Plaza Mexico Cochina Mexicana & Cantina
A tower of fresh seafood.
“It's layers and layers of different seafood and it's just breathtaking.”
An old family recipe for birria.
“We put so much love into the birria.”
And steaming molcajetes loaded up with meat and seafood.
“Molcajete comes out. Everyone's like, Oh, what is that? Oh, what is that?”
For flavors from south of the border on the South Coast of Massachusetts, there’s no place like Plaza Mexico.
Set in Seekonk, Plaza Mexico is a festive spot where you’ll always find the smiling face of enthusiastic owner, Alexandra Belteton, who wanted to bring her family’s time-tested recipes to the masses.
“We're a fun welcoming family oriented restaurant. You're not going to find Mexican food like this anywhere else. You're not going to find that ambience anywhere else. We have that wow factor. Just that environment that makes you come in and be like, Wow, I'm at home. It feels warm, it feels loving. Our customers have become family here.”
The space has two sides depending upon the type of night you’re looking for; with a family friendly dining room and a bar decked out in Day of the Dead decor, full of over the top Mexican inspired cocktails that pair perfectly with their menu.
“The menu is traditional Mexican, but there is a lot of Mexican food that is from different regions. So Mexico is huge. So there's a huge variety of different types of food on there. Everything on our menu is just, once you try it, you're like, I want to go there because of that flavor that you're feeling in your mouth, that explosion of flavors that you feel.”
Every meal at Plaza Mexico should start with a visit from their guacamole cart.
“So they wheel out the guacamole cart. They make sure they got the most perfect avocado for you, cilantro, onion, jalapenos to your liking. So if you want extra lime, they'll put extra lime. If you want it extra salty, you can make it extra salty. And it's great because it comes right to your table and you see how it's made right in front of you.”
A dish near and dear to Alexandra’s heart is the Elotes Alexander; a dish named after her son who insisted it had to be on the menu, and this cheesy, spicy corn is served with some lime for extra kick.
“You get that sweet from the crema but then a little bit of salty from the cheese that we put on it, but then you kind of get that spice from the spice powder that we put on top. It's delicious.”
There’s the Torre de Mariscos- a pile up of ceviche that is both stunning and tasty. And if you’re looking for some ceviche and cervezas, grab a few friends and order the festive Seisito Sinaloa.
“Six beers come out, and it's full of ceviche on the side, and you get chips with all the ceviche right on top. That's something that is crazy. I mean, people see it come out, they're like, oh my god, what is that? It's six beers and a whole bunch of ceviche on top. It's a party. It's a party.”
Many of the dishes at Plaza Mexico are great for sharing. Like their eye popping mocajete which can be ordered with meat or seafood.
“The rock that it comes out in is a molcajete. We have two mocajetes. The meat one has steak, shrimp, grilled chicken. But then it also has cactus. It has Cambrai onion and then it has queso fresco, which is a fresh cheese that we put right onto the grill.Our seafood Molcajete comes with all of the seafood and then it's topped with the sauce and then they're both served with rice, beans, lettuce, sour cream and guacamole. It's delicious and it's steaming hot. It's one of those dishes where pictures are coming up before the forks are.”
For messy meets Mexican try the Mariscada Sinaloa- a take on a classic seafood boil.
“Our Mariscada Sinaloa has corn, potatoes..shrimp, mussels, crab legs and octopus that is made with our secret sauce. I would say it's messy. I mean, if you're on a first date maybe not, but it's, it's very good. When it's this delicious, people don't mind getting messy.”
There are Mexican classics like this slow simmered mole served over chicken enchiladas or the fan favorite birria tacos.
“It's slow cooked. When it goes into your mouth, it literally just melts. It's super soft. It's our number one dish here.”
But the kitchen also likes to get creative with the classics and cook up dishes like this Hawaiian take on fajitas.
“Our Hawaiian fajita is steak, chicken, shrimp and chorizo. You get all your fresh veggies, and it's tossed in the Hawaiian sauce and they put it into an actual pineapple and then it's covered with mozzarella cheese, and it just comes out nice and hot and bubbling. It's beautiful.”
And no meal is complete at Plaza Mexico without a slice of their deep fried cheesecake topped with caramel, chocolate, and lots of whipped cream.
“It's the perfect way to end your meal. You got that crunch from the dough on the outside and that sweet cheesecake in the inside. You gotta try it.”
And from sensational starters to sweet endings, you’ll find one thing in common with every dish- and it’s the love Alexandra and her team put into each and every plate.
“I go home at night and I come to work being happy because I'm doing something that I love. Yes, you know, food is great, but I think what really fills me is when people leave happy, when people say, Hey, we love your restaurant. We're coming back to your restaurant because we love the food, we love the ambience, we love the people. We love everything about your restaurant. I love Plaza, Mexico, so I won't serve anything to anyone where I feel is not up to my standard, and my standard is very high for the food that's coming out of that kitchen.”
