Arches of Triumph

Nolensville Road has long been the unofficial nexus of Hispanic dining in Nashville, thanks in no small part to Las Cazuelas and La Terraza, the casual Mexican restaurants owned by Jose Gutierrez. Located between Harding Place and Old Hickory Boulevard, the strip mall eateries break the mold of so much beans-and-cheese splat-Mex, offering an authentic taste of Mexican cuisine with items such as parrilladas, ceviches and homemade salsas.

A native of Los Angeles who was raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, Gutierrez now owns five Mexican restaurants in and around Nashville. In addition to La Terraza and Las Cazuelas, he owns Las Compadres in Lebanon, and he will soon open another La Terraza location in Franklin, which will be the third restaurant to bear the nameplate. But the jewel in the crown is Los Arcos, which opened in January in the former location of Florida Seafood.

While the menu mirrors much of the fare at his other Nolensville Road restaurants—tacos, grilled meats, soups and oysters on the half-shell, to name a few items—Los Arcos surpasses its sister restaurants when it comes to the physical location. Gutierrez co-owns the restaurant with Martin Romo, his partner in Las Cazuelas and La Terraza, as well as Gutierrez’s cousin Jose Miranda. Starting early last year, the team took the shrimp-stained Florida Seafood Kitchen down to the studs and rebuilt it, adding distinct Mexican architectural flair, including a red tile roof and a facade of arches, from which the restaurant takes it name.

Entering the front door from the Windlands Shopping Center parking lot, it’s clear that Los Arcos is no low-budget operation. Behind heavy wooden front doors, an august portrait looms over an iron candelabra in the two-story foyer. In the dining room, flat-screen televisions are tucked away in the corners with the volume off—no campy giggles of a Univision game show or white-noise of a futbol tournament in here. Los Arcos is a family-style restaurant with a feeling of relaxed warmth rather than the high-energy lunch-counter or market ambiance in many local Mexican eateries. It’s no surprise that the prices are slightly higher than many other establishments along the same corridor. A fountain in the center of the restaurant gurgles under a serene ceiling mural of clouds. Chandeliers made of rustic wagon wheels hang over the 160 heavy, hand-carved chairs emblazoned with the name of the restaurant. Polished copper pots and pans hang on the walls behind the hostess stand. Los Arcos is a place you can imagine having a business lunch, a festive family supper, or even a romantic evening with cocktails from the bar in the back of the room. When the weather improves, the patio will open for guests to sip fishbowl margaritas and nosh chips while watching the traffic hurtle south toward Harding Place.

There’s an old joke about a true intellectual being able to listen to the William Tell overture and not think of The Lone Ranger. A corollary might be that a real aesthete can look at terra-cotta tiles and not salivate for chips and salsa. As someone who fails both tests, I was delighted by the overflowing baskets of warm house-made chips and the bottomless bowls of flavorful salsa, just spicy enough to keep us reaching for more chips to ease the piquant sting. The guacamole appetizer also made a good impression with its chunks of buttery avocado and a bright-green color and fluffiness that only come when the sauce is freshly ground. At $3.75, compared to the lofty prices in suburban Tex-Mex restaurants, the guacamole sets a high bar for value. (A less chunky version is available as a topping on various dishes.)

The usual suspects of Mexican cuisine are all present and accounted for at Los Arcos. Tacos, burritos, tostadas, chile rellenos, fajitas and chimichangas all appear on a sprawling, illustrated seven-page menu. We enjoyed tacos auténticos, soft homemade corn tortillas filled with tender bits of grilled beef and served with avocado wedges, diced onion, cilantro and lime. Having become used to adding tomatillo sauce to our tacos, we would have enjoyed the added flavor and moisture, but saw none on the tables. We also enjoyed the ceviches of shrimp and tilapia, which marinate briefly in a blend of lime juice and habanero pepper and are served on light, crisp corn tostadas.

A word of warning: Even if your kids refuse to eat anything other than chicken fingers, stick with the Mexican food. Our chicken nuggets were shameless parts-is-parts composites served with packets of tartar sauce and crinkle-cut fries. A better child-friendly alternative is the cheese or chicken quesadilla with rice and beans.

Beyond the familiar fare, Los Arcos also offers a few unusual items, the most startling of which is the piña cantamar, which the menu describes as a half-pineapple filled with baked shrimp and octopus with cheese and a creamy sauce. While this dish went against all our instincts about mixing light seafood and heavy cheese, the meal was oddly beautiful and comforting. Ours appeared to be filled with deveined shrimp and flaky fish, rather than octopus, and the cream tempered the heat of red pepper, which left a very subtle kick at the tail end of the rich flavor.