johnny sanchez – Baltimore Magazine

Review: Johnny Sánchez

Jess Mayhugh — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:43:59 +0000

The scene is almost surreal for two longtime Baltimoreans as we settle onto our barstools under a canopy of tequila barrels at Johnny Sánchez, the Mexican taqueria inside the new Horseshoe Casino. To our right are chirping slot machines with names like Mystical Unicorn and Boingy Beans, to our left M&T Bank Stadium glowing purple in the distance.

We’re having a definite, “Did I swallow the worm?” moment even before our first round of margaritas.

On a rainy Wednesday night, it’s hardly a full house at the Mexican taqueria. The clientele ranges from a group of business types in khakis and golf shirts to a table of white-haired AARP-card carriers to two guys outfitted head to toe in Ravens gear.

No one looks like they’re expecting mind-blowing gastronomy, which is a good thing, because that’s not what you’ll find here. The Johnny Sánchez experience is best described as fun dining, not fine dining. But three stars in the Michelin Guide isn’t what anyone’s after. When celebrity chefs John Besh and Aarón Sánchez devised the concept (the Baltimore location is the first in a chain that now includes a New Orleans outpost), they aimed to create a restaurant that serves “great food without the price tag or attitude.”

With those expectations in mind, the duo has largely succeeded. Each of our three visits began with a skillfully mixed cocktail. During our first, we sat in the dining room, a soaring space that’s just one component of the 6,100-square foot facility that includes the bar, a lounge, and (as far as we know) the only private tequila tasting room in Baltimore. Latin music spun by a DJ mixes with cheering, groaning, and beeping from the casino floor to create a cacophony of sound. It’s seldom quiet here.

We asked our cheerful server if the margaritas were made using store-bought simple syrup. He didn’t know—a recurring theme—but was eager to find out. Just under six months old, the restaurant seems to have struggled to find polished help, but it’s clear that the staff is hungry to grow. Everyone we encountered, from busboys to servers to bartenders to managers, seemed genuinely invested in our happiness. And our salsa bowls and water glasses were well tended to throughout our meal.

The Johnny Sánchez experience is best described as fun dining, not fine dining. Michelin stars are not what anyone’s after.

Turns out the margaritas contain entirely fresh ingredients, including house-made sour mix. Each variety we sampled was delicious. Be forewarned: We almost committed the cardinal Mexican restaurant sin, filling up on addictive chips (from Fells Point’s Tortilleria Sinaloa) and salsa.

The black bean sopes, one of five shared entradas, or appetizers, are an intriguing place to start. The bite-sized corn shells are artfully presented and filled with carnitas pork, lime crema, and corn salsa. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful, but, taken as a whole, the dish lacked kick. It could have been bolstered by the serrano peppers served on some of the tostadas. The lobster ceviche with grilled mango was the best of several tasty varieties.

Many items on the menu are priced twice. (Show a Total Rewards card, available for free in the casino, and pay a few dineros less.) Traditional Mexican favorites are the best bets. The tortillas used for both the tacos and burritos didn’t overpower meat and vegetable options, including shredded chicken, skirt steak, crispy pork belly with black beans and herbed rice, and more exotic offerings like the slow-roasted goat and pickled cactus taco. Of primary importance, they maintain their structural integrity, always a key factor when eating Mexican food with your hands. Also of note, the kitchen has a winning way with the tasty tostadas.

Especialidades (specialties) are less consistent. Ambitious dishes like baby goat stew in a Jalisco-style broth and redfish stuffed with beans, corn, and habañero cream sauce are complex and reward those willing to embrace the intensity of their textures, flavors, and smells. More basic offerings like roasted chicken and a grilled rib-eye are a bit bland, but a good counterbalance for diners with less adventurous palates.

Cigar-sized cinnamon churros, served with gooey dulce de leche and Mexican spiced chocolate, are a sweet way to end an enjoyable meal. Time will tell whether Johnny Sánchez survives on the backs of the slot jockeys and card sharks taking a break from the tables, or becomes a destination for Baltimore residents who’ve never rolled a pair of dice. We recognize its potential and admire its attitude, so either way, we’re wishing it buena suerte.

JOHNNY SÁNCHEZ 1525 Russell St., 443-931-4575.
HOURS 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily, with a limited menu between 11 p.m.-2 a.m.
CUISINE Modern Mexican.
PRICE Appetizers $7-8.50; entrees $6-8.50; desserts $9.
ATMOSPHERE South-of-the-border chic.

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Horseshoe Casino Bar Guide

Jess Mayhugh — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 14:00:00 +0000

Casinos are confusing. They intentionally don’t display clocks, there are mazes of slot machines, and, let’s be honest, your mind is usually in a foggy state—from consuming one too many or weeping over your lost life savings.

So we wanted to help you navigate the nearly 10 unique spaces to grab a drink, catch some live music, or enjoy a brief respite in Horseshoe Casino until you’re ready go out and face the big, bad house again.

14Forty: The only 24-hour bar in Baltimore is so named because there are 1,440 minutes in a day. Located in the dead center of the casino, this one is hard to miss. The multi-level space features a semi-circular bar at its base, a stage above the TVs, and a mezzanine lounge for bottle service and VIP tables. The stage hosts acts like Beatles tribute bands, country music on military appreciation night (Tuesdays), and karaoke contests. The “screen ribbon” that projects various lighting displays can turn into four TVs during sports games. Essentially, this is the nightclub of Horseshoe or the “heartbeat of the casino,” as one staffer told me.

