Arlington-area ‘Christmas wonderland’ restaurant coming to an end
This is the farewell Christmas season for Campo Verde Mexican Bar & Grill, and it’s time.
A series of ill-advised changes drained much of the holiday spirit from a restaurant that has been an Arlington and North Texas tradition since 1983. So it’s time to say goodbye before it changes to a different restaurant Dec. 24.
The sprawling restaurant at 2918 W. Pioneer Parkway is still covered in Christmas lights and elaborate decorations across seven rooms. It remains an attraction, an entire restaurant devoted to drawing up to 300,000 customers for its holiday decorations.
The rooms and halls are lined with LED lights, gift wrap and holiday displays, although some of the old-fashioned lights were updated in recent years. The toy train click-clacks around the ceiling, if only occasionally.
It’s still an impressive sight, although the new white interior paint covered over some of the 1980s warmth. Campo Verde now looks as much Chip-and-Joanna than candy-canes-and-Santa Claus.
Much has been written about the changes, often in scathing online reviews. Longtime customers sometimes ignore that the restaurant was already in sharp decline the last three years since it was sold by the late founder, James “Smiley” Williams.
When it comes to the food, the same advice applies as in the last couple of years:
Keep it simple.
The cheeseburger and the grilled chicken sandwich are chargrilled and just as reliable as ever. With fries, they’re less than $20 each and suitable choices for lunch or dinner.
There’s a basic cheeseburger with fries on the kids’ menu for $12, along with a queso dog or a cheese quesadilla.
Chicken tortilla soup ($8) was dark and rich, spiced with hearty chiles. It’s actually one of the better restaurant versions.
The menu also offers flashy desserts such as a RumChata liqueur cheesecake or Biscoff tres leches.
If you detour into the Tex-Mex, you’re on your own.
Tacos seem like a safe choice. Chicken enchiladas, on the other hand, came with a good stewed chicken, but the green sauce had an unexpected flavor. as if it were more cilantro than tomatillo or poblano.
This is not new.
It’s been three years since we were able to enjoy the original Campo Verde menu of basic Tex-Mex dishes and game specialties. That’s what Williams created when he opened Campo Verde restaurants after managing Fort Worth-based Dos Gringos, a forerunner of Mercado Juarez Cafe.
Campo Verde is still a good Christmas adventure for kids.
It’s just not as good as it used to be. So, next year it’ll be something else.
Campo Verde is open for lunch and dinner daily except Mondays through Dec. 24; thecampoverde.com.
