ENTERTAINMENT

Dine on our Dime: Leslie's Mexican

Katie Tonarely
For the News-Leader
The sopes with a chorizo taco at Leslie’s Raqueria and Bakery in Springfield.

Like most of the gems I find in Springfield, I heard about Leslie’s through a friend of a friend. And immediately, I was confused. Leslie’s Mexican? That sounds nothing like the name of a Mexican restaurant. My curiosity fully piqued, I met reader Erin Matthews for some Mexican, and I ended up having a completely different dinner than I ever would have imagined.

Good luck finding out about this place on the Web. I made the mistake of Googling the address to Leslie’s a little late in the game, and all I found was a bakery. So, I figured it would be the same, and it was. Just four weeks ago, the grocery store/bakery/deli added a restaurant side, a taqueria. Erin, too, found it through word-of-mouth, came once and found a new favorite. “We love it,” she says. “It’s authentic.”

No chips and salsa. Because it’s authentic Mexican food. During the day, when I would think about my dinner tonight, I knew I was having Mexican, so my mind went to chips and salsa. When I walk in tonight, I realize this is the real Mexican deal. Let’s be honest. Most of what we eat in Springfield is Tex-Mex. I don’t actually believe that before every meal in Mexico, people sit down with chips and salsa. Cultures tend to Americanize their food when they bring it to the States. Leslie’s, though, sticks with the real thing. “You can’t find this anywhere else,” Anabel Verdin, owner and Leslie’s mom, says. “The Hispanic people get excited when they see what we have.” I also note that while Erin and I are eating, we’re the only table speaking English. I hear Spanish all around me. How authentic is that? Erin loves the pupusas ($1.99). She lived in El Salvador for a bit, and pupusas are a niche El Salvadoran food. “Nobody has them and they’re specific to one small country,” she says. Pupusas are simply masa, corn meal, filled with fried pork meat, white cheese and beans. They look like little pancakes, and if you didn’t know they had filling, you might start putting butter and syrup on them. But, no, they’re full of delicious, savory fillings. Leslie’s also has a salsa bar to go with it to give the dishes a kick. “There are so many different flavors in there,” Erin says. I agree. These little guys are cheap, simple, yet delicious. My favorite treat of the night, however, is the sope ($2.99), which is a crispy little bowl of masa with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, queso fresco, and I choose carnitas for my meat. I love how the queso fresco tastes with my crispy little bowl. Though authentic Mexican cuisine isn’t as cheese heavy as the Tex-Mex we Springfieldians enjoy, I have to admit that I’m happy Leslie’s still has some cheesy dishes for me.

Everything is made to order. Anabel says her crew keeps a large bowl of masa in the back and scoops out pieces to make items to order. “Masa does take time,” she says. “It’s not like a fast food.” I don’t notice that our food takes longer than normal, and how cool is it that the sope I’m eating right now was a basic ball of masa just a few minutes ago?

Juices — made fresh in the restaurant. When I visit a Mexican restaurant, I don’t typically think of getting juice, but Anabel highlights her restaurant’s extensive juice menu. And the kicker? All of the juices are made in house. “These are very popular in Mexico,” Anabel says. I have the Tamarindo ($2.99), which to me tastes like a mix of lemonade and iced tea. I’m shocked when I hear it’s actually a juice from a Mexican fruit, the tamarind, that Anabel sells in her connected grocery store. When I come in to chat with Anabel, she also pours me a large glass of mango juice, and, oh my word, it’s amazing. She gives me a huge cup and it lasts me all afternoon.

The grocery store gives you the chance to try your hand at Leslie’s authentic cuisine at home. While we’re talking, Anabel and I walk through her grocery store and bakery, and she shows me the kits she keeps in the freezer for people to make their own juices at home. I laugh when I see the directions are all in Spanish! Talk about authentic. My Google translator will be getting a workout soon. Her store has a huge bakery case, meat counter and produce section with delicacies from Mexico, plus some hard-to-find Mexican candies and food. Any foodie, versed in Mexican food or not, would do well to keep Leslie’s on her rotation of specialty grocery stores.

CHEW ON THIS

What: Leslie’s Taqueria and Bakery

Address: 1915 S. Glenstone Ave.

Phone: 417-501-1017

Cuisine: Authentic Mexican, bakery

Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day

Price range: $1.99-$9.99

Accepts: Cash, all major credit cards

Services: grocery store, bakery, takeout

Parking: strip mall lot

Seating capacity: 40

Family friendly: high chairs, booster seats, separate kids’ menu

Wheelchair accessible: yes

Alcohol: no

Smoking: no

Information provided by Anabel Verdin