Avery Eldredge|Reporter

Plum Loco has been a staple to the Idaho Falls Mexican restaurant scene for over two decades. It was started in 2002 by the same man that owned the restaurant Mi Casa before it. It was then sold to its present owners in 2017. I picked this restaurant to review because it’s been a family favorite since my dad was a kid. Unfortunately, it seems there have been some changes in the last couple of years.

When you first walk into the restaurant you’ll notice the excellent service and a warm, inviting atmosphere. When seated they’ll bring you chips, made in-house, and delicious homemade salsa. The salsa is what has set Plum Loco apart from other Mexican restaurants in the area. The smooth-style salsa is served in squeeze bottles, allowing every warm chip to be customized to each person’s liking. They have an interesting selection of non-alcoholic drinks including Shirley Temples and Buck Rogers. The Mucho Nachos are what’s always kept us coming back. They’re served almost like Mexican pizza with toppings spread evenly so that each bite is the perfect nacho. 

Outside of their nachos, there’s not much variety in their flavor profile. We ordered the carne asada tacos which mainly consisted of a lot of oil and some salt. The onions didn’t add any flavor, nor did the cilantro. We also ordered the Poco Loco which was good, given that it was a fried tortilla topped with melted cheese, but there was too much cheese resulting in a soggy center. Another thing that we ordered was the chicken Flauta which was underwhelming because it had almost no flavor, was very salty, and the chicken was dry. The last thing that we ordered from the main menu was the chicken quesadilla, which had a good ratio of chicken to cheese.

After the main course, we moved on to dessert. They didn’t have a very broad dessert selection but from it, we ordered the fried ice cream and it was delicious. It was good quality ice cream rolled in cornflakes and served in a crispy, flour tortilla bowl. We ordered two, one topped with caramel and the other with chocolate, both finished with a substantial pile of whipped cream. It was a delightful finish to our meal. Although the dinner portion was lacking in some ways the ambiance and service were truly inviting. And of course,  the chips and salsa will keep us coming back again and again.