Wild Salsa

Wild Salsa Restaurant Review:

Wild Salsa brings authentic Mexican with an upscale vibe to downtown Dallas, joining siblings Dallas Fish Market and Dallas Chop House. The atmosphere has a cool Day of the Dead theme, with vividly colored art and skull murals, rows of beads, reclaimed wood, and a column made from tequila bottles. Entrées include tender lamb shank barbacoa, accompanied by a poblano tamale kept moist by its wrapper of banana leaves; and slow-cooked chicken in a profoundly complex mole sauce. But the appetizers, salads and salsas nearly steal the show. Salsas come in five varieties, including grilled pineapple, and one made with fiery habaneros that leaves an after-burn on the lips. Salads are inventive, and often incorporate fruit; jícama with endive and cucumber also has freshly-cut oranges. Wine is secondary to Wild Salsa's fruity cocktails; its quartet of original margaritas is headlined by the Wild Rita, with jalapeño-flavored vodka and fresh jalapeños. Much of the furniture, including the tables and chairs and the massive carved wooden front doors, were reclaimed from the nearby Statler Hilton Hotel.