by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Is La Noparela the best Mexican food in town? Most of Jacksonville certainly thinks so. I can’t say that it’s the best Mexican I’ve ever had, but for the price and quantity of food, it is the best Mexican food in Jacksonville.
The restaurant has several locations in and around the city, but the original is located in San Marco. I’ve sampled the food at the Mandarin locale as well, and from everyone I’ve spoken to, the food seems to be fairly consistent from location to location, though some regulars will swear by their particular location.
The San Marco location looks like a hole in the wall joint, and it is—despite the fact that the place has three good sized dining areas. The outside is decorated with painting of faded maracas. While inside, ceiling panels look in danger of perhaps falling on the heads of patrons, with bits of pink insulation peeking out from between them. Surprisingly there is a nice-looking bar in blonde wood. The walls are painted with some sort of marbling effect, the better to emulate adobe walls, even across wiring pipes. Amateur murals meant to be faux windows looking out at some tropical scene provide relief from the paint. Banners from every known beer company (and some unknown) festoon the room, crisscrossing for a fiesta effect. As the waitstaff serves the busy crowd, they instinctively step aside or duck to avoid a large inflatable beer can, which hangs low suspended from the ceiling. Newer locations, like the one in Mandarin, might have the beer banners and cleaner floors, but they don’t have the genuine, aged neighborhood charm of the La Nopalera in San Marco.
I’ve never been to a La Nopalera in Jacksonville that wasn’t packed with people. Jacksonville dearly loves La Nopalera. On any given day you’ll see suited businessmen, entire families, groups of middle aged women indulging in cheap (but strong) Margaritas, church groups and the occasional cadre of young goth-punks, complete with tri-colored hair and piercings. They have fiercely loyal regulars, who know the servers by name and eat there sometimes twice a week. Transplants from the Southwest, who crave the real deal, are often among these regulars.
The food is simple and lightly spiced. If you want more kick to your food, ask for extra hot sauce or salsa when you order. Servers quickly bring warm corn chips and fresh salsa to your table. You can stick with the cheap stuff and still get a full plate (lunch specials run from under $5 to about $7), but I’d recommend the Fajita Nachos, which come in at just over $10. The ground beef tacos, lightly spiced, are extra tasty, and the fluffy tortillas are perfectly genuine. I’ve found the chicken fillings to be the most inconsistent item, sometimes flawlessly tender but other times overcooked. Ask for the pork tacos and you won’t be disappointed.
La Nopalera isn’t chiefly known for their service. That’s not to say that the waiters are discourteous, just very, very busy. If you’re a fussy patron and you want extras, it’s best that you ask for them when you first see your waiter. They smartly keep the tables stocked with extra napkins, so you’ll never have to ask for those. The food comes out fairly quickly, and it’s always hot, but if you want to vary from the menu communicating with your server can be difficult as some of the servers are actually Mexican. It’s a small price to pay for some of the best and cheapest Mexican food you’ll find in Jacksonville.
Everyone raves about how genuine the food is and it’s true, there is more authentic bent to it than most of the standard Tex-Mex food you can find, but it does cater to an American palate as well. It’s a damn decent balance of what Americans crave (like cheese) and genuine Mexican food. If you haven’t been to La Noparela and you’re a fan of Mexican, it’s time to discover what most Jacksonville natives already know.
Even in a place that isn’t especially known for their desserts, I always have to venture the dessert menu, and the flan at La Nopalera is especially spectacular. When American restaurants try to make flan, it’s often too sweet and not solid enough in texture, more like crème brulee than it should be. But when I ate the flan at La Nopalera, I was transported back to Miami, to custard memories at small Cuban cafés. Save room for dessert, and savor the moment.
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