More Mexican Mediocrity

Restaurant: Paparico’s
Location: 8314 Wornall, Waldo, MO

Food: Mexican

Service: Friendly, traditional waitstaff

Atmosphere: Disappointing.

Price: What you'd expect.

Rating: zero napkins

What can a restaurant blogger say about a place like Paparico’s?

Friends said they loved it; their favorite new neighborhood Mexican joint. Then a cheap Muncharoo certificate became available so we jumped on it and a few days later we’re sitting in a sad, ugly restaurant with one other full table completely depressed.

The problem is that I am definitely becoming a dreadful,  unapologetic Mexican food snob. I don’t really know why but the utterance of the half-words “Tex” and “Mex” brings an uncontrollable sneer to my upper lip. I scoff at misused sour cream or shredded cheddar cheese at phony Americanized Mexican cantinas.

I can’t take it anymore. I’m absolutely yearning for an innovative, contemporary yet authentic Mexican restaurant in this city (thus, secretly hoping the rumors of an Aaron Sanchez-owned spot come true).

And so it was with this Mexican food baggage that I arrived at Paparico’s, admittedly skeptical, but hungry and hoping only for something adequate. Unfortunately, adequate turned out to be the nicest word I could use to describe our experience.

There’s no need to go into much detail about this place. The staff was nice and eager to serve. They were prompt and friendly. The salsa was fresh and tasty. Better than a lot that you find in KC. The atmosphere was glum. Décor is relegated to a massive lineup of plastic two liter and glass soda bottles. And piñatas. Ancient, dated-looking wood paneling consumes the dank space.

My pork tamales were decent, with the requisite rice and refried beans on the side. Elizabeth’s tacos al pastor were comprised of under-ripe, hard bits of pineapple and many bites of pure fat and gristle. She only ate one of the tacos, and was only able to choke down about 50% of the meat therein. A bad bite in Mexican street tacos here or there is to be expected, but these were inexcusably bad.

As we ate, the hostess stood at her post and watched our every move, apparently having nothing else to do to fill her time. It was truly pathetic.

Paparico’s was a sad story from start to finish. I wish nothing but success for a hard working family that’s doing decent work, but I won’t be going back for dinner. Everyone in Kansas City, no matter where they live, has a Mexican restaurant at least as good as Paparico’s just around the corner. I'm sure there are people who live in the Waldo area who will say they love this place, and that's fine. That's how all these neighborhood Mexican restaurants go. We all like chips and salsa. We all like rice and beans, tortillas and spicy, cheesy hot plates of food. So it's not too hard to find loyal patrons for these places. But our standards are just too low. I know someone can do something better and I'm going to wait for that place to come before I start handing out napkins to any more boring, uninspired Mexican places.

(The one exceptional bright spot for Paparico's, however, may be its breakfast. I've not had it but I'm a huge fan of Mexican breakfast and I might recommend that if you go there at all, you do so for that menu as opposed to the lunch or dinner we had.)

So until a new, great place opens, or I get a chance to go down to the much-heralded Frida’s, I’m sticking with the usual favorites (read: CFF & El Patron) for my Mexican food fix. This widespread Mexican food mediocrity is just too depressing.

Rating: zero napkins