Mexican po’boys & unique Central American eats are at this Hispanic restaurant on the MS Coast
Thanksgiving week isn’t about just one meal.
It’s an experience shared with one side of the family and then the other. As long as you have the traditional meal (the turkey, green bean casserole and the works) you can experiment. And you should.
So this week at a recommendation I tried something new. Tucked behind a Wendy’s in a grayscale strip mall in the Orange Grove neighborhood of Gulfport is the El Valle Latino Grill.
You quickly forget where you are when you step into this Central American establishment. The large empty parking lot gives way to a colorful room with Madagascar playing on one screen and a Christmas themed scene playing on another.
Flowers, a parrot letting you know it’s 5 p.m. somewhere and a small bronze man greet you at the door. My first thought as someone who lives nearby? “This has been here the whole time?”
For those who have been following along as I journey around the Coast exploring the various culinary corners of South Mississippi, you know that I try to seek out the best po’boys I can find.
This includes latin restaurants, where I ordered a steak tortas. Traditionally a south-of-the-border meal, these are branded on the menu as Mexican Po’boys. Inside the toasted bread was steak, lettuce, avocado, tomato and cheese.
It was phenomenal. But what came before the tortas is what really got me. At every Mexican restaurant, you get the chips and you gets the salsa before the meal.
El Valle brings the tortilla chips, but they come coated in a thin layer of bean dip and drizzled in cotija. They then give you a bottle of jalepeno and onion sauce that brings as much kick as it does flavor. It was a life-changing starter. Who thinks of this?
Back to the main course, I regret to inform you that once again my eyes were too big for my stomach. I wanted something that originated further South than Mexico, so I also ordered the Honduran meal beleada.
It wasn’t my fault. I thought the serving size was going to be manageable when the doña blanca variation was priced at $6.50. I was wrong. Most of it is now sitting in my fridge.
But what I was able to handle gave me strong breakfast burrito vibes. Of course, it’s not a burrito. The large tortilla is folded over steak, avocado, eggs and cheese. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow.
El Valle represents the Coast well. The region is a melting pot of food and thus one of the more underrated areas in the country for yummy subsistence. Ideas, ideologies and tastes mix and blend here to create a unique meal for anyone at any given time anywhere along the Lower Six counties.
If you’re in the Gulfport area, seek El Valle out. You might find your new favorite niche in food.
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 11:00 AM.
