Liz, Bear’s step-daughter just opened an “eatery” in Hill City SD. For years she has been making Salsa and selling it at “shows”, where her reputation grew and she started selling her Salsa and Tamales by the case.

Her eatery is non pretentious and gives you the feeling of eating in her own home kitchen. She prepares food the way she would do it for her own family, no “Tex Mex” gimmicks here, you get the real thing. She gave her maiden name to the eatery but also, Rico means “good food” in Mexican.

The tamales are to die for, they are addictive, the comments I heard from clients while I was there, were “They take good care of you here”, “This is home cooking and it is worth the wait”, “This is the best Enchilada I ever had”, and I am not even talking about the Carnitas, I tell you what, that was special!

Rooster (Liz’s husband) cooks his Carnitas on Saturday, for hours in a copper pot over an open flame.

While it is cooking, when he feels it is time, he adds a syrup made of burnt sugar and water that he prepares himself.

Towards the end of the cooking, he adds orange juice to the mixture.

All of it is slow cooked, and when the meat is finally ready, it falls apart and is absolutely delicious, you should have heard the rave reviews from the customers who had waited all morning for the Carnitas to be ready, while the wonderful smell was permeating the air on the street. He made something special for us while we were there, he added Cornish Hens to the pot and they cooked with the pork, Yum Yum, delicious!

So, if you are in Hill City SD, do not forget to stop by Rico’s eatery, say hello to Liz, mention we sent you there and enjoy the best Mexican food you ever had. 🙂