El Charro

El Charro in Fredericksburg VA has been one of my favorite restaurants for 30 years so when I saw the sign on Main St in Sumner, I was very excited. As we drove up, we could tell this is popular with the locals because they were voting with their tires in the parking lot.

We arrived earlier than usual, about 5:30 PM, but things were already hopping. It was mostly an older crowd.

The salsa service was fine, a nice sauce, but the water glasses were teeny. Compare and contrast that with Margaritas at Emerald Downs that brings a pitcher of water to the table. We ordered; I had the chicken enchildas, Kathy ordered Pollo la crema. Both the menu and entrees were OK, not exceptional.

Service was minimal. I can't find my receipt, but when I went up to the payment counter, I remember thinking that for what you get, it is just a shade high.

The purpose of this research project is that we are considering buying or leasing some commercial property and starting a business in Sumner over the next few years. Even though I have worked in a number of restaurants and am a fairly well known private chef on Kauai, I don't want to open a restaurant because it is such hard work. El Charro has settled on a path of targeting the lower end. Nothing wrong with that, Sumner needs affordable choices. But you have to wonder if something a little higher end like the chain Margaritas or something modeled after Frida's in Anacortes would quickly grab market share and increase profits for the owner. One thing I would consider doing is hooking up with a source for Mexican original paintings, hang them on the walls and put a price on them.

Update: November 6, 2012. Flavio Ramos and his son Flavio Jr were working the restaurant. We came even earlier and since it was a Tuesday, we virtually had the place to ourselves. Flavio Jr. made some recommendations, including a vegetarian enchilada that is his own creation. Kathy tried it and loved it. I had the steak ala diablo, it was great. And the kicker? Flavio is selling his restaurant and business. It is not time for us to take on a business, but it is a nice building and the restaurant is laid out very efficiently.