Don Marcelino's #4: Rustic, relaxed, reasonable

June 9, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

A spacious dining room sprawls before the customers slipping into the calm interior of Don Marcelino’s #4, out of the stiff April winds that grazed Val Verde County on the outskirts of a mammoth spring storm.

Two senses are piqued in that entryway: The restaurant’s legendary bright colors, and kitchen aromas fanning out from the twenty-foot-long luncheon buffet table. I’m not a big fan of buffets, but Marcelino’s is nothing if not generous.

Dozens of selections, from entrée items to salads and desserts, are more brightly lit than the cavernous dining room. Among those entrees are an unexpected mix of Mexican and not-so-Mexican dishes: Enchiladas, ground beefsteak in gravy, chicken taquitos, baked chicken cacciatore, guisado (a bit chewy, but flavorful), and a steaming tray of caldo (a little short on vegetables), and delicious refried beans.

Several salad selections are available, including one – a marshmallow fruit concoction that looked tempting, but was probably sugary. Since I’m diabetic, I declined. The dessert item was banana cream pudding with vanilla wafers.

Unless desserts are marked “sugar free,” as some restaurants do nowadays, my meal is over. A Del Rio physician once estimated that 30 percent of our population here are diabetics. It would be a joy if more restaurants recognized the condition, making it easier to live with.

The large a la carte menu features 15 different dinner items, including Marcelino’s daunting “Macho Burger.” If you’ve not attempted this giant sandwich, bring an appetite, a hungry friend or a lunchbox. The menu also includes three parilladas, a mixed grill of fajitas, sausage, pork, short ribs, and quesadillas, ranchero beans, guacamole and tortillas. The platter is priced and assembled for two, three or four diners.

Don Marcelino’s offers breakfast from 7:30 – 11 a.m., with traditional favorites such as huevos rancheros, migas, machacado, chilaquiles, and chorizo and eggs, all very reasonably priced, and 11 different combination breakfast tacos. Oddly the breakfast beverage menu includes OJ and coffee, of course, as well as both domestic and imported beers.

Furniture is heavy, ornately carved and unforgiving to those who linger. With Saltillo-style tiled floors and brightly-colored wall paint, the room is ostentatiously festive, with wall-trophy deer and sheep heads above tables along the north wall.

Not surprisingly, Marcelino’s #4 is part of a family operation here and in Uvalde, and your gracious hostess is manager Norma Gonzalez.