Senor Fajitas: Tex-Mex eatery ready to celebrate 11th anniversary
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Restaurant Critic
Thursday, January 17, 2013
3/28/13 at 7:48 AM
In less than a month, Senor Fajitas will celebrate its 11th year of business, and owners Shirlene and Jose Ramirez think they have built a foundation that could last for many more years.
"We remodeled about a year ago, and we still have the passion to be here a long time," Jose Ramirez said. "We have faithful customers who have been coming here since we opened the doors, and they are like family."
Shirlene Ramirez said they also have a couple of aces in the hole.
"Our two oldest sons, Aaron and Samuel, are both students at OU (University of Oklahoma), and they both have talked about wanting to keep the restaurant going," she said.
We had not been by the traditional Tex-Mex restaurant for a while, so we recently stopped in for dinner. While deciding on our entrees, we ordered the appetizer sampler ($8.55).
The over-sized platter included a huge portion of beef and bean nachos dotted with tomato, onion and jalapenos; two flautas, one beef, one chicken; and a fajita-beef quesadilla with pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream.
The fried tortillas on the tube-shaped flautas had an almost flaky consistency, and the nachos were flavorful and filling.
Sharing this appetizer would be enough for dinner most nights, but we soldiered on with two entrees, chicken and shrimp ($8.95) and the Acapulco dinner ($9.45).
The marinated chicken breast and nice portion of medium-sized shrimp were covered in a tasty ranchero sauce and served with sides of rice and ranchero (pinto) beans. The chicken was fork-tender, but the shrimp was chewy and had a strong fishy flavor.
The Acapulco dinner included two cheese enchiladas, one tamale with chili con carne, a crispy beef taco, rice, beans and guacamole.
The tamale was on the small side but had a favorable percentage of meat to masa, and the chili con carne added a lot of flavor. I think the enchiladas were covered with the same melted white cheese used in the restaurant's queso, which was thick and cheesy.
Dinners include complimentary mild, tomato-based salsa with a touch of cilantro to go with warm, crispy tortilla chips.
Light sopapillas sprinkled with cinnamon and filled with honey were a perfect dessert.
Senor Fajitas has daily specials and lunch specials, and the beverage list includes a few imported beers and both Pepsi and Coca-Cola products.
The remodeling included painting the room a variety of bright colors and adding wall decorations such as parrots, sombreros, guitars, steer horns and Mexican photos. The vinyl tablecloths come in a variety of colors.
It is located on the south end of Gardner's Used Books & Music and has a dedicated entrance from the parking lot.
Jose Ramirez is from the state of Jalisco in Mexico, and Shirlene is from Brazil. They married after both had moved to Tulsa almost 25 years ago.
SENOR FAJITAS
4421 S. Mingo Road
918-660-7188
Food: 
Atmosphere: 
Service:
(on a scale of 0 to 4 stars)
11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11
a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday
and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday; accepts
all major credit cards.
Original Print Headline: Family celebration
Scott Cherry 918-581-8463
scott.cherry@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
The chicken El Paso dinner includes a marinated chicken breast with sauteed vegetables, served here with a cup of ranchero beans, rice and pico de gallo. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
Jose and Shirlene Ramirez have owned Senor Fajitas for almost 11 years. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World
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