Chiloso Mexican Bistro defies the fast-casual cliches

Recently, DFW.com did a feature on several fast-casual restaurants following in the footsteps of Chipotle, itself using a cafeteria-line model with customers picking a base for their food, a protein, vegetables, sauces, yada, yada, yada.

About the time the story ran, Chiloso Mexican Bistro opened a location in the Kimball Oaks shopping center in Southlake.

Chiloso has that assembly-line system — but it also has much more.

Founded by Joe and David Balli, an uncle-nephew team with a passion for Mexican food, the small chain also has locations in Rockwall, Wylie and Richardson, and since the first location opened in 2006, the menu has evolved under the Ballis’ direction.

Much of that evolution has come from daily specials that proved so popular that they became part of a small entree menu. The breakfast menu, available till 10:30 a.m. weekdays and noon Saturday-Sunday, is slightly larger.

You can still build your own tacos/burritos/bowls/etc., but we found the entrees to be pretty intriguing. Two of the items we tried, the OMG ($9) and the grilled avocado ($10), both started as specials and earned menu slots.

The OMG is essentially a glorified quesadilla, but as glorified quesadillas go, it’s pretty glorious. Grilled and cut into fourths that look more like they came from a mega-burrito, these were stuffed with grilled chicken, creamy avocado, the expected jack cheese and a chile sauce that gave the whole thing a just-noticeable-enough punch.

Usually when a quesadilla is that stuffed, something gets lost, but this was a well-balanced blend of melted (and generous) cheese and flavorful accompaniments that allowed each ingredient to come through.

The grilled avocado, available with or without meat, topped with white cheese and cilantro, did have an appealing grill flavor. But what we really liked about it was that it was served atop a bed of queso, enough to provide a bit of spicy-cheesy goodness in every bite.

The queso itself, which we had as an appetizer on another visit, had a good consistency and a pleasant spiciness — not hall-of-fame queso, perhaps, but a worthy entry nonetheless. A “regular” order ($5) proved to be more than enough for two people, and Chiloso appears to have an endless supply of chips, so we had some pretty good leftovers at home.

Breakfast items such as egg-topped enchiladas ($9) called us back for a weekend-morning visit, especially since this dish is dubbed “Robert’s way.” Coincidentally, it is the way I like my enchiladas — with red- and green-chile sauces, and runny sunny-side-up eggs on top.

The earthy heat of the red sauce made it the highlight of this plate, but there was plenty of additional flavor from the cheese enchilada and the egg yolk. Migas ($8) were fairly traditional, but again they were atop a bed of queso — Chiloso likes its queso, and so do we — which gave the eggs a little more oomph.

Large chunks of baked potato accompanied both dishes, but we didn’t think they added much; rice and beans were also fairly standard.

Chiloso Southlake offers two desserts, a vanilla cake and a brownie ($5 each) — both grilled. The effect was most noticebale on the cake, which had a slight sear on the outside that gave it an almost-crisp exterior that gave way to a softer interior.

The cake was accompanied by whipped cream and a serrano-strawberry sauce, although there wasn’t much serrano heat. The strawberry part did its job very well. The brownie had less flash to it, but it’s still pretty hard to ignore an even unflashy brownie.

Both servings, while not as large as the megaliths you get in some restaurants, were big enough to share.

As noted, chips are plentiful, although they are somewhat oddly served in portioned brown-paper bags available at the counter. Chiloso offers several complimentary sauces and salsas; we went with the tomatillo-based verde and the pequin-based enojada, aka “Angry Salsa,” both of which had impressive kicks, although we preferred the dusky enojada more.

Although the photos accompanying this review, and the photos on Chiloso’s website, show dishes served on Fiesta dinnerware-style plates, in the restaurant everything came in pie tins or plastic cups. That includes a small selection of cocktails, handmade from liquor and liqueur bottles by the register.

The restaurant is fast-casual, but it feels less fast-foody than some other fast-casual restaurants, with a spacious, modern layout (and a small flower vase on every table — nice touch). The room is cheerily bright during the daytime, with classic-rock music at an almost-unnoticeable volume.

Considering the crowds at some other taco places, the near-serenity of Chiloso is a welcome addition.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Chiloso Mexican Bistro defies the fast-casual cliches."