Teddy Bear tacos meet food tears
La Nopalera Mexican Restaurant of Orange Park, FL has the most exquisite authentic Mexican food you'll ever taste. Family recipes, huge serving sizes, and friendly services will make it a tremendous experience for me and the entire community. Plus, for the portion sizes you get makes it appear that you most definitely get your moneys worth. They were the winner of the award "The 2015 Best Mexican Restaurant" from Bold City Best in Northeast Florida - Florida Times.
When you enter the building, you can feel the sense of atmosphere, not so much as “Mexican’ but Aztecan”. The cultural theme was in full effect. You can see this establishment was well invested in community sponsorship from local to discounts to those involved in health services and first responders. The smell in the air was infectious. It was the kind of smell that provoked the feeling of a fun exploration with your family, but hit you like the back of mama’s hand after trouble. Like most restaurants, there was a nice young lady to greet customers with customers with a smile that reeked of deceptions and delight, like a mermaid luring a pirate ship to the rocks. She politely ask how many was in the party and proceeded to seat me and my 4 other friends accordingly.
Before the waiter arrived to take our orders, I made my way to a small gathering of young people enjoying the fresh helpings of latin cuisine. The party looked to be people in their early twenties made up of 2 guys and three girls. I introduced myself as Jonathan melancon, and UNF student looking to conduct a brief review of La Nopolera. One of the girls were gracious enough to answer some brief questions about the restaurant. She told me she goes by Alex.
· How did you come across La Nopolera?
o I grew up here in Orange park. I’ve eating here for about 10 years and I graduated from Orange Park High. They originally were in the smaller building just two minutes down kingsley avenue. Im honestly obsessed with this place!
· What is your favorite dish that you order since you’ve been here for a decade?
o Honestly, I don’t have a favorite dish. What I order depends on my mood.
· What did you decide on today to eat?
o I decided to order the bisteak and peppers. This places cooks THE BEST grilled veggies and my boyfriend tends to finish what I don’t! Plus it comes down really well with a pina colada!
I returned to my party anxiously awaiting to browse through the menu and decide on something that soothes me and me diet. I recalled that Alex mentioned her fascination with the grilled veggies so I decided to order a dish I believed to suit me well. It was called the fajita nachos. A full order of corn chips with grilled onions, green and red peppers, green onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, shrimp, chicken, and marinated steak doused and coated in the house queso that brings the shine to a pallet like an early Sunday morning carwash. I don’t know if me not eating anything that full day had anything to do with the emotion I was experiencing after the first bite, but I could swear I could hear someone singing “Ave Maria’’ over mariachi trumpets. I couldn’t decide whether to cry like Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happiness” or play it cool like Humphrey Bogart in “Casa Blanca”, so I settled for the Owen Wilson “WOW’. Before I knew it I was completely done with the dish.
I wanted to meet the chef of the restaurant the language barrier was in full effect. The manager refused to take a picture with me due to the combination of not trusting the legitimacy of my assignment and recent news inquiries of one of their sister restaurants making it into the news as a recently.
Despite my failure to get an interview with the manager or chef, I till enjoyed my night. I left with my account barely touched, belly full, and a face full of smiles like an oversized rich guy on antidepressants. I recommend La Nopolera to anyone that wishes to enjoy the same experience on a budget. Even though I was denied an audience, I still commend them on getting involved with community events and sponsoring local sports teams. To me, they proved that they’re not just a business, they’re family.
