Despite the tall sign in the parking lot being completely covered in plastic and no visible name on the building, eager and hungry fans of Los Dos Potrillos Mexican restaurant kept showing up at the new Denver location only to be told they’d have to wait one more day for the official opening. Fans of the family-owned Colorado staple had had the chance to enter to win the opportunity to attend the “soft opening” on April 14, the night we, and other members of the media, were allowed in for a sneak peek. But come April 15, when the sign was revealed and the ceremonial ribbon cut, the first customers flooded in, happy that the popular restaurant had finally opened a location in Denver.
After working endless hours and scrimping and saving for years, Jose Ramirez finally opened his first restaurant in 2002 in Centennial. He named it as a loving nod to his young sons, Luis and Daniel. Los Dos Potrillos means “the two foals” (or young horses) and that first restaurant was followed by locations in Littleton, Highlands Ranch and Parker, each often having long lines of loyal customers waiting to get in. The Denver location is the first outside of the South Metro area.
I must admit, I’ve never been to a Los Dos Potrillos location, although I’ve heard of it over the years, with its reputation for setting a standard for authentic Mexican cuisine in Colorado. Now in my neck of the woods, I’ll definitely be one of those people happily waiting my turn to get in.
Being a newbie to the restaurant, I asked one of the staff members what I often like to ask: “What are some of the unsung dishes here – the ones you feel are excellent, but that people don’t order as much as you think they should?” What I also mean by that question is “Which dishes aren’t constantly featured on Instagram Reels?” Every restaurant has their internal favorites that may seem too unfamiliar to diners to order. We often take those recommendations and are never sorry. We got two at Los Dos Potrillos and, By George, we ordered them!
But first… an overview of the Los Dos Potrillos menu and things that caught our eye
Appetizers:
Carnitas Fries, only available Friday-Sunday ($18) with big chunks of meat, melted cheese, red pepper strips and guac.
Chili Relleno Nachos ($17) – The description’s a little unclear but it appears to be bite-sized pieces of crispy rellenos smothered in green chili, topped with pico de gallo and melted cheddar.
Ceviche ($21) with fish and shrimp, onions, cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes and lime juice.
Tableside Guacamole ($16) – more on that below.
House Favorites:
Here’s where you’ll find some expected items, each labelled by the number including the #20 Chile Relleno Plate ($17), #25 Fajitas with several variations ($22+), #27 Carnitas ($20), #41 Stuffed Sopapilla ($16-$18) and #44 Steak Burrito ($20).
But there’s also the #47 Chamorro ($25) with ham hock smothered with fried onions and homemade green chile, vegetarian green chile, ranchero sauce or mole; #50 Enchiladas Nortenas ($18) which is three cheese enchiladas topped with two eggs; Taquiza ($55) a make-your-own street tacos feast feeding up to four people; and the #48 Guisado (more on that below too). In that House Favorites section, you’ll also find the Molcajete ($30) which is one of my all-time favorite words to say – repeat after me: (mol-ka-heh-tay). Grilled chicken, pork, steak, two jumbo shrimp, onions and cactus leaves are served overflowing the traditional volcanic rock bowl, served with red or green salsa, and guac, sour cream, beans, rice and tortillas on the sides. It’s a dig-in-feast! We saw this item too late to order it but we will next time – if only so I can say that beautiful word out loud (and get something delicious in return).
Soups & Salads:
Knowing they have to keep everyone in a group happy, Los Dos Potrillos has a Taco Salad ($16-$19) with all the usual suspects plus the choice of chicken, ground beef or steak and a Los Dos Potrillos Salad topped with feta cheese and Greek olives (huh?) and the option to add chicken or steak ($12-$18).
They also have Caldo De Mariscos ($27), a spicy tomato-based soup with fish, shrimp, clams and crab legs; Seasonal Caldo De Res ($18), a beef stew served Friday-Sunday in the fall and winter; and Pozole ($18) served Friday-Sunday.
Burritos and Combos:
Another couple pages of the menu are devoted the classics, from Bean Burritos to a Burrito De Barbacoa (Monday-Thursday only while supplies last) and every combo you can imagine – except my dream one that has a tamale and a relleno in it.
Specialties…and all the rest:
Los Dos Potrillos has an enormous menu, as you may be able to tell by now. There are many delicious-sounding seafood dishes, family platters (smart), a plentiful kids menu, and desserts.
What we ordered at Los Dos Potrillos:
We started with Tableside Guacamole ($16) because it’s always fun to see the spectacle of the process and to dig into the can’t-be-any-fresher creaminess. Our server wheeled the cart over and asked us if we wanted all the things – red onion, jalapeno, tomatoes, cilantro and lime. Yes, a thousand times yes, to all of it. We appreciated our server’s extra efforts, providing dinner and a show.
The #48 Guisado offers up the choice of chicken or pork ($20) or steak ($22) cooked with onions, tomatoes and jalapenos served with sour cream, guacamole, green chile, beans and rice and your choice of flour or corn tortillas, both of which are made from scratch (and in view, right at the front of the restaurant). This dish was absolutely delicious. The veggies and meat were sauteed until soft, just calling to be pinched up in a torn off piece of tortilla. I don’t know what seasonings they used but I detected some Middle Eastern flavors like cinnamon and allspice, which makes perfect sense since authentic Mexican cuisine includes heavy influences from the Middle East. The dish was even better the next day (we forced ourselves to save some to take home).
Carne En Su Jugo ($19) was the other recommendation, a hot stew filled with slices of beef tenderloin with beans, long and unwieldy green onions and other herbs. It comes with a smaller bowl of Mexican rice which I added (I don’t know if that was the intention but it sure works). It was also served with the choice of corn or flour tortilla (one of us ordered corn and the other ordered flour and they were both great, with so much more flavor than store-bought). The Carne En Su Jugo is very spicy and you will sweat, just warning you. It’s so full of flavor though, you won’t mind.
Stuffed silly but feeling the obligation to try something from the dessert menu, we got the Churros & Ice Cream ($8) because our server said it is very popular. Frankly, I could have stuck with just the churros which were very good but not amazing. Also on the menu is Sopapillas ($6), Fried Ice Cream ($8) and Arros Con Leche ($8), Mexican-style rice pudding served warm. That’s what I’ll be saving room for next visit.
You gotta wash all this good food down with something to drink, right? Los Dos Potrillos serves their own beer – Mexican-style lagers that are carefully crafted to pair with their food items. A description at the front of the menu says “We brew our beer to showcase seasonal ingredients and limited releases.” We read that too late too and my husband had already ordered something from the cocktail menu, a Mezcalita ($18) made with Illegal Mezcal Joven, lime, agave and Tajin. This was the only real disappointment of the night, mostly because the “garnish” all around the glass meant my husband’s hands were a bloody-looking mess from the first sip. Gross. Short of leaning over his glass like a five-year-old to sip his drink hands-free, he just kept having to wipe his hands repeatedly. So maybe don’t order that one and ask about what the garnish situation is before you do order a cocktail – just to make sure your hands stay clean…the better for grabbing a chip for the salsa or guac or filling your warm tortilla with goodies from your plate.
The Denver location of Los Dos Potrillos is sure to be a huge success like the other locations down south. Assume you’ll have to wait but know it’s going to be worth it.
Los Dos Potrillos in Denver is located at 4100 E. Mexico Ave. Learn more on their website, here.
-Story and photos by Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor of InGoodTasteDenver.com
Please note: As is common practice in our industry, we were hosted for this visit but this does not, in any way, affect our opinions or our goal to bring our readers information they can use.
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