La Bamba Mexican restaurant makes its cheese-covered return to Naples — JLB review
I had never seen so much cheese.
Huge masses of the stuff, all melty and congealed over the tops of burritos, refried black beans and enchiladas stuffed with chicken. Cheese cascading down the sides of huevos rancheros, deep-fried chimichangas and hand-rolled tamales.
Tamales. Really?
If you’re a cheese lover, you’ll love the new La Bamba, a longtime local Tex-Mex staple that made its return to the area when it opened in late November in East Naples.
Don’t get me wrong, I love cheese (just this week I wrote about six of my favorite cheesiest dishes in Southwest Florida), but this was next-level cheesy insanity. Cheese on cheese on cheese. So much cheese I left each time with a slight stomachache.
But underneath all that gooey mess, La Bamba achieves what it sets out to: decent Tex-Mex fare, bracing margaritas, fresh guacamole — all of it done hugely and cheaply.
La Bamba has a rich history in this area.
For 25 years the family-owned joint has had at least four locations scattered across Collier County. Giuseppe Rinaldi, a native of Naples, Italy, founded La Bamba way back when. His son, Mariano Rinaldi, launched La Bamba Restaurant & Tequila Bar about a year ago at Miromar Outlets in Estero.
(How exactly an Italian family ended up in the Mexican food business is a story I’d like to hear one day.)
Giuseppe Rinaldi closed his last La Bamba in the Naples area more than two years ago, but recently decided to come out of retirement, returning to a space he already knew well. This small building on Airport-Pulling Road near the county courthouse was most recently Greek Gourmet — if the remaining mural of Greek columns set against a coastal backdrop is any indication — but La Bamba had operated there for a decade until May 2013.
Now, Rinaldi is back at the helm. I've seen him pop in during the quiet lunch hour, when suit-and-tie types from the nearby county offices stop in for tacos and guac. At dinner La Bamba gets more lively, when staff here crank up the mariachi music and margaritas.
This latest version is a homey place, with several interesting (if sometimes strange) touches. The sombreros and ceramic lizards that adorn the walls. The white paper tablecloths that make me feel like I’ve been relegated to the kid’s table. The ruby-red strawberry daiquiri with a pretty dollop of whipped cream poured into a Bud Light UFC glass. (Something about that pairing just isn’t right.)
At its best, La Bamba brings to the table a bowl of spicy salsa that sets your nose sniffling, and a cilantro-jalapeno-mango margarita strewn with fresh herbs. Mango gives the cocktail a sweet and buttery finish, with a ticklish spice at the back of the throat courtesy of sliced jalapeno. It goes down smoooooth.
Next comes a cast-iron platter of sizzling queso Chihuahua fundido, which bubbles temptingly around the edges. Chorizo crumbles crowning the top turn the melty Chihuahua cheese into a deliciously greasy pit, one I'd happily mop up with a corn tortilla. After a while that seared cheese turns to a crisp on the bottom, one I'm happy to scrape at while waiting for entrees.
But at some point, the cheese gets to be too much.
It’s sprinkled on top of nearly every platter, combo and a la carte item, then tossed under a warmer to melt into a gooey pool. And it’s done so unnecessarily. Everything underneath — if you can find it — seems just fine.
Huevos rancheros hit all the yolk-y, runny notes I crave. A burrito ordered “wet” is capped with sour cream and guacamole, then smothered in salsa ranchero and melted cheese that doesn't meld with anything beneath it. The shredded pork rolled inside the burrito is faintly sweet and melt-in-your-mouth tender, but man, you've got to fight to get to it.
I’ve never had a tamale doused in cheese, and I can’t say I want to do it again. I’m a tamale purist. Leave me with steamy masa lightly cloaked in red mole and bundled around more of that tender pork, and I’d be content.
This seems to be the technique at several Tex-Mex restaurants these days — smother everything in queso and we Americans gobble it up. But this cheese overdose masks the freshness, the flavors of everything hiding underneath.
La Bamba isn’t fancy. It's not trying to be. But if you want cheese, and massive margaritas that go down smooooth, then you've come to the right place.
Jean Le Boeuf is the pseudonym used by a local food lover who dines at restaurants anonymously and without warning, with meals paid for by The News-Press or Naples Daily News. Follow the critic at facebook.com/jeanleboeufswfl or @JeanLeBoeuf on Twitter and Instagram.
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La Bamba
2196 Airport-Pulling Road, East Naples
• Food: ★☆☆☆
• Atmosphere: ★☆☆☆
• Service: ★★☆☆
• Price: $$-$$$
• Call: 239-692-8730
• Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
• Noise level: Moderate
• Etc.: Wine, cocktail and beer menu; a few outdoor tables
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Sample Menu
Lunch
• Grilled taco salad, $11.99
• Huevos rancheros, $10.99
• Two carne asada tacos, $7.95
Dinner
• Queso Chihuahua fundido, $9.99
• La Bamba mariscos, $21.99
• Grilled steak Tijuana platter, $17.99
What the symbols mean
★ - Fair
★★ - Good
★★★ - Excellent
★★★★ - Exceptional
$ - Average entree is under $10
$$ - $10-$15
$$$ - $15-$20
$$$$ - $20-$25
$$$$$ - $25 and up