A little slice of Texas

The El Felix, in Alpharetta’s new Avalon complex, is the latest from successful Atlanta restaurateur (and native Texan) Ford Fry.

Though it’s by far his most casual restaurant, it feels like the most heartfelt. The best cooking here happens inside that Venn diagram subset where chef-crafted integrity and sense of place intersect.

You can admire the tender bite of a tamale or the spice-speckled rumble of crisp skin along a fat, juicy slice of chicken fajita. You also feel in your heart that the mounds of iceberg lettuce and shreds of yellow cheese flanking an order of finger-blistering puffy tacos provide the right touch.

What you’re tasting is the native-son affection with which Ford and executive chef Kevin Maxey, also a Texan, created this food. I think they may be a bit too cheffy at times and perhaps a bit beholden to tradition at other times, but they go at this menu with smarts and soul.