B’More Beers: On the bottom floor of the casino is one of our favorite parts, the marketplace, which eschews most casinos’ chain-friendly inclusions for locally owned businesses (like Heavy Seas, Mallow Bar, and Tark’s). At its center is B’More Beers—a completely local beer bar with 22 taps that rotate regionally sourced craft beer. The bar features all the usual suspects you’d think of: Heavy Seas, Flying Dog, DuClaw, Union Craft, The Brewer’s Art, Raven Beer, and Stillwater. The bar will be hosting a Black Friday beer tasting on Nov. 28 from noon-6 p.m., where tickets get you 10 5-oz. samples and 15-percent discounts at the marketplace.

Twisted Yard Bar: Another marketplace location is Twisted Yard, which isn’t local but instead New Orleans-inspired. The bar serves up frozen drinks, with your choice of liquor, that come in a souvenir pint glass glass ($8-10) or a more festive 36-inch tall plastic vessel ($15). Flavors include strawberry, piña colada, peach, lemon ice, mojito, rum runner, and margarita. (Plus, if you’re feeling bold, you can “energize” your drink with Red Bull for a $4 up-charge).

Tag Bar: If you just can’t shake the urge to gamble, there is Tag. This is a sports junkie’s heaven with electronic table games at every seat, more than 40 televisions throughout, and a constant ticker tape of sports updates. We didn’t sample anything at this flashy, bright red space for fear of sensory overload, but Tag boasts “beers from around the world” on its website.

Diamond Lounge: This one was extremely hard to find (top floor, back corner) but with good reason as this is Horseshoe’s exclusive VIP lounge. The space is only open to Diamond or Seven Stars level players (the top two tiers at Caesar’s). Maybe if you play your cards right, you’ll end up in this swanky exclusive space—adjacent to the beautifully elaborate Asian gambling rooms and with access to outside balconies.

Johnny Sánchez: This John Besh-Aarón Sánchez hybrid restaurant boasts a huge bar and a tequila-tasting room with nearly 50 version of the agave-based liquor. The tasting room is small, though there has somehow been room for private dinners, and diners can sample tequila flights inside or rent it out (in advance) for group events. Of course, there is also a standard cocktail list—we recommend the fragrant and spicy jalapeño margarita or the boozy prickly pear lemonade with Maker’s Mark. (Soak it up with delicious tostadas, like the crab and jalapeño or pumpkin and pomegranate.) The restaurant also features salsa lessons on Thursday nights and live flamenco guitar on the weekends.

Guy Fieri Restaurant & Bar: If want you want is over-the-top and excessive Americana, this is the place. The cocktail menu sounds like something out of a hair-metal biopic (there is actually something called the Crazy Hagar made with Sammy’s own rum) combined with all your college go-to libations (lemon-drop and sweet-tea cocktails abound). If you’re so moved, there are also frozen shots made with liquid nitrogen. The Buffalo lollipop wings passed our bar-food test and there’s a courtyard right outside that features live music for Ravens tailgates and, otherwise, is open seasonally (April-October).

Jack Binion’s Steak: For something a bit more upscale, there is the white-tablecloth atmosphere of Jack Binion’s Steak. The front room features an illuminated marbled bar and hight-top tables, as well as live jazz on the weekends. (Throughout December, there will also be a jazz brunch.) We really liked the iPad-based wine list, which was easy to use and constantly updated to reflect what’s in stock. We tried a perfectly temperature-controlled bottle of Sanctuary 2010 cabernet sauvignon that would pair well with many of the cuts on the menu.

It should be noted that all of the bar spaces abide by the same happy-hour deal: On Monday-Friday from 4-7 p.m., drinks are 2-for-1 and appetizers are half-priced.

Good luck out there!

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Gamble On a Great Meal At Horseshoe

Jane Marion — Fri, 15 Aug 2014 14:52:00 +0000

Even if you don’t want to play at any of the gaming tables at the new Horseshoe Casino, you might want to take a table at one of the many restaurants inside the $442 million adult entertainment complex opening on Aug. 26.

“This will be as much a food destination as it is a gaming destination,” says Horseshoe Baltimore vice president and assistant general manager Alex Dixon, who gave us a sneak-preview tour today. “We wanted to strike the right balance between gaming and hospitality.”

So get ready to put your money where your mouth is.

Guy Fieri’s Baltimore Kitchen & Bar is one of the casino’s three celebrity chef-driven restaurants. Diet be damned and indulge in Old Bay wings, a massive mac-n-cheese bacon burger, or the Guy-Talian Deli salad laden with imported Italian meats and cheeses.

Celebrity chefs Aarón Sánchez and John Besh will also join the culinary roster with upmarket Mexican cuisine at Johnny Sánchez. Menu items will include sophisticated south-of-the-border fare such as lobster-and-mango ceviche, cactus salad, blue-crab corn elote, and braised goat stew with warm tortillas. The space also includes a swank private room for tequila tasting.

Although the Horseshoe is counting on drawing tourists, there’s plenty for the locals, too.

Hometown celebrity baker Duff “Ace of Cakes” Goldman, owner of Charm City Cakes, will supply his creative confections at Jack Binion’s Steak House. Furthering the local angle, Horseshoe has a unique food court/grab-and-go area that invokes a farmer’s marketplace, featuring Baltimore-based businesses such as Lenny’s Deli, Tark’s Grill, and Heavy Seas Alehouse. (Can you say, “Bye-bye buffet?”)

Explains Dixon, “We are paying homage to the history of farmer’s markets in Baltimore. Some of these spots are also an homage to folks in the county.”

Equally refreshing, there’s no big-chain coffeehouse in sight. Baltimore-based The Mallow Bar will serve their signature crunchy rice cereal treats as well as a full roster of coffee drinks. (We’re told casino honchos found The Mallow Bar while scouring the Baltimore Farmers’ Market.)

“This could have been a Starbucks,” points out Dixon, “but we thought it would be unique to have something from the local market.”

Restaurant reservations will soon be available on Open Table.

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