Cornejo's offers best of both worlds

Most Mexican restaurants around these parts fall into two categories: Tex-Mex or authentic Mexican.

But Cornejo's Food and Drink, a new restaurant in Bedford that took over the corner shopping center space vacated by Tequila Factory, carves out a category of its own: Am-Mex.

It stands for American-Mexican, and it reflects the heritage of its owners. Delia McGrath's maiden name is Cornejo; she and her brother Victor Cornejo, who is the chef, bring the Mexican to the menu. But they also offer a few American dishes like ribs and American chop suey.

Regardless of cuisine, all of the dishes sampled had a simple honesty about them. The ingredients were fresh and well handled. There's no need to ask if their food is made from scratch; you could tell by eating it.

The "talker" on the menu was the Am-Mex chop suey ($8.95), with large elbow macaroni in bolognese sauce, served with fragrant garlic toast. The dish was a little like what Mom might make, except it was a better version, hearty and homey. The bolognese was chunky tomato sauce with chopped onions, bell peppers and other vegetable shreds, plus scrambled hamburger, all of which added vivid flavor.

BBQ ribs ($12.95) were a rack of a St. Louis-style ribs under a thick blanket of ruddy barbecue sauce, served with coleslaw and french fries. These ribs wouldn't compete with ribs from a true-blue barbecue joint, but they were a completely respectable version with lots of meat on the bone that fell away with a tug. The coleslaw, consisting of shredded purple cabbage in an unseasoned mayonnaise dressing, was dull, but the crunchy batter-coated seasoned french fries were fabulous, some extra-long, all crispy on the outside and fluffy within.

Fajitas ($14.95) can be ordered with beef, chicken, shrimp, veggie or a combination. The beef was tender and flavorful. The meat had been marinated in a garlic dressing and cooked until its edges were dark and crusty. But the most popular Mexican dish is the soft tacos, available with half a dozen fillings, from veggie ($6.95) to pulled chicken ($7.95) to brisket ($10.95). Sides include your choice of three kinds of beans: black, refried or an especially soulful charro bean.

Chicken pozole soup ($3.95 cup, $4.95 bowl) had big, tender chunks of white-meat chicken in a complex, slightly spicy broth. The soup was delivered to the table at just the right temperature -- hot but not so hot that you couldn't handle it. It was part of an overall almost finicky attention to detail. If you like nurturing service, this is the place.

If you like happy-hour prices, this is your place, too: It offers $3 house margaritas 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.