7 Mares

Review by: Michael Stern

The bill of fare at 7 Mares is so extensive that it takes two separate, small-print menus to include it all. Typical Mexican-restaurant dishes are present — fajitas, nachos, tacos, etc. — but as the name of the place suggests, seafood stars. (7 mares = 7 seas, not 7 female horses.)

Highlights include whole red snapper, bacon-wrapped shrimp stuffed with cheese and jalapeno peppers, a fabulous chile relleno in which you really taste the poblano pepper as well as the shrimp and cheese inside of it, and various combination plates of shrimp, fish, squid, calamari, and octopus. This is a menu on which so many dishes are so inviting that even a few visits seem only to hint at all the pleasure to be had.

Meals begin with huge circular chips and an intriguing salsa that is a tomato-sweet relish dotted with hot pops of jalapeno pepper. If you like heat, be sure to ask for green salsa. It’s a thick puree that is not just hot but intensely chile-flavored. It goes well on just about every dish, and is so beguiling that when there was no food left on the plate, I found myself dipping pieces of grilled toast in it.

An unlikely shopping-center storefront that looks bland from the outside, 7 Mares is a spacious restaurant with booth-and-table seating and tasteful seafaring decor. While it does draw its share of culinary pilgrims who have discovered the extraordinary food, a large portion of the clientele appear to be local families, friends, and co-workers. Waitresses, who are no better speaking English than I am speaking Spanish, are as helpful and friendly as can be.

What To Eat

Combinacion

DISH
Camarones Sorpresa

DISH
Large Margarita

DISH
Salsa

DISH
Green Salsa

DISH
Grilled Grouper

DISH
Chile Relleno

DISH
Loaded Potato

DISH
Flan

DISH
Chips

DISH
Filet Relleno

DISH
Horchata

DISH
Carnitas

DISH
Charro Soup

DISH

7 Mares Recipes

Discuss

What do you think of 7 Mares?

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By Jane and Michael Stern Originally Published 1997 Gourmet Magazine Before Ralph Nader, cars were fun. For generations of joyriders, a purring V-8 was a vehicle for play and...

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