Several years ago I reviewed a quaint little Mexican restaurant named Xel-Ha in Bay View. With its tiny, but charming location (once home to Taqueria Azteca, too) and amazing tortilla soup, Xel-Ha rapidly became a neighborhood favorite and was successful enough over the course of its three year lifespan that the owners needed to recreate it in more spacious surroundings. Thus, in mid November, Riviera Maya, 2258 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., was born.
The banquettes at Riviera Maya are tufted with linen pillows, and the new location houses nearly double the seating of the old. The menu is the same, and as before, bases many dishes on moles. Diners can choose from one of six moles, and then chicken, steak, pork, garlic shrimp or vegetarian papitas (potatoes, corn, poblano pepper), or calabazitas (zucchini, corn, carrots and red pepper).
Lunch or dinner at Riviera Maya begins with a cup of the sopa de tortilla, which is a chicken broth laced with broiled tomatoes and fried corn tortilla strips. For $1.50, you can add shredded chicken and rice, but the broth is rich enough on its own to be delightful and the tortilla strips retain just enough crunch to make this soup something special. And while the soup may be the signature special, everything on Riviera Maya’s menu carries a theme of fresh ingredients and delicious and unique mixes of flavors, both in their moles, and in their tender meats.
Guacamole ($5.50) is a creamy rendition garnished with queso fresco and served with red and green salsas and crisp tortilla strips. Nachos Xel-ha ($7.95) showcase more of the chips layered with a meat combination of steak, pork, bacon, and chorizo, refried beans, Chihuahua cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream.
I sampled two moles during our visits to Riviera Maya, the mole de Oaxaca (chocolate peanut mole) and chile verde (tomatillo sauce), both in chicken enchiladas ($12.50). The mole de Oaxaca is the more familiar of their moles, and was creamy and spicy sweet with just a hint of cacao flavor and was very good, but I actually preferred the chile verde, which gave the enchiladas a lovely sweet chile flavor. All dishes are served with a light white rice cooked with corn, peas and carrots that is a deliciously fresh alternative to Spanish rice.
Chicken quesadillas ($8.95) and shredded beef tostadas ($8.95) can be found alongside other traditional Mexican favorites in the Antojitos section of the menu. The menu also offers three vegetarian specific entrees and a vegetarian version of their tortilla soup, and Mexican hot subs, or tortas also appear with breaded steak, chicken, ham, shrimp and several other versions. We found both the quesadillas and the tostadas to be good, with tender meat and the same delicious white rice.
Service at Riviera Maya is excellent, and the ambience is pleasantly upscale for a Mexican restaurant. The fully stocked bar pours out fishbowl-sized margaritas that are up there with the best in town, and the restaurant is already busy in only their third month of operation. The summer months should be even better for Riviera Maya as foot traffic intensifies on KK and diners set out to sample a margarita and a fresh taste of the Riviera Maya.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
