I pay a fair amount of attention to Mexican cuisine, or as I often say with an annoying and pretentious accent, “La Cocina Mexicana.” In our own backyard (all over North Charleston) lies an abundance of good, simple, real Mexican food. Sal Parco’s most recent venture, Uno Mas, attempts to recreate this food with upscale ingredients and ambience. At first glance–and to be fair I’ve only eaten at Uno Mas once since it recently opened–the food is really no better than what you can find in North Charleston (and in some cases much worse), only it is served to you by a guayabera clad waitron while Cuban music plays. I can forgive this intransigence because it exists everywhere. But imagine finding an American restaurant in Japan that serves American food but plays Irish Folk Songs and requires its staff to wear riverdance costumes. Though the irony may seem unimportant, it becomes hard to take such a place seriously (even if it is funny irony). Come to think of it, Taco Boy commits the same crime. I swear, it’s everywhere.
I like Uno Mas more for what it isn’t than for what it is. The menu is very unconfused–no stupid Asian Fusion on its periphery, no annoying Tex Mex dishes like fajitas or extreme burritos, and overall a pretty good sense of identity. However, for all of its authenticity, the menu’s items are pretty insipid and lifeless. I tried the taco sampler which features six of the meats also found on the entree list. While nothing was strikingly bad, nothing was strikingly great. The stewed meats lacked the rich confit fattiness of great carnitas or al pastor meat while the seafood, although fresh, did not seem to be anything more than just cooked. Of all the nice chiles mentioned on the menu–Ancho, Pasilla, Guajillo…none really popped or added any of that fruity, smoky richness characteristic of proper chile manipulation (might I suggest quickly toasting the dried chiles over open flame to release their flavors). The black beans were undersalted and tasteless and should be refried or at least mashed a bit—whole black beans are Yucatecan and/or Caribbean and do not match the rest of the menu.
Parco’s model for restaurants, judging by those that have preceded this one–Mustard Seed, Sette, Boulevard diner…is basically to shoot for middle-priced, good, accessible food. To this end, he has always succeeded and does so again. Uno Mas is not Rick Bayless’s Frontera Grill (Chicago) which does a great job with its treatment of upscale Mexican cocina (Bayless has a formidable collection of cookbooks and you’ve probably seen his frontera brand salsas in the supermarket). It is definitely not one of the Mexico D. F. classics (check out this recent Bittman piece in the NY times: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/travel/28Choice.html). But I guess that is not the point…
Maybe Uno Mas doesn’t deserve to be thrown in the same pool with really serious Mexican Restaurants around the country. And truthfully it isn’t in that category—it will never surprise or innovate—and that’s fine. It’s just that when it calls itself upscale I get excited that something great and new has arrived in Charleston—only to find that it really hasn’t. Oh well, they have a great tequila selection and good enough Margarita’s.
In fairness, you may have needed to be more specific in how “recent” their opening was. I would hate to be judged after being open one week!Most pro writers will give a good waiting period to be fair in both directions(good or bad) It does seem you are a reasonable person, and I can’t wait to hear about a second visit after they work out “the kinks” Happy eating, and keep the fake accent…chicks dig it!LOL
food 4 thought—I fully realize how unfair it is to judge a restaurant a few days after it opens. What I didn’t say was that I plan to visit a few more times and append my experiences to this post. That said, I would be surprised (pleasantly) if the food changes that much—and it’s not that the service lacked in any way—it was really good. But again, you are right my friend. Thanks for reading…
Why waste your “talent”, time, money and energy by judging the restaurant so early? Yes, I too get excited about a new restaurant and want to expierence it. And after getting myself hyped, i’m let down. Aren’t you a professional? And that was an great slam of the Post and Courier. I have recently eaten at Uno Mas and found the food rather delicious with the exception of the queso dip(reminded me of grits). I look forward to reading another review.
You are right about the queso! It was horrible (we said it had the consistency of grits, too). However, I do believe that this review is a little harsh. The atmosphere was charming, inviting, and fun, the waitstaff was very attentive, and the guacamole and fresh salsa were outstanding. It was an overall pleasant experience.
P.S. – they need to add more vegeatarian options. There was very little I could eat.
I have an inside scoop on Uno Mas…..although it has only been a few weeks. I believe that they have worked out some kinks. They did open with a “bang”. Who said that they were supposed to be Rick Bayless?? It takes years to get there and for that matter we are dealing with Mt Pleasant/Charleston crowd with and for the most part these folks don’t understand or appeciate good solid food. Most dishes have to be made less spicy for that reason.
I hope every one understands that the food will get there and they are not trying to be autthentic, but just trying to honor the the traditions and have a little fun. That’s what its supposed to be about any way.!
Thanks for your response, Chef.
