One of the best culinary trends going right now is the growth of upscale Mexican food. We all have tacos and enchiladas coming out of our ears, but what about some of the finer foods from south of the border? There are some real treasures whether it is traditional foods passed down from the Mayans to regional favorites from the Guadalajara area.

Raleigh’s first introduction to upscale Mexican was Jibarra . Formerly located next to Vinnie’s in North Raleigh, Jibarra was Mexican’s answer to shabashabu ; chic, well-prepared ethnic food. Jibarra went fairly strong for a couple of years, but the owners saw the Raleigh restaurant landscape and couldn’t deny that they should be downtown. Recently opened in The Depot complex, Jibarra is going strong and stands as one of Raleigh’s best, most interesting restaurants.

The decor in this incarnation of the restaurant is much more understated and rough, dropping chic in favor of the revived mill atmosphere found in several Durham restaurants. Beige is out, bricks and dark wood are in. While the restaurant looks fine, it appears that the designers quit at the bathroom doors. The concrete floors and bold wall colors are fine, but the 2×2 recessed fluorescent fixtures are an abomination. I love cool restaurant bathrooms, and was mightily disappointed here.

A couple of lunch trips showed just where Jibarra shines. The lunchtime offerings are broad and set at a reasonable price. We began with the guacamole, which was excellent, though it was not prepared tableside and, thus, contained lime juice. We moved on to the Conchinita Pibil which was impressive. Wrapped in a banana leaf, shredded pork shoulder marinated with annatto seeds and sour oranges was flanked by delicious pickled red onions. Three drops of habanero salsa finished the plate with a fiery kick.

The other appetizer we tried is one of the best dishes in downtown Raleigh; Quesadillas de Camaron. Throw out your previous experiences with “quesadillas” and imagine a delicious, creamy shrimp picadillo mixture trapped inside a pair of fried corn meal turnovers. The accompanying tomatillo-avocado salsa is absolutely delicious, and has enough acidity to perfectly balance the sweetness in the masa. I am usually not a big fan of seafood, but this dish is good enough to please even my palate.

Soups are very good at Jibarra. The black bean, Crema Negra, soup is served with an interesting crouton and has enough bacon to keep things interesting. The Sopa de Tortilla is probably the best of the soups. The parabolic bowl in which it is presented is reminiscent of an overhead dental light, and arrives with just solids. The waitstaff pours the broth at the table; a nice touch for an excellent, tomato-based tortilla soup.

The lunchtime entrees do not disappoint. The Enchiladas Gratinadas (chicken enchiladas) are good, and very different than what you get at local “kit” Mexican restaurants, but need a little kick. Our waitress brought out a small side dish of salsa rojo, a dark, smoky chipotle sauce that absolutely did the trick. Be sure to ask for this excellent accompaniment to wake up this dish. Tacos de Carne Asada are also very good, with fairly tender meat and a good vegetable medley alongside.

The star at lunch is the Tacos de Camaron. The presentation of the perfectly cooked sauteed shrimp is magazine quality, while the accompanying soft, corn tortillas and previously mentioned tomatillo salsa round out this fantastic, hearty lunch.

Yes, Jibarra does serve dinner, but I have to say that the restaurant is falling woefully short on their ambitious goal as the sun falls. Many of the delicious lunch offerings are available as appetizers at dinner. There is an interesting taco section of the dinner menu as well, that I have regrettably not explored. I imagine that it is the place to be, because the entrees so far have been a flop.

One of the most interesting sounding offerings is the Chilorio de Chamorro Verde (Mexican styled Osso Bucco). While ambitious, the dish ultimately ends up being a monotonous bowl of dark, brown, heavy meat and broth. When I was going to sleep it hit me; it’s a $19 bowl of meat. No starch. No beans. No vegetables. After five bites I was sick of it and coveting everyone else’s food.

One of Jibarra’s newest offerings coincides with the welcome rise of the al Pastor style of preparing meat. The Pollo al Pastor is marinated and grilled, and served on top of a lentil puree with chunks of pineapple and a whole new salsa; salsa verde. What arrived at my table was a vastly overcooked, dry piece of boneless chicken sitting on top of what looked like mashed potatoes but tasted only of cumin (and lots of it).

The restaurant is having trouble with its own success at night. Short staffed at times, the kitchen is getting frequently overwhelmed. Our food, at one visit, took 1 hour to make it to our table, and our waitress, who chose to read the menu to answer our questions, checked on us exactly 3 times in that period.

Certainly the current economy makes it hard to predict just how much staffing needs to be done. For the most part the service quality at Jibarra has been outstanding, especially at lunch. Hopefully the restaurant can gather itself for dinner, because that is really when the restaurant will earn their keep. While they are in downtown, 100 feet from an R-Line stop, Jibarra’s frontage is horrible. They will need to concentrate on making happy dinner customers to make the move worth it. Hopefully they will, because at this point they are a good restaurant with some outstanding highlights. In order for Raleigh be the the culinary mecca we desire, we need more restaurants like this to make it.

Jibarra serves dinner seven nights per week, lunch Monday thru Friday, and Sunday Brunch.

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