Folks in Mountain’s Edge are fortunate that Andy Hooper, the restaurateur behind Locale and the Black Sheep, doesn’t like to stray too far from his home when dining out. He and his wife love Italian food, so he opened Locale mere blocks from his house so they’d have a place to pop in for a weeknight supper.
His latest venture is El Luchador, a vibrant Mexican eatery that fits right into the neighborhood. It puts a fresh and modern spin on the cuisine, with food from executive chef Aaron Bryan paired with an outstanding tequila and mezcal program.
Mahi-mahi tacos
“I love tequila and I love mezcal, and I love really good Mexican food, and I love having it right beside my house,” Hooper says. “We wanted to make sure the community has somewhere to go. So many people live in Mountain’s Edge, Rhodes Ranch and Southern Highlands, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to come get that Strip-level quality of food, service and atmosphere at a fraction of the price.”
Once Hooper secured the spot, his choice for a chef came easily, he says. Bryan came to Las Vegas by way of Southern California; he spent nine years at the Cosmopolitan, where he was a “jack of all trades,” opening the sports bars and Wicked Spoon, running food and beverage for the pools and working as executive chef at Eggslut before coming to work with Hooper.
“I could not ask for a better team,” Bryan says. “Andy is probably the best owner I’ve ever worked for. Our values are the same when it comes to running the business. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. We’re trying to feed the community here in Mountain’s Edge with the food they want to eat.”
That means Mexican classics elevated but wholly approachable, starting with addictive complimentary house-made chips and salsa. Pair that with the creamy queso dip ($9), topped with chorizo to balance, or the tableside guacamole ($12) as you catch a game on several TVs in the convivial dining room. (There’s also a sizable patio.) Pace yourself on the apps, but don’t skip the plated Elote en Plato ($8), charred corn prepared with pico de gallo, aioli, Fresno chili, cotija cheese and Tajín seasoning.
Taco plates come three apiece, accompanied by rice and ranchero beans with pork belly. Choose from adobo beef ($14), carnitas ($12), chicken ($12), shrimp ($16), portabella mushroom ($10) or mahi-mahi ($14)—an old favorite that’s been in the chef’s repertoire for years.
Elote en Plato
“I’ve been selling my fish tacos for over 10 years at a couple different restaurant, and I can’t ever get rid of them, because it seems to be one of the items that everybody comes back for,” Bryan says, laughing. “They just keep on truckin’ with me.”
Enchiladas—cheese ($10), your choice of protein ($14) or the vegetarian La Verdura ($12), with mushroom, black bean and elote—also come with rice and beans. And the aroma of sizzling fajitas (steak, chicken or shrimp) certainly turns heads as servers walk past.
But perhaps the most Instagrammable dish on the menu is the Triple Threat chimichanga ($16), a behemoth of a meal stuffed with adobo beef, chicken or pork, pinto bean puree, and cotija and Jack cheeses. It’s topped with salsa verde, cilantro crema and enchilada sauce, striped like the colors of the Mexican flag.
That was the dish that sealed the Hooper-Bryan partnership. “As soon as I put my knife into it and had my first bite, I knew he was the chef,” Hooper says. “That chimichanga is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.”
EL LUCHADOR 7825 Blue Diamond Road #102, 702-260-8709. Sunday-Thursday, 4:30-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 4:30-10 p.m.