When I complain about Uno Mas’s lack of authenticity I am also talking about your issue with whether or not people here are ready for different cuisines, though I differ from you with my response. I know that it is safer for a restaurant to make its food really accesible to its clientele and sacrifice some authenticity–and from a business standpoint it is justifiable even if I don’t like it. That said, the American palate is more open to adventure than ever before (imagine our grandparents generation going crazy for a sushi restaurant) and Charleston is sophisticated enough to accept new cuisines (If we don’t believe this we will never get anything new and exciting here).
You point out that Uno Mas is not trying to be authentic but “honor traditions and be fun.” I’m not sure if they actually look at themselves that way, and if they do, I still think that my criticism is relevant–being inauthentic is the opposite of honoring “tradition.”
Regarding being Rick Bayless, I disagree that having a place like his Frontera Grill happens after years of practice or that maybe it is altogether impossible. Bayless did his homework by traveling all over Mexico and really learning about their incredible regional food. His food is not magic and it doesn’t use ridiculous technique–he’s not making Adria-like pine fruit foam essences. The difference between Bayless and Uno Mas is that he knows how to manipulate chiles, onions, garlic, tomatillos, and so on to create something authentic and special. Uno uses a lot of the same ingredients as Frontera but that knowledge doesn’t seem to be there. Uno Mas is by no means bad, it’s just not great.
Finally, Mexican food is typically not super hot (I think that a lot of false imagery in the advertising of salsas in this country has cemented this notion in our imagination). Great Mexican food draws out the fruity, smoky flavors of the mild dried chiles and uses the clean, hot piquancy of fiery chiles like serrano and habanero to give a quick, clean heat that doesn’t cause a fire in your mouth. In my opinion, saying that Charlestonians couldn’t handle this is false and ultimately born of a total misunderstanding of the food.
I understand where you are coming from…Uno Mas is still new and I think they will work it all out. They are a bunch of young energetic guys with a passion for this cuisine and they will hit their mark. You are right in saying that most do not undrstand the food, and that’s what I was trying to say. Most people that I talked to really like the food….we need to give Uno Mas to be great. I think they will get there.
By the way, I think a trip to Mexico is in the works from my sources.
Also I heard that the chef (of Uno Mas) went to Chicago and trained with a Mexican chef so maybe he has the tools and he just has to get his stride after a “bombastic” opening. I guess stay tuned!!!
I like the food, and it definately can get better. I believe they will do it.
thanks for the inside scoop—of course I hope that they do really well and that I am proven wrong. Training in other places, especially Mexico usually portends good things. I know that they won’t be serving any chi-chi’s style food ever. And I can tell based on the menu that they want to be serious with the food—homemade corn tortillas alone prove that. I will stay optimistic thanks to what you are saying. you got any other inside scoops to share?
rotten
i had a bad lunch there just the other day, had the ceviche tuna which serves in a coconut is blend and no flavor. Chicken “torta” serves with Ciabatta bread? and breaded deep fried chicken breast. i just really confuse with what kind of cuisine they are trying to be……
Like most of your reviews, your prediction on the Post & Courier’s review of Uno Mas (“over congratulatory and under informed) was completely wrong. Read for yourself; their reviewer gives it a mediocre review for the correct reasons…unlike yourself. http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/16/uno_mas_has_energy_food_needs_tweaking/
Taco boy,
The P+C did give a fair review so I will correct that unfair jab at them–it was more of a challenge in the first place. I am happy that her review was in fact very good. However, it doesn’t really differ much from what I have said.
You should read Jeff Allen’s review which is also in line with this review and the P + C review:http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A31155
Please let me know what else you disagree on–then we can attack each other’s character.
While Uno Mas once was one of our favorite restaurants, our experience last night changed that. The food was without good flavor (skirt steak, gaucomole and fire roasted corn) and the wait of 45 minutes to get the entrees out to the table was unsatisfactory. One individual had wanted to order the stuffed pork chop, but the wait staff had warned us it would take 20-25 minutes to prepare….so we thought we were safe in ordering the skirt steak and tuna taco (while it was a favorite over past months, it has been removed from the menu–but we were happy to see it on the “specials” board) thinking that would be a shorter cook time–obviously our assumption was wrong! Horrible experience in service and so-so food quality. We won’t be back and will stop recommending this once-favorite spot to our friends and out-of-town visitors to the Holy City.
Thank you for your “pan” of Uno Mas, as usual I guess I still have no “taste” what so ever(except in my mouth). Hopefully as long as the “upper crust” like yourself don’t eat there, I might not have a problem getting a table at a wonderful “interpretation” of mexican cuisine.
Thanks!
george sidney–you are missing the point–I am not after fancy, I’m after good and authentic. If the ‘upper crust’ like myself eat at la nortena on rivers avenue, then you in the ‘lower crust’ are confused and in the wrong place.
We have been very impressed with la hacienda in mt pleasant. Fairly authentic and the food is delicious. I usually order asada tacos and they are perfect! Served with onions, cilantro and lime. They also have house made salsas and tomatillo sauce.