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• La Piedad Mexican Restaurant

La Piedad Mexican Restaurant's Burrito la Piedad. (Frank Espich / Indy.com)

Queso Fundido and a cheese dip with chips. (Frank Espich / Indy.com)

La Piedad's Chicken fajita served with refried beans, lettuce tomato and guacamole. (Frank Espich / Indy.com)

While there certainly isn't a lack of options when it comes to Mexican cuisine in Indianapolis, there also doesn't seem to be a lack of eager eaters ready to munch on staples such as burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas and the like.

The tables always seem to be packed at Broad Ripple's La Piedad, a simple one-room restaurant decorated with the usual assortment of Mexico-themed memorabilia.

My husband, Pete, and I met our friend, Terry, for a Saturday lunch and found our trio seated at a table more suited for a duo -- most likely to reserve larger tables for the groups of twentysomethings who soon filled the place.

A server took our drink orders as he passed out the menus, then promptly returned with the icy beverages and stood ready to record our food choices. Trouble was, we hadn't yet decided. He dropped by twice more within minutes, although we were still clearly perusing the pages. As Terry noted, the place seems to have "an army of servers" who clearly want to hasten things along and keep the tables moving. That's great if you're in a hurry, not so great if you're hoping to work a little conversation into the meal.

We nibbled on the complimentary chips and salsa, the latter a nicely spicy, thick version, and eventually decided on an appetizer to tide us (and the server) over. The queso fundido ($5.55) arrived on a sizzling platter, with plenty of crumbly chorizo mixed with gooey queso blanco, bell peppers and onions. Two small flour tortillas accompanied the mix, but we mainly relied on chips for dipping. The chorizo had a zesty kick that nicely offset the mild cheese.

We did eventually decide on entrees, which arrived promptly, of course. I decided on the Burrito La Piedad off the lunch menu ($6.25), an offering that still proved to be substantial despite the smaller size a lunch portion implies. Stuffed with lightly seasoned ground beef and topped with the usual accompaniments of cheese and lettuce, it was pretty much what you expect from a burrito.

Pete's enchiladas verdes ($7.75) won both of us over with a spicy green sauce spooned over three tidy tortilla-wrapped bundles of cheese, chicken and beef. A nicely sized portion, it provided a satisfying midday meal.

Terry went with his La Piedad standby, chicken fajitas, this time ordered off the lunch menu ($6.75). Again, there was plenty of food to be had: a pile of thinly sliced and grilled chicken, along with onions and peppers, accompanied by cold sides of shredded cheese, lettuce and pico de gallo. I sampled Terry's chicken, which was liberally seasoned with a savory mix of Mexican spices for extra kick.

La Piedad is a busy place, with what seems to be a constant turnover of tables and, quite often, a line at the door. Nothing about the place set it above and beyond other local Mexican eateries, but the food is solid and prices are affordable.

Taste Test

Appetizer:

• Queso fundido, $5.55

Entrees:

• Enchiladas verdes, $7.75

• Burrito La Piedad, lunch portion, $6.25

• Chicken fajitas, lunch portion, $6.75

- By Julie Cope Saetre / Indy.com correspondent