Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Family restaurant delivers amazing dishes in Ozarks
Pineville native, Alan Bone, brings delicious entrees to his hometown at Haven 55
With incredible Mexican cuisine and a large ‘Cantina Bar’, Acapulco Mexican Restaurant has quickly become a premiere restaurant in Northwest Arkansas.
Decorated to replicate the Mexican Riviera, Acapulco has made enormous strides in their four years in business.
Located at 1602 E. Robinson Ave., in Springdale, manager Clara Resendiz is extremely proud of the growth that her restaurant has made.
“We are always getting new customers, but we also have a lot of loyal, regular customers,” said Resendiz.
She gives a lot of credit to those regular customers for not only coming back for more of their tasty dishes, but also for spreading the word, or “word of mouth” as she put it which helps the restaurant expand to new customers.
The delicious cuisine is prepared by veteran grill-master Ruben Almacan, who Resendiz credits with a great deal of their success. She also notes that her entire staff is a huge part of why people love to come back.
“We try our best to treat all of our customers well with great service, fresh and quality food, and just make them feel welcome,” Resendiz said. “I love talking with the people that come in and making sure all of our customers leave satisfied.”
This menu full of classic TexMex as well as new Hispanic dishes for all customers. With three types of Nachos (Bean & Cheese, Fiesta and Fajita), Taquitos, Quesadillas, Shrimp Besitos and two kinds of queso, Acapulco’s appetizer menu is great for a crowd or one as they come in half orders and full orders. There is also an ‘Appetizer Sampler”, which includes nachos, taquitos, quesadillas.
Resendiz says that the Fajitas (beef or chicken) are the most popular menu item. “People just love them,” she said with a smile. “Whether its just the fajitas, the fajita tacos, fajita nachos — they just love it all.”
The Fajitas Famous Sizzling Platter starts at $9.99 for one person, or for a couple $17.99. These are filled with either beef or chicken, tomatoes, onions and green peppers. As well as lettuce, pico de galo, tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, rice and beans. A great deal for a fantastic, and filling dish. And instead of beef or chicken, Acapulco has Shrimp Fajitas for $11.50 for one, and $20.95 for two. With the option to have all three (chicken, beef and shrimp) for $10.95 and $19.99.
Shrimp is a huge part of the Acapulco menu, with it dominating the Seafood Specialties that are served. The Shrimp a la Parrillada is red snapper and grilled chicken for $13.99, the option of just a Shrimp Cocktail is available for $10.99. Another seafood favorite is the Shrimp Alambres which includes scallops and catfish for $12.99.
“That’s what makes us different than most of the other Mexican restaurants, it’s the variety we offer on our menu,” Resendiz said. “You won’t find shrimp at many other places.”
Cheese Enchiladas and Spinach Enchiladas are great nonmeat options while there are Beef Enchiladas and Chicken Enchiladas for those that want it all. All of these priced at $7.99.
The menu also comes with a large variety of non-Mexican specialties, with three choices of 8-ounce rib-eye steaks that range from $11.99 to $12.99 for the Acapulco steak, which is served with four shrimp, as well as steamed vegetables and fries.
A popular menu item that is ordered is the Sopa de Tortilla, which is a classic Mexican chick-
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special that varies each day. All Lunch menu items are $8 or lower, which is a great deal for the quality of food.
At 2 p.m. each day, Haven 55 closes for three hours until the dinner time customers begin to come in at 5 p.m. where they are open until 9 p.m.
At 5, customers can taste delicious entrees such as the Pork Chops, Haven 55 Chicken, Fruiti Di Mar, Pork Tenderloin and the Cedar Wrapped Salmon.
“We have our incredible New York Strip that isn’t ‘a la carte’, it comes with two sides (a starch and a vegetable), for $25. Which also has our bleu cheese sauce, it is a great deal,” Pam said.
At dinner time the Hamburger, Croque Monsieur, Grilled Chicken Sandwich and Lunch salad are also available for the same price as at lunch.
Haven 55 also serves beer in bottles for $3, which include domestic beers as well as a Seasonal Craft beer. Wine is served for $5 a glass during lunch and dinner. The Tavern, is located next to Haven 55 has been open since 2013, a year after Haven 55 first opened its doors and is more of the casual setting with a bar, pool table and stage for live music.
“The Tavern is only open on Friday and Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. We have live music on Fridays and karaoke on Saturdays. We do serve our house-made pizza and other bar type fare in the Tavern. You can check out our web page at www. haven55.com to see who the entertainment is for each week. There you can also check out our menus and other information,” Pam said.
The homemade pizzas include seven signature pies and a buildyour-own pizza starting at $12. As well as wings that come in three house-made sauces; Asian, Buffalo, and orange-chipotle.
The Tavern and Haven 55 are available for private parties on non-business days with a minimum purchase. Though, there are no reservations for parties of more than eight people are accepted on Friday and Saturday nights.
There are separate Facebook pages for Haven 55 and The Tavern. The website for both establishments is haven55.com. More information is available by calling (417) 223-2055.