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DineOut
by Tim Brookover
BACK TO PICO’S
A Mexican-food favorite opens a second location
For a few years in the early ’90s, Pico’s
Mex-Mex restaurant hosted an event that raised
funds for Body Positive, the HIV service organization.
The event, Vivo y Positivo, took place around
Cinco de Mayo and sprawled across the grounds
that surrounded Pico’s then-open location
on Kirby Drive. The final year for Vivo y Positivo
featured entertainment from Houston and Mexico,
including an astounding Oaxacan big band, and
the brewing of what was billed as the world’s
largest margarita.
Pico’s Kirby location—a popular
stop for the close-by Montrose community—shuttered
later that year. Restaurant owners Arnaldo [pictured]
and Janice Richards then concentrated on the
original Pico’s location on Bellaire, opened
20 years ago this year. (Full disclosure: For
a couple of years in the last decade, I worked
for the public relations agency employed by Pico’s.
I also attended high school with Janice, who
is operating manager for the restaurant.)
In March, the Richardses marked two decades
in business by opening a new second location
on the Katy Freeway near the Memorial City mall.
The setting—perched at the edge of a vast
parking lot, hard by a Loehman’s and other
sundry retailers—seems less than auspicious.
Inside, ocher walls, Mexican genre-scene prints,
and colorful Talavera platters create a pleasant
dining space.
The food is as remarkable as always, which to
borrow from the Martha Stewart lexicon, is a
very good thing. A native of Mexico City reared
in Monterey, Arnaldo Richards runs a kitchen
that cooks some of the best Mexican food in the
city. Unexpectedly rich flavors distinguish even
the standards, including enchiladas and fajitas.
More complex dishes like Chiles en Nogada (a
roasted poblano pepper stuffed with pork, olives,
almonds, and raisins in a walnut cream sauce
and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds) remain
a revelation. The chicken mole and the manchemanteles
(a mélange of meats and vegetables in
a thick sauce) are two of my favorite comfort-food
items.
A recent visit to the new Pico’s confirmed
that Richards’ kitchen turns out terrific
grilled steaks. My partner Albert and I split
a comically big Cowboy Steak special. Cooked
medium rare, the 24-ounce sirloin slab had great
flavor and arrived on a bed of grilled onions,
poblanos, and roasted potatoes. Though not as
heroically sized, other steaks are just as exceptional.
The new Katy Freeway location being more convenient
to our Heights home than Bellaire, I expect we
will be enjoying Pico’s as much as I did
when I used to frequent the Kirby spot (Richards
will soon open a Sugar Land location). A minor
noise advisory: An abundance of hard surfaces—tile
floor, wood tables and chairs—does amplify
typical restaurant noises, from the fussy toddler
at the next table to the gang of boisterous work
mates cheering the end of the day over margaritas.
In other words, this may not be the venue for
your intimate date with that tender someone.
But Pico’s is the perfect spot for amazing
Mexican food.
Pico’s Mex Mex • 9401 Katy Fwy.,
713/461-5161 • 5941 Bellaire Blvd., 713/662-8383 • www.picos.net
Tim Brookover opined on LaStrada in our December
issue.
If you have any comments about this article,
please email them to letters@outsmartmagazine.com.
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