Little Diner, Big Dinner

Little Diner

After doing my research on West Texas restaurants, I discovered that Little Diner in Canutillo, TX is THE place to eat, and review. Gourmet reviewed the place back in the 90s, and Texas Monthly did it more recently. Of course, Eat Your Tart Out was next. The place has gotten rave reviews from everyone, but locals like to keep it to themselves. Finding it was a pain in the ass. We drove all over the place, and in doing so we found an amazing fruit stand in the middle of nowhere with delicious oranges and avocados for less than half the price of the not delicious versions at HEB.

When we finally found it, my mom was hesitant. It was literally in the middle of a neighborhood with trailers all over the place and dirt roads kicking up sand and making the car unbelievably dirty. Also, underneath the sign for the restaurant was a sign for the coin Laundromat that is behind the restaurant. We went inside.

You order at the counter and they bring you out your food. It took my dad and I a while to decide what we wanted, but we ordered some nachos to start and then we both settled on the Gordita Plate. My mom finally came around and ordered cheese enchiladas with red sauce.


Nachos

This actually looked really pretty, even though it was just a bunch of chips piled up on a plate (weird!). The cheese sauce is definitely tasted like it came from a can, but it was steaming hot and spicy so it didn’t even matter. I would even eat it again if it were served like that. Also there were a ton of jalapenos on top, making it even more delicious. I guess now is a good time to mention that all the corn for the tortillas (and therefore the chips) is milled AT the restaurant. Everything is 100% percent homemade, even the cheese sauce and all the tortillas.



Gordita Platter

I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but this is a mountain of food. For six dollars, you have enough food to last two days. The gorditas are what Little Diner is famous for. The gordita shells are out of this world. They are really crunchy on the outside, and soft like cornbread on the inside, and then stuffed with lettuce, tomato, and beef. I added the jalapenos from the nachos for more taste. Also, the shells are deep fried but not greasy at all. And when they first came out they were too hot to hold. This was way too much food though… my dad couldn’t even eat 2/3 of it.


Churros

Even though we were stuffed, we ordered Churros for dessert. I am convinced that they are the best churros in the world. It’s a twisted pastry stick that is fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar. It took a few minutes for them to come out and I’m pretty sure it’s because they made the batter for it right after we ordered it. Somehow, despite being fried, it tasted so fresh and homemade. I can’t really describe it. Every bite was as warm as the last, and the cool sugar was a perfect balance. I wish Chipotle had the person from Little Diner making these at their restaurants. Later at the hockey game a bunch of kids were eating churros from the concession stand and my mom just looked at me and said, “I know the ones we had earlier were so much better.”