Some magic is in the air at Brundog's and La Cocina de Gabby.
The Mexico City-style restaurant opened in mid-September and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We ordered a side of guacamole ($1.25). The concoction that came out was a smooth, creamy blend that looked disappointing. We like our guacamole chunked up, with onions, tomatoes and spices.
But after three bites, we were hooked. When I asked for the secret ingredient, the server smiled and said, "Nothing."
The dip was pure avocado, and I couldn't get enough of it.
That simplicity carried through our meals, from the warm tortilla chips cooked to order when you first sit down to the potato soup that came with one of the daily specials.
When Tom and Marty Brunner, who formerly owned the Italian Capriccio and Brundog's Zy-de-que in the same location, closed their Cajun eatery last summer, Francisco Martinez called them and said that he and his wife, Gabriele Sosa, wanted to open a Mexican restaurant.
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"She learned to cook from her mother and grandmother," Tom Brunner said. "She made food for us. It was full of flavor, unique to the area."
Thus a partnership was born.
Sosa and Martinez have owned restaurants before - three fast-food Mexican places. Gabby's has a drive-through - as a nod to their earlier eateries, perhaps.
The vibe
Gabby's is a bright, cheerful place with friendly servers. There's a long bar in one room with 16 stools and a dining room with 10 tables. A patio has a half-dozen tables, making total capacity about 75.
A pig working an accordion, once the "Laissez les bons temps rouler" mascot of Brundog's Zy-de-que, remains on the sign outside - leaving customers to assume that the performing porker now plays norteño tunes instead of zydeco.
The food
The menu is varied, with familiar items like 99-cent ground-beef tacos in addition to entrees with nopalitos (cactus) and salpicon, a salad with shredded beef, onion, tomatoes, avocado and cheese.
There were also five specials that come with a choice of lentil or potato soup and tortillas, for $12.49.
When we ordered one of the specials, the Plato de Puerco en Salsa Habanera ($12.49), we were warned about the spiciness.
The heat is partly thanks to Tom Brunner, who lent the secret to his habanero hot sauce that he had been creating for years in his restaurant.
Sosa's version is a bit toned down, but the chunks of pork were still spicy - spicy in a I-can't-stop-eating-them way, not a why-did-I-order-this way. Luckily, the aforementioned guacamole served as a foil to the heat.
We also ordered one of the combinations ($7.99), this one with a shredded-beef taco and a cheese enchilada.
The entree looked beautiful, a gastro-mosaic with an enchilada in red sauce, beans sprinkled with white cheese and a generous helping of Mexican rice divided artistically on the plate. A taco with a fluffy corn tortilla shell stood upright in the middle of it all, giving the meal added dimensions.
But beauty turned out to be only skin deep. The cheese enchilada came out flat, more like a quesadilla, and the red sauce lacked any discernible heat.
The taco's shredded beef, covered in lettuce and melted cheese, was juicy, but it also arrived lukewarm, which took away from the experience.
Most meals come with nicely prepared beans topped with queso fresco and rice. The creaminess of the beans comes from vegetable oil and not lard.
Sosa toasts the rice, which is made with chicken stock, before boiling to bring out the nutty flavor.
Review
Brundog's and La Cocina de Gabby
4825 N. First Ave., 888-2490.
• Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
• Etc: An all-day happy hour includes $1 off well drinks, $1.50 drafts, $2 Shock Top, $1 off bottles and $4.50 margaritas.
Gluten-free items available upon request.
Our meal
• Plato de Puerco en Salsa Habanera: $12.49.
• Combination plate: $7.99.
• Horchata: $2.44.
• Side of guacamole: $1.25.
• Total (before tax and tip): $24.17.
