Efrains Restaurant
Chicken Chimichanga
I will admit right up front that I have visited Efrain's Mexican restaurants more than any other eatery of any kind, EVER, and there's a reason... the food. Delicious homestyle baked dishes are served up on Fiestaware-style ceramic plates hotter than Ecuadorian goats in a habanero pepper patch. While individually owned & operated, there are actually 3 Efrain's locations in Boulder, Lafayette & Longmont, CO. I have been to all locations multiple times over the years and the menus & recipes are very similar, with only minor differences.
My favorite dish, by far, is the Chicken Chimichanga. A single perfectly-sized deep fried tortilla pillow is filled with savory all white meat chicken simmered in herbs & spices then smothered with tender pork chile verde & cheese. The fantastic chile verde is homemade using fresh chiles so, depending on the season, it can be moderately spicy, pretty darn hot, or burn your face off in the best way possible—more then often it's somewhere in the middle. If you really love chile verde, order the "taste of chile verde" which comes in a tiny side bowl and the perfect amount in case the cook is a little stingy that day.
The dish comes with a choice of small salad or rice & beans. I say, "Go for the rice & refried beans." The beans' texture & consistency are almost always spot on and the melted cheese on top makes them even better with its crispy edges. The whole gastro-symphonic dish comes to a crescendo of flavor when its finished to perfection with a generous scoop of cold whole milk sour cream paired with another generous scoop of very good homemade guacamole.
One thing I can promise is that you will NOT go home hungry and like me, if you find the right dishes, Efrain's may become one of your favorite Mexican restaurants of all time.
