Carolyn Fath
Fresh salads, spicy elotes and sweet yogurt drinks are favories at La Nopalero.
Part market, part counter service eatery, La Nopalera is nothing fancy — inside or out. But as is often the case, that means the focus is on the food. This little Mexican spot that opened recently across Schroeder Road from Vitense Golfland doesn’t have a big menu full of tacos, tamales and burritos — there’s none of that here. Instead, it focuses on Mexican sandwiches, fresh fruit creations and sweet yogurts.
Owner Hugo Galvan, who runs the business alongside his wife, Karina, and mother-in-law, Maria Eugenia Escajadillo, is clearly dedicated and invested in making his customers happy. He was there every time I visited, preparing food, serving dishes and staffing the cash register. His family’s genuinely friendly customer service and fresh, made-to-order food are what will keep bringing customers back to La Nopalera.
The menu is modest, but offers just enough of a selection. The main entrees are tortas, and they’re simple, rich and satisfying. A bolillo, an oval-shaped bun with a crunchy crust and beautifully soft interior, encases the fillings. Customers choose from ham, chicken breast, tuna or, interestingly, a hot dog, with add-ons including queso fresco, lettuce, tomato, onions, avocados and mayonnaise. The chicken was especially juicy.
Another great sandwich-like choice is the sincronizada, similar to a quesadilla. (Sources differ on exactly what makes it a sincronizada — whether it’s the use of ham, the use of a corn tortilla or using two tortillas, instead of one that’s folded). Here, two flour tortillas envelop melted Chihuahua cheese, ham, avocado, shredded lettuce, chipotle sauce and pickled jalapenos. The only improvement I would suggest here is to offer fresh jalapenos for more of a kick. According to its Facebook page, the restaurant will soon be offering sincronizada made with gluten-free corn tortillas as well.
Salads are large, with chopped romaine, chunks of avocado, wedges of tomato, sliced cucumber, strips of cactus and a chipotle ranch dressing. I loved that there were generous portions of everything, especially the avocado, and the dressing was tasty and a nice break from standard ranch. You can choose chicken or tuna instead of the cactus, but how often do you get to enjoy cactus on a salad?
The highlight was the elote, spicy style. Freshly shucked corn comes lathered in butter and mayonnaise, sprinkled with crumbled queso fresco and tajin, a Mexican seasoning of dried chili peppers, sea salt and dehydrated lime juice. This is just a simple side dish with minimal ingredients but butter and spices enhance the corn’s goodness.
Juices, yogurts and fruit cocktails are also specialties here. The juices are made to order and can be a combination of a long list of fruits and vegetables. My favorite was an invigorating carrot, orange and pineapple.
The yogurt is a real treat. Ordinary yogurt is thinned to creamy lusciousness with sweetened condensed milk (genius idea), making it more of a dessert than a breakfast food. We ate the strawberries and cream special as dessert; it starred large strawberry chunks, cut on order, mixed in with the yogurt. It was served in a tall glass with a spoon, like a shake.
As someone with a supreme sweet tooth, I’ll admit I made a return visit one morning just to order a mango yogurt with granola and chunks of apple, cantaloupe and fresh mango. It went down just fine as breakfast.
The fruit cocktail, or coctel de frutas, is modeled after the treats that fruit vendors sold outside Galvan’s school while he was growing up. Choose from a sweet or salty version. I chose the latter to try something new and was delighted with the mix of pineapple, watermelon, jicama, carrot ribbons and cucumber. Again, everything is extremely fresh; Galvan chopped everything up after I ordered. My new favorite spice, the tajin, makes an appearance here too, along with chamoy — a concentrated fruit sauce that hits three different taste receptors: salty, sweet and sour. Galvan gave the chamoy to me on the side so I could adjust it as I deemed fit. On its own it’s pretty tart, but it awakens some wonderful flavors within the fruit salad.
There’s a very small market set up with some shelf-stable goods like spices, masa and beans, and two coolers fill another wall. The atmosphere is clean and simple, the food delicious. It’s nice to see a small family working to bring a different type of Mexican cuisine to Madison.
La Nopalera
5606 Schroeder Rd.; 608-467-3577; facebook.com/lanopalera madison/;
7:30 am- 8 pm Mon.-Fri., 10 am- 8 pm Sat.-Sun.; $3-$9
