Nopalito - Las Cruces

A review of Nopalito Restaurant on Mesquite Street in the historic district places it as the 14th best Mexican food restaurant in town, ranking in the upper 25%. The restaurant is comfortable, with limited parking but a spacious and attractive interior. The service is friendly and efficient, although not elite or professional. The menu offers New Mexican cuisine like smothered burritos and soft tacos, with their famous salsa verde being a highlight. The food can be inconsistent, but overall, expect a pleasant atmosphere, moderate pricing, and above-average New Mexican cuisine. The restaurant is rated as fifteenth in Mexican food, at the bottom of the top quarter or top of the second quarter, with a three-and-three-quarter to four-star rating, indicating above-average quality.

One of my favorite Mexican food places in town. I've been going here since I was a kid. It is my absolute favorite place for GREEN ENCHILADAS. It is locally owned and the service is very good especially if u go during lunch or late afternoon. There's a sweet little lady, whose name I keep forgetting, she's been there for years and makes u feel like family when ur there.

Awesome!. My husband's favorite restaurant, we always stop whenever were in town. (Several meals actually! Their food is always good and the green chile sauce can't be beat.

A NICE NEW MEXICAN FOOD RESTAURANT WITH GOOD FOOD. <br/ <br/ (Ranked 15th on the 2017 Mr. Sensitive list of Mexican food restaurants in the Las Cruces area. <br/ <br/ Texas Gal must be a relative of the owner???? She 's been posting the same inane remarks over and over for three years now! Is this really what Urbanspoon/Zomato is supposed to be about? Oh well. <br/ <br/ Now for a 'real ' review with information that you just might be interested in:<br/ <br/ 2015 UPDATE <br/ <br/ Mr. Sensitive dropped in at Nopalito and ordered a green chile chimichanga and (no longer on their menu for some odd reason but they prepared it for me anyhow a stuffed sopapilla filled with red chile meat. As before I found the red salsa spicy but mediocre in taste. Rate it a C- meaning below average. The heated salsa verde had lots of delicous chunks of green chile and the flavor was terrific as usual, but again, as it so often is, it was very watery. Nevertheless, rate it an A-. The chips were fine. <br/ <br/ The stuffed sopapilla was excellent as I found it to be on previous occasions. The red chile pork was delicious and the sopapilla shell light and flavorful. Rate this dish an A-. The chimi was a litle over-fried. The beef inside was nice and flavorful. When I ordered it the waitress asked me if I wanted the green chile just inside or also over the top of the chimi. Most places cover their chimis with green chile sauce, so I said, cover it, why not. BUT, ALAS, A PROBLEM: Instead of the chimi having a nice chile sauce over it, they just dropped a large helping of their watery salsa verde over the top!!!  Granted, the chopped chile had great flavor, but the water made the chimichanga appear to be swimming in it. CONSEQUENTLY, THE CHIMI WAS SOGGY. This was not good. Instead of a light and crispy chimi I had a soggy one. I have never had this somewhat negative experience in any Mexican restaurant. And, to top it all off, WHEN I GOT THE BILL I FOUND THAT THEY ADDED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN $2.00 AND $3.00 FOR THE CHILE ON TOP. The waitress of course never mentioned the large additional cost. Again, not good. Rate this soggy and over-priced green chimichanga about a B-. THE OVERALL FLAVOR WAS GOOD BUT THE PREPARATION  SOMEWHAT SAD. <br/ <br/ The service this day was pleasant and quite good but not exceptional. I did receive multiple check backs. Rate the service between a B and B+.  <br/ <br/   The original review appears below: <br/ <br/ Nopalito restaurant on South Mesquite (their flagship restaurant is not far from the corner of Amador. The parking is limited and is somewhat of a negative. INSIDE THE BUILDING IS SPACIOUS AND ATTRACTIVE. It is pretty well maintained. There are numerous comfortable booths and tables. THIS IS ONE OF THE MORE ATTRACTIVE MEXICAN FOOD RESTAURANTS IN TOWN.....NOTHING FANTASTIC BUT FAIRLY NICE. Rate the ambiance a B to a B plus. <br/ <br/ The service at Nopalito I have always found friendly and efficient. While not elite service I would rate it a B. No complaints. <br/ <br/ Nopalito offers you both a red and their famous warmed salsa verde with your chips. I believe THEIR SALSA VERDE IS 'THE ' BEST SALSA VERDE IN TOWN (unless they were off their game that day . It does, unfortunately, tend to have a little too much liquid in it sometimes! But......the salsa verde is served slightly warm and it is full of flavorful green chile pieces. <br/ <br/ The menu at Nopalito is fairly broad with most of the classic New Mex dishes. The food, unfortunately, can be a little inconsistent here. I have had a pretty mediocre gordita here as well as a rather poor chimichanga. I would argue that their chile sauces and bathed burritos banados are fairly good...around a B to B+. There is no food served here that approaches 'best in the city ' (excluding the salsa verde! <br/ <br/ In March 2013 I enjoyed a nice lunch at Nopalitos. The red salsa was not very good.....it semed that they couldn 't make up their minds whether or not they wanted it to be red or green....and it came out rather poor. Rate it a C-. But, the salsa verde was terrific as it usually is. Warmed up a little and with mucho pieces of green chile in it....it is the stuff of legend. <br/ <br/ I ordered a red chile meat STUFFED SOPAPILLA. THE PORK AND RED CHILE SAUCE WERE QUITE FLAVORFUL AND THE SOPAPILLA ITSELF LIGHT AND FLAKEY. This was a high quality dish....one of the better stuffed sopapillas around town. Rate it a B+ to A-. <br/ <br/ I also sampled a bathed green chile meat burrito. It had just a little bit of refried beans in it.....but not enough to overwhelm the meat and the chile ......the problem you often experience in other restaurants. The meat was tender and the green chile flavorful. This was a pretty good burrito....but not exceptional. Rate it a B+. <br/ <br/ Nopalitos is not a bad place for a casual lunch or dinner. IN 2016 I rate this Nopalitos THREE-AND-THREE-QUARTER STARS for the overall dining experience.......MEANING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ABOVE AVERAGE TO GOOD.<br/ <br/ BOTTOM LINE: WILL I RETURN TO DINE HERE? YES, now and then.

I absolutely love the cozy atmosphere and delicious food at this restaurant. It's wonderful that they have been a part of the community for so long. The salsa was phenomenal and the red and green chile were both delicious. I will definitely be returning in the future!