Since opening in 1983, Arlington Tex-Mex outpost Campo Verde is coming towards the end of its most tumultuous year ever. The Christmas-themed restaurant in Dalwothington Gardens (which is known for three things: as the home to Pantera, cops and this restaurant) abruptly closed in January. Then it was revived in March by new management and kitchen staff from chef Mouhssine “Moose” Benhamacht. Now, just months after officially reopening in June, the restaurant announced that it will close its doors on Christmas Eve.
The Moroccan chef and restaurateur is also behind Arlington’s Cafe Americana, one of our favorite new restaurants in the city. With chef Moose at the helm, we were excited to see what a spruced-up Campo Verde would look like. And, honestly, taste like. The quirkiness and bazillion Christmas lights inside outshown the cuisine for 40 years. .
About That Orange Dip Though
What do we mean? Take it from our food editor Lauren Drewes Daniels, who described the interior of thousands of Christmas lights being circled by a toy train as “a kaleidoscope of crazy.” The food? “Marginal at best and nuclear at worst,” Daniels wrote of a bowl of neon orange dip, a pillar of the first iteration of the spot.
But to what avail? Campo Verde remained a nostalgic dive for generations of families, even if our critical eye would be right to point out some flaws. When it closed in January, Benhamacht was faced with the difficult task of revamping an aging classic while still maintaining a bit of its charm…