You may not think you’ll find delicious Mexican food in a tiny Oklahoma town. That just means you’ve never been to El Mexicano in Perkins
About 2 weeks ago I was meeting a friend for lunch. He lives in Cushing OK, and there is really nothing between Cushing and Stillwater other than Perkins, so we decided to meet there. Perkins is a tiny town of fewer than 3,000 people. With such a small population, the dining options are minimal, and most of them are fast food. There are a couple of sit-down restaurants, and one is El Mexicano.
The décor is very unique, with a lot of iron work
El Mexicano is in the heart of downtown Perkins, just on the edge of a neighborhood. You almost don’t know it’s there until you pull up. The restaurant seats about 75, divided into 3 sections. As you enter there’s a tiny canteen to the right with about 20 seats and a small bar. The other 2 sections are main dining space, with a combination of booths and tables.
Of course chips & salsa come to the table almost immediately
The chips are warm, and really good. The homemade salsa has a kick that sneaks up on you. It hit me about 2 chips in, and caught me off guard. But it certainly didn’t stop me from eating them. Brant was running late so I made sure to eat as slowly as possible. I managed not to eat the whole basket before he arrived, but then of course we got another basket a few minutes later.
As is typical in most Mexican restaurants, the menu is really big. After a lot of back and forth, we finally made some decisions. Brant got the tortilla soup
The chicken tortilla soup is on the appetizer menu, but it’s definitely a generous serving. I tried a bite and it is outstanding. The broth is rich and extremely flavorful, and the chicken is very tender. It comes to the table screaming hot, and you can see the steam coming up from the bowl.
I decided to go with the create your own combination so I could try a couple of items. I did chimichanga with fajita beef, shredded chicken burrito, and carne Asada taco
The burrito is so good, and it has the same tender chicken that’s in the tortilla soup. The cheese sauce is light, and has great flavor. The chimichanga is fantastic, and the sauce on top might be even better. The sauce is rich, but not heavy, and has wonderful flavor. Normally you need a knife to cut through the chimichanga, but not this time. The taco is good, but unfortunately my least favorite of the three. I think it needs a little sauce or something.
We ended up spending most of the afternoon there, just talking and catching up. When I first arrived, the music was authentic Mexican. At about 2pm the music changed to Rock, which was really kind of weird. I’m wondering if they go back to authentic music before the dinner rush.
Will I go back to El Mexicano? No question. I just have to actually remember that it’s here!
