Hey, remember that old adult book store that used to be at
1001 N. Boulevard? No? Ok, well now it’s a taco place. :)
Seriously, a lot of people do remember the naughty little book
shop, the Triangle Book Store. For a
certain niche of the generation before mine, it might have even been considered
a Richmond staple. But now it’s been
converted into a restaurant called En Su Boca, which translates to “in your mouth”
(so perhaps they’re trying to pay homage to Triangle).
They’re a big fan of spicy foods at En Su Boca. This became apparent as soon as the first
appetizer came out, which was chips with three different salsas, including a
habanero salsa. But it became even more
apparent when the 2nd appetizer – a “cheese dip” – came out. It was really good, don’t get me wrong. But in actuality, the Queso Fundido Cheese
Dip ($8) is really ground up housemade chorizo and grilled peppers with a thin
layer of “Chihuahua cheese” on top. Good
job, menu makers. You got me. An avid fan of straight up melted cheese fell
for it and ended up eating ground up meat instead.
But if you’re not a fan of spicy, the guacamole wasn’t spicy
and was REALLY good, and two other salsa weren’t spicy at all. And my chicken tacos weren’t spicy. Don’t believe the fish tacos that my friend
ordered were spicy either, until she poured the habenero salsa on them. Prior to that, they looked amazing.
They have a whole menu of interesting, awesome cocktails with ingredients so various (common and rare) that I can’t remember most of them right lol Except tequila. :)
Besides good food and drinks, En Su Boca also has a really
cool patio almost adjacent to Boulevard, with a nice little wall separating
patrons from traffic. I was also a fan
of the colorful, festive paint job all along the outside of the building. It’s very welcoming for a building that used
to house pornography and trashy “romance” novels. The inside has the new typical style of concrete
floors and bare walls, which equals loudness, making it difficult to talk
sometimes. But it’s not a big place so
it’s not as bad some other restaurants.
All-in-all, I’d say Patrick Stamper and Randy O’Dell
(formerly of Mezzanine in Carytown) did a pretty bang-up job (pun intended) of
turning the place into a really good restaurant. Good atmosphere, good food, good drinks –
what more could you want? I’m sure I’ll
be going back again soon (if only to try another unique cocktail). Maybe I’ll get some better descriptions of
the tacos then, too (lol…seriously).
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