I’ve been wanting to try El Sur for a while now, and I finally got to around lunch time on Sunday. Here’s the breakdown:
Environment:
El Sur has a great clean and open space. You walk in and order at the counter, then they bring your food to the table or seat at the bar you choose. Water and cups are available for free at the bar, as well as some sauces you can put in cups to bring to your table. My favorite thing, however, was the fresh flowers cutely vased at each table.
Menuand Food
Their menu is found here on their website. Full of many different Honduran and other Latin American foods that you can’t find in many places around central Arkansas, it was hard to pick! I really wanted to try the fried yucca (I know I love that), pupusas, and the pollo chuco.
However, it was brunch time and I felt like I should try something I can only get once a week there. So, we ordered the Torrejas, Honduran French toasts simmered in syprup from dulce de caña, topped with orange zest and choice of two eggs.
The chorizo and eggs we chose were perfect- flavorful, but not too greasy. You can’t go wrong here. The French toast was plentiful and smelled amazing with citrus. If you like your french toast soggy, you’re going to love this. Unfortunately, I do not. So, this wasn’t my favorite dish and I had big regrets not ordering the Pollo Chuco.
On the specials board, the Salpicon sounded amazing and a lighter dish would help level out our meal of French toast. So, the decision was made.
In all honesty, I was a little disappointed when the dish was placed at my table. It looked pretty bland. However, I poured the sauce it came with over it all, as well as a mild and hot sauce from the front counter and everything was pretty good! There’s a great citrus flavor in the beef, though the texture is more like canned tuna, so it threw me off a little. While I enjoyed this, I was still deeply regretting not getting one of the items on the menu I know will be good, like the pupusas.
Overall, I think I need to give this place a second chance with its most popular dishes rather than trying ones that are only available that day. So, if you’ve had any dish there that I MUST try because it is so good, please comment and let me know!
Over this spring break, we went camping around Mountain View. What’s new? 🤣 Here are the run-downs of all the restaurants we tried:
The Rusty Cup
The outside of The Rusty Cup, downtown Mountain View
This new restaurant is the one I was MOST impressed with. It is adorably decorated with plenty of tables and booths inside, though I got my order to go. The menu, while it is not posted anywhere online for me to link, is full of breakfast items and lunch items, as well as many coffee and other drink options. The breakfast looks very tempting! From traditional items, such as country plates with eggs, steaks, bacon, or sausage, to more healthy options including avocado toast. There are also great looking pancakes and breakfast burritos. For lunch, there are mostly sandwiches and some salads that are delicious! For coffee, they have it all! There’s also specialty cold drinks, like a wild strawberry lemonade, and even scoops of ice cream!
Reuben with no cheese from The Rusty Cup
I went for the reuben, which was delicious! (And I’m pretty picky about my reubens). The meat was tender and juicy. The homemade dressing was divine. I loved this sandwich and will definitely get it again. In fact, I may not try anything else. It comes with your choice of side, and I got the coleslaw, which was colorful and not too mayonnaise-y, which I like.
I also really wanted to try a new salad, so I went for the Asian Chicken salad. It was awesome! For less than $10, this is great! A large salad, full of different textures and flavors. It is very pretty as well and had enough chicken to make a meal of its own. Again, their homemade dressing made it fantastic!
The Asian Chicken Salad from The Rusty Cup
Overall, this place brings a few new food additions plus the country, homey food we all love. It is cute, the service must be great because my to-go order was ready early and made a fast and flawless check out. I love it!
Sasquatch Cave
Inside of Sasquatch Cave in Mountain View
Directly next door to The Rusty Cup is Sasquatch Cave, a new coffee, smoothie, and panini lunch spot. It’s interior has only one table and a bar at the window to sit at, but most people get items here to-go.
When I saw the menu pics on their Facebook page, I got very excited because they have an acai bowl! I love acai bowls and they are very hard to find anywhere in Arkansas. So, props to this place! Besides an acai bowl, there are so many delicious-sounding smoothies, to which you can add protein powder or collagen. There are also a few paninis and wraps to pick from, and even breakfast sandwiches served all day.
As for the coffee, there are frappes!
Acai bowl at Sasquatch Cave
My acai bowl was beautiful and filled with plenty of fruit, granola, and an edible flower. If you aren’t sure what an acai bowl is, its just a smoothie bowl. However, the smoothie part is a thick blend of strawberries, blueberries banana, and acai with almond milk. It was huge! While the fruit was a little sour, I think in the summer months when fruit is more in season, this bowl will be perfect.
The Roast Beef Reuben at Sasquatch Cave
Even though we ate inside, all food was put into to-go containers, which works great for leftovers. I had to order the reuben, but this one is made with roast beef instead of corned beef. It was a panini, so the bread was crispy, which I loved. The roast beef was tasty, and the regular sauerkraut. I was surprised when it wasn’t dressed, but came with a Ken’s Thousand Island on the side. Using a store-bought dressing would usually be a negative, but Ken’s is the best. So, I am not complaining. For to-go orders, this is perfect. Keep your sandwich crispy until you’re ready to drown it in the dressing and gobble up. The sandwich came with a side bag of chips of your choice as well. Overall, this isn’t the best reuben I’ve had around these parts, so I’ll probably try something else next time.
Overall, the people are so friendly here. You can watch the smoothies being made while you wait. Though, the seating is an issue with only about eight chairs total? Before I can give any more of an opinion, I’ll need to try more off their menu. Have you tried any of their smoothies? What’d you think?
Mountain View Donut Factory
Mountain View Donut Factory
Damn you, Mountain View Donut Factory. I have spent years not eating donuts. Now I’ve been for a box of donuts TWICE this week! Y’all….this place is awesome. There are SO many donut options and they are all at a very affordable price. From crullers, to cake donuts, to regular yeast ones with tons of different toppings, to stuffed donuts you can fill with whatever filling you choose, and even savory kolaches and biscuits and gravy.
The first visit, I got a $2.50 massive apple fritter, a plain donut, a chocolate long john filled with bavarian cream, and an “original” blueberry cruller (not pictured above). Everything was good, but that blueberry cruller was the best donut I’ve ever had. That’s why I had to go back for more.
On the second visit, I got three blueberry “original” crullers, two plain, and a chocolate donut stuffed with the white cream. The white cream is hands down delicious! It’s like whipped cream mixed with a little icing, fluffy and delicious. I’ll continue to stick with this filling forever.
Overall, this place is a gem. Its owners are so kind, the prices are so right, and the donuts are so delicious.
