Robin Garr's LOUISVILLE Restaurant Reviews

** El Caporal
7319 Preston Highway
(502) 969-9693
Louisville's growing Latino community has fostered the development of a happy trend: Excellent, authentic Mexican food. Without taking away from our local favorite, Tumbleweed, and a few other originals that have kept us well supplied with tacos and burritos over the long haul, it's still a real treat to see a wider variety of Mexican eateries, particularly in the South End, a region too long deprived of much of a variety of interesting places to eat.

Some of the best Mexican spots along Preston Highway, including the excellent taqqueria La Tapatia, are really aimed primarily at Latinos and, while they welcome Anglo business, it can be difficult to communicate there if you don't hablo any Espanol. But El Caporal is one of the newcomers that bridges the gap, happily feeding both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking diners with an international smile.

Located in the spacious quarters once occupied by a Cow Barn franchise, it offers an extensive, affordable menu at prices ranging from $5.25 (for an a la carte order of enchiladas) to $12.99 (for the El Caporal dinner, a grilled steak with tortillas and all the trimmings). Can't decide? Two dozen combination dinners will fill you up for $6.75. Full bar service features a selection of Mexican (and North American) beers, margaritas, and generic wines by the glass or liter.

It's hard to go away less than full; it's hard to go away unhappy. $$

OTHER LOCATIONS: 2209 Meadow Drive (across from Showcase Cinema), (502) 473-7840; 515 E. Highway 131, Clarksville, Ind., (812) 282-7174.