Los Toltecos Mexican Restaurant

On Sunday, October 5, 2014, my daughter and I had lunch at Los Toltecos, the Mexican restaurant in Delco Plaza at 1046 Millwood Pike, on Route 50 east of Winchester. It is most readily accessed via Delco Plaza's entrance at the traffic light on Route 50.

The restaurant is on your right as you drive into the shopping center. Turn right at the first stop sign, and you'll be in front of the building, where parking is available.

Entry is through a front vestibule. A bench for waiting is to your right, along the front, with the receptionist/cashier's station nearby. The interior is partitioned into several rooms, separated by dividers. Seating is by booths along outside walls and either side of the center partition, and tables elsewhere.

A large room on the right has booths and tables, along with a bar along the right wall, with a dozen high-rise chairs for thirsty patrons, and several TV screens.

A hallway to the right of the bar leads to restrooms in the front, and goes past a private room with two long tables seating fourteen people each, plus a couple of small tables.

Al fresco dining is now available by a new concrete patio with an iron fence accessible from a door in the back. It is right next to Route 50, with its attendant traffic noise. Outside seating is at about a dozen metal tables with large umbrellas.

Los Toltecos is open every day; hours are Sunday, 11:00 AM-9:00 PM; Monday-Thursday, 11:00 AM-10:00 PM; Friday and Saturday, 11:00 AM-11:00 PM. Carryout service is available, and the phone number is (540) 665-0088.

The six-page menu's categories include Appetizers, Salads, House Specials, Burritos and Enchiladas, Seafood, Chicken, Combination Dinners, Vegetarian, Vegetarian Combos, Side Orders, Lunch, Kids, Desserts, and Beverages. An interesting feature is a list of definitions of True Mexican Cuisine.

We were immediately served salsa and a bowl of warm chips. My daughter ordered a non-alcoholic beer, and I asked for a Mexican Coke, which is made with sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. They didn't have that, and I settled instead for a lime-lemon Jarritos brand Mexican soft drink, made with sugar.

My daughter ordered Carnitas a La Plancha, chunks of marinated pork served with rice, refried beans, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, and a tortilla.

I decided on a Burrito Cancun, which came on a warmed square platter. It consisted of a large burrito stuffed with grilled chicken and minced chorizo, topped with melted American cheese and Pico de Gallo, accompanied by rice and refried beans.

My wife and I had first dined at Los Toltecos in 2005, the year it took over the location from Chason's Country Buffet and remodeled extensively. This address may also have been a Ponderosa Restaurant when we moved to Winchester in the summer of 1982.

The restaurant's name comes from the Toltec Empire, which flourished in Mexico and eventually collapsed, all well before the discovery of the New World by Europeans.

Los Toltecos is a chain of restaurants in Virginia at Alexandria, Ashburn, Fairfax, Lakeridge, and Sterling, along with one in Frederick, Maryland. Their Web page with menus is at www.lostoltecosrestaurant.com.