Los Pinos is operated by Cristian Ramirez and his nephew Brian. It’s pretty non-descript and right next to a casino in an old Travel Lodge building, so you might easily pass it by. Inside it’s a medium-sized place with booths, large tables, a long bar, music in the background and windows to the outside that remind you of where you are but inside it’s nice. You also wouldn’t expect to find good Mexican food in Montana but you can find it here. They don’t show it online but they also offer a lunch menu with a lot of the dinner options at a cheaper price. Service was friendly and efficient, as validated by the number of regulars who stopped in for quick and filling lunch. It was a tasty lunch but not as spicy as I’m used to but a good lunch of well-made Mexican food.
Set-Up
Food
Everyone starts off with a basket of thick yellow corn chips and red salsa. The salsa has the mildest kick but nice flavor and the chips were fresh and crisp. They also brought a squirt bottle of jalapeno sauce and that helped save the sauce for me. The server offered to bring more but we declined.
The Chicken Fried Steak Ranchero was a chicken fried steak topped with melted Monterey Jack cheese and ranchero sauce and served with rice, beans, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and tomatoes. The “steak” portion was more like hamburger than pounded meat with a light coating. There was a good ratio of sauce, cheese and meat – all with good flavor. The accompanying flour tortillas were dry and flat. It was a fun plate.
Enchiladas with Green Chile were two melted Monterey Jack cheese enchildas topped with pork green chili and served with guacamole salad, rice and beans. The enchildas were tender and stuffed with lots of runny cheese. The chili was made with more chunky than ground pork and was perfect with the enchiladas. The beans were fairly smooth and also topped with lots of cheese. The rice was a write-off but no problem. The guacamole actually had flavor and it was a fairly decent tomato. All in all a good plate.
