Mike Morones/The Gazette Popular fare at Laredo Grill includes, from right, the fajita combination no. 1, steak, chicken and shrimp served with pico de gallo, tortillas and refried beans, and the broiled salmon served with rice and black beans.

Festival at Muddy Branch is that shopping center, anchored by Weis Market, that seems just within reach from I-270. But to get there, take one of the following that intersects Muddy Branch Road: East Diamond Avenue, Chestnut Street, Sam Eig Highway to Diamondback, Great Seneca Highway or Darnestown Road.

Why do you want to find this place? Because it's good.

Located in the freestanding section of the shopping center, Mario and Martha Amaya's Laredo Grill is a cozy, postage stamp-sized place. It was formerly the home of the French bistro Le Paradis. The wedge-shaped dining room holds about 40 diners. The décor, natural quarry tile floor, lace café curtains, white tubular chairs, is simple. A couple of sombreros and posters of El Salvador set the tone. As in many local Tex-Mex type of places, the chef is Salvadoran.

Chef Fredis Canales is an artist. His seafood soup could have come from a page of Gourmet magazine. The cantaloupe-colored stock (made from tomatoes, cream, clam, lobster and shrimp stock), garnished with cilantro, holds an open clam shell adorned with scallops, shrimp and clams.

The mussels marinara are magnificent, replete with slices of ginger and garlic. Don't be put off by the menu typo that describes a cherry wine sauce; it probably means a sherry wine sauce.

Another menu puzzlement reveals a treasure as well. I don't know why the tamal de elote is described as a green corn tamal -- it's sweet yellow corn and it is sweet and delicious.

I found the pork filled pupusa a little dry and missed the slaw served with them in many places, but my dining companions thought they were just fine.

Laredo Grill serves all the dishes you'd expect -- quesadillas, enchiladas, chimichangas and burritos. The thin chips and chunky, but not very spicy, salsa are addictive. The steaming fajitas platters are justly popular. Our chicken fajita was nicely marinated and scored from the grill. Moist and flavorful, it rested on a bed of carmelized onions.

Onion fanciers also will pollo encebollado, a boneless half roasted chicken smothered in sautéed sweet Spanish onions. Another chicken dish with appeal is pollo Laredo, a deft rendering of grilled chicken breast served with sautéed onions, green peppers and tomatoes. The accompanying white rice was mounded like a homage to El Tazumal itself, whose picture hangs on the wall.

As good as these are, the kitchen really shines when it comes to fish and seafood.

Marisco saltado is a flavorsome sauté of shrimp, scallops, tomatoes, onions and green peppers, garnished with fresh cilantro. Broiled salmon filet, salmon campeche, is perfectly done. It's garnished with shrimp and scallops and complemented by a cream sauce incorporating lobster, shrimp, clam juice, sherry and a dash of cayenne.

From these, I would bet that the other two seafood entrees, camerones entomatados (Salvadoran style sautéed shrimp with tomato sauce) and mariscada (a melange of seafood and shrimp cooked in a casserole with sherry and herbs) are winners, too. All seafood dishes are served with white rice and black beans.

Meat eaters are not neglected. Look for carne asada (a 10-ounce charcoal broiled New York steak), parrillada al carbon (a charcoal combo of New York steak, chicken breast and jumbo shrimp), mar y tierra (surf and turf, steak and shrimp) and tacos al carbon (tortillas stuffed with grilled beef or chicken).

If you are still yearning for food when it's time for dessert, there's flan, of course, chocolate mousse or tres leches. For something less sweet, try the sopapillas, deep fried pillows of dough drizzled with honey.

We had no problem with timeliness of service when we dined, but some diners have reported a long wait for food on a recent Saturday night. Perhaps it was a temporary staffing shortage.

Try a weeknight or lunch. Laredo Grill offers an extensive menu for lunch.