Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 9/21/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Ashleigh Mayes Taco no bueno - El Parian, Arkadelphia's newest restaurant, is located on 10th and Pine Street. It is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m.

There is another Mexican restaurant in town. Just what we needed? El Parian, located on the corner of 10th Street and Pine Street, opened its doors to the public Monday, Sept. 13.

There may be a shortage of restaurants in Arkadelphia and Caddo Valley, but one area of dining that is holding strong is the Mexican category.

Nonetheless, Arkadelphia was graced with El Parian, an "Authentic Mexican Food" restaurant. It copies the operating hours of TaMolly's Mexican restaurant in Caddo Valley, staying open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

People are slapped in the face with color as soon as they pull up to the brightly orange painted building and once anyone enters, the slapping does not cease. Interesting Mexican décor and colorful walls seem to say "Let's have a fiesta," while large wooden tables with carved and brightly painted mural tabletops stand in the center of the room with high-back booths lining the walls. The appearance of the booths is plenty for the eye to love, but the comfort ability is nothing for the back to enjoy with the wooden backs of the booth seats pushing the spine straight with their carved murals, offering nice bumps with their adjustment.

The traditional appetizers like cheese dip and guacamole are offered at a great price of $2.99 each, however both tend to taste cheap, like their price. The "cheese dip," as it is called at El Parian, not "queso" like at El Mariachi and Cancun Mexican Restaurants, tasted much like a block of melted Monterey Jack cheese.

Much like TaMolly's and El Mariachi, El Parian offers a lunch menu with "lunch specialities" ranging in price from $3.49 for a taco lunch served with Mexican rice and refried beans to the $6.99 shrimp and rice "speciality," which serves "shrimp topped with cheese sauce on a bed of rice."

Also hitting the college student's price point are 25 combination dinners at only $6.19 each. Unfortunately El Parian's menu states that they do not allow substitutions on these dinners.

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