Mesa Goes Under The Observer, DMN Knife

Mesa, the second Jefferson Boulevard restaurant in the same space owned by Raul and Olga Reyes, gets the critical treatment from both the Dallas Observer and the Dallas Morning News this week. So how does new guy Scott Reitz's review compare to daily paper stalwart Leslie Brenner's? Well, they're of a whatness. Both Brenner and Reitz highlighted the restaurant's oxtail, and they both approved of the seafood soup, chilpachol de jaiba y camarón and the ceviche.

"The ceviche is a stunner," writes Reitz, while Brenner called it "refreshing." As for the oxtail, Brenner says it's her "favorite" and that she loved its hoja santa sauce. Reitz also dug the sauce, but felt it was "missing ... something," that something being a squeeze of lime from his water glass. Reitz was less impressed with the drinks than Brenner. She called the margaritas "bright, fresh," but Reitz felt the "margarita suffers from an excess of sweetness, a heavy-handed pour of Grand Marnier robbing the drink of its mouth-watering pucker."

But when Eater Dallas stops by Mesa--and with Brenner's three-star review and Reitz's positive take, we certainly will--we're going to sample the chilpachol de jaiba y camarón. (Or, if you're Reitz, the Chilpachole de Jaiba y Camaron, con an "e.") Both critics single out the soup as the spiciest, most authentically Mexican dish. Reitz: "If the Reyes want to take you to Veracruz, they've done it with a rustic stew."

· Three Stars For Mesa [DMN]
· Mesa: Bringing Veracruz to Oak Cliff [Dallas Observer]

Mesa. [Photo: Elliot Munoz / Mesa Official Facebook]