It’s been a while since another barbecue restaurant has opened in Greater Portland beyond Salvage and Elsmere. Otherwise, our restaurant world bulges with Asian and American bistro cuisines, with the plethora of small-plates in a continual burst of fusion flourishes. But now we have Terlingua, on the burgeoning restaurant row of Washington Avenue, formerly one of the grimiest byways in the city. But gentrification is everywhere in Portland, and even the disparities of this neighborhood are coming together.
The start of an outdoor patio and the pleasant interiors of Terlingua
Terlingua’s handle is to offer barbecue with a Latin flavor. After one visit (on opening night), my first impression has left me nonplussed regarding having a romp through a Latin style of barbecue. If you look deep and hard into the flavor profile of the menu, it does have a subtle Latin bent (more border cuisine of Tex-Mex), but I wouldn’t say it goes whole hog. There’s the use of various chilies; hominy (homemade or canned?) in the chicken pozole; the shell-on shrimp is bathed in a guajillo chili sauce. And such dishes as chicharron of pork belly with a honeyed glazed were impressive presentations.
