By Owen Fallon

Conejo, the new bustling restaurant on 5820 Patterson Avenue, near Libbie Avenue, has been all the rage recently. My mother and I decided to see if it met all the hype, considering the only available reservation was the following week. We arrived for our 8:15 p.m. dinner slot to the newly renovated bottom floor of a new apartment complex. 

Westhampton Commons during the construction of Conejo. Photo credit: Mike Platania.

The restaurant is placed in the newly built Westhampton Commons, next to the historic Westhampton School building. The addition is an aesthetically pleasing and modern property. There’s an extreme visual appeal to not only Conejo but the area as a whole. The inside of Conejo is no exception; there’s a very welcoming and upbeat feel to the restaurant. There’s a balancing contrast of colors, sleek windows, an attractive bar, modern tables and chairs, a very inviting outdoor eating area. So far, the restaurant had all of the major ingredients of being one of Richmond’s finest eateries, and I had yet to eat a bite. 

As its name suggests, Conejo is a Mexican restaurant, and chips and queso seemed like a no-brainer. However, this is where I was first disappointed. The queso was not your traditional, drippy, cream-colored melted cheese served with thin, highly salted chips. Instead, the queso had the texture of lasagne and quite frankly looked like it, too. The chips were tooth-breakers, as biting into one almost made me want to schedule a dentist appointment. I figured, What good Mexican restaurant doesn’t have good chips and queso? This seems like a standard for all Mexican cuisine, at least in America. However, I brushed it off and thought maybe it was an off batch, or maybe chips and queso isn’t their thing. 

While I wasn’t pleased with the queso, I was still expecting my main order of “Taquitos de Res” to be quite delicious. The description was “3 crispy corn tortillas filled with braised beef, topped with queso fresco, lettuce, and crema.” What about this dish doesn’t sounds delightful? It seemed like an order that would be good if cooked in a microwave. However, I was once again surprised by the taste and quality of the meal. The tortillas were seemingly overcooked (possibly on purpose) and way too crunchy. But once I finally broke through, after having been trained on the chips and tortillas, my teeth had to shred and chew through rubberish meats. In addition, the queso fresco added on top lacked taste. 

The bar at Conejo. Photo courtesy of Conejo.

I hoped one thing could attempt to salvage the meal, the “esquites”—grilled corn off the cob, mayo, cheese, and chili powder, commonly referred to as Mexican street corn. Yet I was proven wrong once more. While the “esquites” actually tasted fairly pleasant, there was no eating past the disturbing smell that reeked from this corn. However, it did have all of the right makings of a strong dish and was visually appetizing. It just needed some Febreze. 

While it is totally possible I ordered the wrong dishes, I got the sense that the restaurant took pride in all three of these orders. At least the waiter insinuated that. It is also important to add that my mother ordered a “Cucumber Jalapeño Margarita” and spoke of it highly. This suggests to me there is potential for a quality bar scene for all of the adults. 

Since the food was so purposefully different from what is typically standard Mexican food, I can presume Conejo strives to be a more authentic alternative in the realm of Mexican cuisine. And despite the unsatisfactory food, Conejo provided a great environment for a quality evening with my mom. There is definitely potential for this restaurant to flourish for people who may not even like the food that much. However, I’m sure that this type of authentic Mexican food appeals to many. But for me, not so much. 

Featured image courtesy of Conejo.