Picante, Berkeley

It's a slow day. Time for post number two.

Picante comes highly recommended by the Chronicle food writers, so I thought I'd give it a try. It also turns out that Picante is owned by Jim Maser, who is Alice Waters' brother-in-law and co-owner of Cafe Fanny (a place I love).

The restaurant is located near the corner of Gilman and 6th. I was in a hurry to find parking (I have a tendency to do some very odd things when I'm hungry), so I decided it would be okay to just park in the red one block down. For future reference, I noticed as I walked into the restaurant that there is a huge parking lot across the street with an even huger sign that says "PICANTE PARKING."

My mind was set on having something hot, spicy and filled with meat. I ended up ordering the enciladas verdes: chicken wrapped in hand-made tortillas, covered in salsa verde with black beans and rice on the side. In addition, Heather from Nolo recommended this pickled vegetable mix thing, so I got a small container of that. Since I was on work time, I wasn't messing around (there is a hint of sarcasm here), so I ordered everything to go. I stood around and waited for about 7 minutes until my food was brought to me. The dining room was nicely decorated--there looked to be seating inside and out. Nothing too special, it reminded me of most upscale taquerias I've been to.

Eventually I came back to my desk and dug in. I was really looking forward to the hand made tortillas, so I started on the enchiladas. Unfortunately, the meat was really dry and the tortillas were rubbery. For $14 total, I was hoping for something better. The salsa was better than most though, it had a fair amount of heat which is kind of rare for salsas verdes (though please note I'm not attempting to be a Mexican food connoisseur, I just look like one). The rice was flavored nicely, but both the rice and beans looked like they had been sitting out for a long time. Very disappointing. I'd also like to add that I think I went in with very high expectations, considering that Alice Waters is associated with the restaurant, so I expected crisp, fresh organic veggies. This wasn't a bad enchilada, it just didn't make me crave more.

I then moved on to the pickled veggie thing. I know this stuff has a name, I just don't know what it is. When I ordered it, I simply asked for the pickled veggie thing and this is what I got. It's basically a mixture of pickled cauliflower, zucchini and carrots with lots of jalapenos. The flavor of it was really good, but I think I was hoping for more sourness than I got, and it was a bit more hot than I'd have liked. Sweating through my A's hat after two bites, I decided to bring it home for Andy, who seemed to really enjoy it, but he also agreed that it usually has less heat and more acidity (but he liked it better that way). Either way, not bad, but the veggies could have been more crunchy. Note--Heather just said over our cubicle partition that it helps to eat the veggies with tortilla chips, it cuts down on the heat, and after what I just wrote, I'd assume add some crunch too.

In the middle of writing this post, I went over to thank Catherine for being my first comment on the site. I told her my next review victim was Picante and she said I need to rethink my ordering choice. I'm going to go back, like the true food critic I am, and order something else, but so far I'm skeptical. Catherine and Heather both have heard that the tortilla soup is great, and I'm interested in their ceviche. Nolo is pretty close to Picante, so come back soon (PLEASE come back soon and read my blog!) and I will probably have a new review of this place soon.

The one thing I will give this place is that they seem to do veggie and vegan well; they have an entire menu devoted to vegetarian and vegan cuisine. There is a brunch menu for the weekend, also, that I may or may not try. Depends on that tortilla soup. Anyway, like I said before, check back or let me know your feedback on this place.

Picante is located at 1328 6th Street in Berkeley, CA 94710
They are open Monday through Friday, 1:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Phone: (510) 525-3121

Website: picantecocina.citysearch.com
Yelp.com: www.yelp.com/biz/x_8JAuZLXfcI1SJlgOcZ6g