Cordial casa

Sometimes friendly service makes all the difference. La Posada Real has pretty good food, but what’s really nice about the place is the smiling, welcoming, “How is everything?” attitude of the staff. I’d only been there 15 minutes before I felt like a regular.

The hostess, our busser, our waitress, a bartender and one of the owners all stopped by our table to say hello and ask if we needed anything. It might just be because the place is new, but they seemed genuinely excited to have us as customers.

The front cover of the menu features a nativity scene. I don’t really have an opinion about this one way or the other, but figure it’s a fact worth noting.

I had El Marranito ($11.25) a big plate of carnitas pork with rice and beans, tortillas and guacamole. I was intrigued by the vague description of the meat prepared in “a special way.” My dining partner Sara had the Cancun fish tacos ($9.95): a couple of mahi mahi tacos served with, no surprise here, rice and beans.

I didn’t really care for my dish. The “special way” of preparation made the meat dry and flavorless. But Sara’s fish tacos were good, and both the salsa and guacamole were impressive, so I might just have made a selection that wasn’t to my taste. I’m going to blame this on Sara. The selection of fish tacos prompted her to show me pictures from her recent visit to an aquarium. Her giddiness at the “cuteness” of various fish, all the while plotting to consume their brethren struck as perverse and prevented me from properly perusing the menu.

A couple small complaints: They were playing music in the barroom but not the dining area, so you could just barely hear it, which was annoying. And they have really nice hanging lights that would make for a nice ambience if they weren’t accompanied by jarring, oppressive ceiling lights. But if the worst thing about a place is the lighting, it really can’t be all that bad.

The servings come out quick and huge, which is great when you’re hungry. We were stuffed silly and still had enough left over to need a take-home box. But I perk up at the words “ice cream” like a puppy at the jangle of the walking collar and had to order the fried ice cream ($4.95). We only made it halfway through, and then I put the ice cream in the same box as the rest of the food. When I got home, I just put the whole thing in my refrigerator, so the ice cream melted and soaked the pork and beans. When I discovered this the next day, I dropped the whole mess on the floor in a fit of revulsion. So, unfortunately, I can’t give a report on how the food tastes the next day.

Overall, this place is fair, but the friendliness of the staff knocks it up a notch. With a couple of minor kinks ironed out, the place will be a nearly perfect spot to drink a few margaritas too many.