Luna Maya's sisters still cookin'

Luna Maya’s in a new location, but the food and drinks are still the ones we’ve come to love.

In April, the Mexican cantina run by sisters Karla and Vivian Montano moved to an expanded space with a more urban and sophisticated feel at 2010 Colley Ave. in Norfolk.

The restaurant, which opened in 1997 on Virginia Beach’s Aragona Boulevard, now has outdoor seating, weather permitting, that offers another venue for dining or relaxing.

It’s there that you can enjoy new signature drinks, scratch caipiroskas with lime, passion fruit, mango or pineapple, as well as the popular margaritas and mojitos. There are “skinny” options.

The new location is comfortably casual, though the high, open ceiling might make the sound level too loud for some patrons.

The restaurant’s guacamole ($7 or $12) is legendary. It’s judiciously seasoned, enabling the avocado to shine. A spicy version, with serrano peppers, also is offered. Chipotle salsa and chips ($4) are another tasty way to peruse the menu.

Taquitos con carnitas ($7), selected over beef, vegetarian and vegan options, delivered tender roast pork slices nestled in fried corn tortillas. When adorned with guajillo garlic salsa, the dish caused my party to hum with delight.

We wished that our server had asked us what temperature we wanted our Steak Chimichurri ($8). The pinker, more tender slices were preferred over the well-done ones; however, the herb-based sauce elevated their stature.

An appealing entree was the Salmon Divorciado ($18), fillets encrusted with tortilla and pepita (pumpkin seeds) atop red and green sauces with sauteed garlic spinach.

A side of cilantro lime potatoes ($3) was an added pleasure.

The Holy Moly burrito ($12) was selected from a half-dozen choices for its cilantro lime chicken filling. Completing the bundle of goodness were beans, rice, cheese, chipotle salsa and sour cream.

Dessert was a tough choice. I’m familiar with Luna Maya’s flan, tres leches, rum cake and torta de chocolate ($5 each), and all are good. We opted for the torta, served with fresh whipped cream, and it was rich and delicious.

Luna Maya is in a new grown-up space, but the Montano sisters’ passion for pleasing guests, with fresh fare and beverages with warm Bolivian hospitality, is the same old recipe that’s a keeper.

Tammy Jaxtheimer, flavor@pilotonline.com