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My brother-in-law has been visiting this week from the Rocky Mountain West. During the past few days, he and my husband and I have more than once found ourselves reminiscing about one of our hands-down, all-time favorite restaurants, a little Mexican place in Salt Lake City called the Red Iguana.

What's so good about it? For one thing, the owners, the Cardenas family, have never backed down from serving authentic-to-the-core Mexican food, including seven varieties of mole and a multitude of other native specialties. The result? Legions of loyal fans crowd the expanded dining room and wait outside in snowstorms or heat waves for a coveted table, day and night. Yet somehow their prices remain as reasonable as ever.

I bring up the authentic offerings at Red Iguana only to set the stage for my meal at Winston-Salem's La Botana and to explain some of my feelings about the experience. Admittedly, we went with high expectations and Red Iguana memories fresh in our minds, but I had heard promising things about La Botana, including exclamations about its authentic cuisine. We couldn't wait to try the place.

In a strip of shops near Wal-Mart on Hanes Mall Boulevard, La Botana has a giant map of Mexico painted on one of its vibrant, sea-green walls and a smattering of potted and hanging plants. The bright colors and greenery help establish a festive mood.

About a year ago, the restaurant expanded to more than twice its original size, and I couldn't help wishing I'd made it to the smaller, original space. On our visit, the roomier addition left both dining rooms feeling somewhat vacant, with only a few tables in either one filled.

La Botana has two menus: one offering standard Mexican restaurant fare, the other more adventurous, authentic cuisine. We were given the standard menu, listing dishes found in almost every Mexican restaurant this side of the border, as well as a few more traditional items, including sopes and street tacos. Luckily we knew to ask for the special menu because our server made no mention of it.

This was the menu we had driven to Winston-Salem to try. Under the heading "Regional Cuisine," 13 items were listed, and although the descriptions were inviting, the prices were less so. A bowl of bean or tortilla soup for $10? Fish soup for $12? I had heard that prices here were more than reasonable, so these prices came as a shock. We decided to stick with the authentic menu anyway, in spite of the fact we'd be spending more than we had planned.

Several items tempted us, especially the Chuleton Huasteco (seasoned grilled pork chop covered with caramelized onions, served with nopales cactus and pineapple in chipotle sauce with rice, beans and tortillas), and Tacos de Espinaca (corn tortillas stuffed with grilled spinach, caramelized onions, corn and cotija cheese, served with salsa rojo, pintos and rice).

Craving mole, my brother-in-law tried the only one on the menu -- Mole de Pistachio, chicken in a creamy pistachio mole made with aromatics and served with rice and pintos. Before the chicken was served, a plate of barely warm rice and beans arrived, so he sent them back to be heated. The mole itself was somewhat flat-tasting -- herby (I tasted cilantro and oregano) and a little overly nutty, it was lacking in complexity and zest. The flavor took four or five bites before it kicked in. Served over a boiled leg and thigh, the dish left my brother-in-law a bit unsatisfied.

My husband decided on the Pechuga Poblana, grilled chicken breast perched in a pool of creamy garlic sauce topped with strips of poblano pepper, chopped onion and kernels of corn. Somehow, all the separate elements here stayed separate, never marrying into one flavorful dish.

Perhaps if the sauce had bathed everything or if the poblanos had been charred enough to melt into the chicken the result would have been more pleasing. As it was, the highest praise my husband could extend was "pretty good."

I ordered a small bowl of tortilla soup (off the regular menu) to start. More like my grandmother's chicken and rice soup than any tortilla soup I've had, it was a tasty, mild chicken broth thick with rice and garnished with chopped tomatoes, onions and cilantro and a few strips of crispy fried tortillas. It was good, but again something was missing -- spice and seasoning primarily. The soup arrived after our entres did, which was OK because my entre came out wrong.

Instead of the Tacos de Papa I ordered, Tacos de Espinaca were delivered.

After another 20 minutes, I got my order of potato tacos, but by then everyone else was finished, and my baby was beyond ready to get moving. I'm not sure why the tacos took so long to prepare after all, the restaurant was not busy.

The tacos consisted of deep-fried potato cubes wrapped with black beans in corn tortillas.

Everything but the potatoes should have been ready to assemble. They tasted fine, but I'm not sure such a humble dish merits the $10 price.

On a positive note, our waiter, the owner's nephew, was friendly, funny and charming. And the guacamole and house salsa were standouts -- nicely spicy cilantro-laden salsa and mashed avocado that was tangy with lime and chunky with tomato and onion.

Our waiter said his uncle wishes to serve primarily the more authentic dishes on the special menu but believes he has to accommodate American expectations with the more standard offerings. I appreciate what he's trying to do but wonder how the traditional dishes might flourish if he did away with the others. The standard menu is so extensive it seemed to distract from the regional selections, which showed great promise but felt unfocused.

Perhaps narrowing the offerings would let the regional dishes flower into something worth waiting in line.

Cheap Eats features local restaurants for diners on a budget. It runs every other week in Go Triad. Contact Angie DeCola at angiedecola@hotmail.com.