The Gallitos Snapper ($9.99) at Los Gallitos Restaurant (6579 West Bellfort, 713-726-9558) looks like it’s been carried through a culinary carnival. The ten-ounce slab of fish is covered in wedges of fresh tomato and medallions of sautéed jalapeño, crisscrossed with slices of red onion, speckled with bits of fresh cilantro and garlic and draped with melting streamers of Monterey Jack. A lightning-quick stint on the grill gives the snapper a delicate crust that doesn’t dissolve as it’s sautéed in generous amounts of butter, white wine and lemon juice. Encircled by helpings of borracho beans, rice, pico de gallo and guacamole, the fish is its most beautiful when ripped asunder, wrapped in the accompanying homemade flour tortillas and sopped in the rich butter gravy before disappearing between happy lips.
This article appears in Aug 22-28, 2002.