Tortillaphilia

We semi-recently featured Jackalope’s brisket enchiladas in our parent publication, The Awesomeness Digest, and were suitably impressed. Big Tex-Mex flavors married with Pacific Northwest grunge sensibilities made for good eats. And, much that was said about the enchiladas can be said about Jackalope’s chile relleno, too.

There’s nothing particularly subtle about the dish—it’s a flavor punch, yet one that manages to stay on the right side of the line. Even with added brisket (and get the brisket with any dish you can), it doesn’t cross over into overload country. The flavors are big but distinct, centered around the lightly fried pepper.

Cheese: There’s a lot of it. Probably unhealthily so. Yet, it is strikingly light and it melds well with a salsa that’s more fresh than hot. You could conceivably delude yourself into thinking it’s a healthy meal.

That’s the feat, really—Jackalope stuffs its chile relleno with bigger-than-life flavors yet balances them such that you yourself don’t feel stuffed. It’s almost poetic.

There are a lot of reasons to make Jackalope a regular stop, relleno and enchiladas aside. They have a queso that you want to be friends with and rockfish tacos that songs should be—and possibly have been—written about. The nineties-rock aesthetics are top-shelf, too.

Frankly, Jackalope is the one to beat when it comes to creative takes on classic dishes in a sit-down environment. That four-Mushroom rating? We don’t give those away willy-nilly.

And Jackalope is handily a four-Mushroom establishment.

What To Order: Anything—and particularly anything with the brisket.

— Remi A. Olsen