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Do you like cabrito, grilled over a mesquite-fired grill? Do you like an elegant place to dine? Do you like attentive, yet not intrusive staff? Then El Cazador is the place to eat, the next time you visit Nuevo Progreso, Mexico and you're in the mood for cabrito. Note that El Cazador isn't situated in Nuevo Progreso proper, as it's located just a couple of miles south of town, where Camino Nuevo Progreso joins Mexican Federal Highway 2.
Photo: Restaurant El Cazador is a couple of miles south of Nuevo Progreso. It's early Friday afternoon, September 26, 2003, and my friend Jerry Flinn and I are in the mood for cabrito for lunch.
Photo: The dining room features mounted trophies of indiginous animals. Somebody must be an avid hunter, which I find interesting, considering the draconian firearms laws that Mexico features. The first thing that greets you when you walk through the double doors of El Cazador are the mounted heads of deer, elk, racoons and other indigenous animals. There is also a large mural on one of the walls, with a woodland scene and a few deer grazing in a meadow. The folks that own this place must be hunting enthusiasts but they wouldn't "fess" up to it when questioned, in Spanish. (No English spoken here.) The second thing you'll notice ,are the delicious smells and the cleanliness of the dining room. The specialty of this restaurant is cabrito (they have other dishes as well,) so we decided to each order cabrito and salsa for $70. Jerry decided upon a Coke for $10, and I chose a Corona beer for $15. (Note: $ is the abbreviation for the Mexican peso, as well as the U.S. dollar. The exchange rate at this writing was $10.87 pesos to $1.00; do the math) Not inexpensive, but not excessive. Immediately, the server brought out a large basket of chips and a bowl of red salsa, and a bowl of green salsa. The chips aren't your store-bought generic tortilla chips; these were made in the kitchen and were crispy-fried, whole tortilla chips, each about four inches in diameter. No sooner had we begin to dig into the chips, but he brought each of us a bowl of bean soup. This bean soup was soup to die for!
Photo: The lady that greets you, seats you, busses tables, and takes your money.
Photo: Jerry and I are enjoying a delicious lunch of cabrito, along with bean soup, salsa, rice, tortillas, and more salsa. Muy sabroso! As I attempted to converse with the server in my limited Spanish, his attitude improved dramatically. That is typical of Mexicans in that if you make an attempt to speak to them in their language, no matter how bad you butcher it, they will open up to you and become very friendly. Reality started when our server brought us the main course: Cabrito, rice, a dozen freshly made, warm, corn tortillas and more salsa.
Photo: We asked for a tour of the kitchen and they gave it to us! Try getting a tour of a restaurant's kitchen north of the border... insurance concerns rule!
Photo: The spotless kitchen, with cabrito grilling over mesquite coals. The large pot has some of the best bean soup I've ever tasted simmering... yummy. Cabrito tastes very similar to lamb, although it is more tender. The cabrito we ate was basted in a light sauce, and the rice was home-cooked Mexican rice. Mere words can't describe how delicious this meal was. Definitely a five-star restaurant. When we asked for "la cuenta," we were all smiles as the price of the meal came to a mere "denny status" by U.S. standards, however we enjoyed a first-class meal.
Photo: Duiring the tour of the kitchen, I chat with some of the friendly staff members using my broken Spanish. Thanks to my friend, Jerry Flinn for taking the photo. After we finished our delicious meal, it was picture time. We took a couple of photos of the outside of the building, and then went inside to take some more. The staff was all smiles as we asked permission to enter the kitchen and take some photos. We took photos of the cabrito cooking over the wood grill, (mesquite smoked, of course) the big table in the middle where they make all the rice and beans, and the smiling staff. This is a family-run operation and they are very proud of it. And they should be: The place is clean, the food is excellent and the service is the best! This restaurant is a must visit when you're in the area. You won't regret your visit! Update: During a September, 2006 visit, we passed by El Cazador and noticed that the place was shuttered. Upon further inspection, it looked like the place had been closed for a year or so, as dust, dirt and cobwebs were everywhere. So sad... as the restaurant will be missed for the friendly faces, the grilled cabrito and the out-of-this-world bean soup. Restaurant El Cazador Copyright(c) 2003 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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