirria and tortas for about a year on North May Avenue will soon go bricks and mortar at 7000 NW 122nd St., suite E. This suddenly white-hot far northwest corner of the city is my old neighborhood. There were no taquerias in my day, but we’ll always have memories of Tsubaki Sushi, HD’s Onion Burgers and Fortune Chinese Restaurant.

On June 17, we said goodbye to the last Alvarado’s Mexican Restaurant in the 405. The Edmond location’s end preceded that of the Alvarado’s in south Oklahoma City, which closed during the pandemic.

Luis Alvarado might not have been the first person to sell Mexican food in Oklahoma City, but he made it a thing. In 1937 he opened El Charro but ultimately captured the city with Cafe El Charrito, specifically the location in the Paseo Arts District. That place on the hilltop was iconic and the Alvarado family dominated local Mexican food for decades.

Alvarado’s wife, Maria, was a member of the Cuellar family in Dallas. The Cuellars founded El Chico in 1940, but it only succeeded after Luis and Maria showed them the way. The Cuellars had no problem selling their mother’s famous tamales from carts and at festivals during the 1930s but failed in their attempts at restaurants. Luis got some practical education working at El Fenix during that time before choosing Oklahoma City to open his own restaurant.

After World War II, Maria's brother Willie Jack moved to Oklahoma City to operate one of their El Charrito locations. That experience helped the Cuellars with expansion of El Chico.

In 1967, El Charrito merged with El Chico. Soon after, the company was sold, and it has changed hands multiple times since. Losing the last Alvarado’s felt like the closing of a chapter; however, there is still at least one link to Luis’s local legacy.

Casa de Los Milagros, 5111 N Classen Blvd., is owned by Julian Gonzalez Jr., grand-nephew of Luis Alvarad. A mural of the family tree of Mexican restaurants adorns its walls.

Mexican restaurants have evolved since Luis and Maria opened El Charro. Nowadays, taquerias are as common as the places that serve chips and salsa with a bowl of free queso. Even Queso Fundido can be found.

And that takes us to Oklahoma’s weird tradition of giving away a ramekin of melted processed cheese mixed with chicken broth and a few veggies. I don’t believe it started with El Charrito; more likely a competitor.

Oklahomans have enjoyed free queso so long, it’s part of our foodways. Doubt you’ve been to a tailgate or watch party that didn’t included Velveeta melted with Ro-Tel. It’s all made me a little anti-queso because its kept our queso from getting innovative. Seems counterintuitive to spend time or money improving something you give away for free.

It’s enough to drive me to poetry. Or at least a pome.

Free Queso!

O, Queso

OK, so,

there is no such thing as free queso

Let the cheese sing,

let the chefs thrive,

let flavors ring

chiles, come alive!

Double-dipping chips

Is worth any price

If my discipline slips

I’m apt to dip thrice

A place with free queso

It occurs to me

Is a place where queso

can never truly be free

Look for “Free Queso!” T-shirts when the Foodiciary merch store opens some day. Here’s a recipe from the Made in Oklahoma Coalition for queso that isn’t quite freed, but it’s getting there.

Cowboy Queso

• 1 small onion, diced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/2 pound Greer’s Ranch House Sausage

• 1 can Stonecloud Brewing Co. Neon Sunshine

• 2 pounds deli white American cheese, sliced or Velveeta cheese

• 1 (14.5-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes

• 1/2 cup Sixth Day Snacks Salsa

• 1/2 cup Sixth Day Snacks sliced, pickled jalapeno peppers

• 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 1/4 cup Scissortail Farms cilantro, chopped

Sauté onion, garlic and sausage until sausage is browned and onion is tender. Drain any grease, and place mixture in a four-quart slow cooker.

Add beer, sliced cheese, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, black beans, cumin and salt and pepper. Cook on high for 2 hours. Stir, checking to see if cheese is melted. Stir in cilantro.

Switch slow cooker to warm. Serve with tortilla chips. Top with red onion and cilantro to serve.

SOURCE: The Made in Oklahoma Coalition