La Casa del Maiz has closed.
This is the food blog called mmm-yoso!!! The bloggers here are usually Kirk, sometimes ed(from Yuma) and sometimes Cathy. Today is one of those sometimes Cathy days.
Well. This has been a crazy summer so far. The Mister and I seem to have something scheduled every day, but aren't overly busy…just home-type chores, which includes gardening and the occasional Home Depot and food runs. We have been cooking at home a lot and were thrilled when we found out that Penzey's Spices was opening a San Diego location. Kirk posted about one of his Penzey's stops during a Torrance Road Trip in 2010. The Mister and I get excited when the Penzeys catalog shows up every couple of months and usually make two orders a year, to save on shipping charges. The spices, herbs and blends are so fresh and interesting. We decided to take a drive West, to the Hillcrest area of town to see "our" new Penzey's store.
The store is located on University Avenue one block East of the Ralphs/Trader Joe's Center, in the same parking area that has the Starbucks. Apparently that little mall is named Hillcrest Colonnade.
The display area inside is mostly stacked wooden crates and even this kitchen vignette (I grew up with a Kelvinator refrigerator just like this one; a common sight in Detroit). See the larger jar in the middle on top of that fridge? That's a sample jar. There is one with just about every product in the store- you can smell the herbs, spices, whole chilis and blends (there are even glass bottles with the liquid extracts for you to sniff). It was like reading the catalog but live!
As I said, we have purchased items from here before and sort of knew what we wanted… but of course we got more than that. The blends are very convenient and have all the flavors we like and would end up mixing anyhow. (The Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning was our 'gift' when we presented a coupon from the catalog which we had received in the mail.)
Really, I only came here for the peppers- they are unusually moist and fresh…they smell 'rich' and almost buttery in the sample jars; that's the only way I can explain it. They are not all dry like the stuff from dusty packages on store shelves that need to be reconstituted or added to liquid to get at the flavor. I don't use much for the flavors I like and the smaller size portions available are just right for a few months.
We then headed East on University and in the newer City Heights mall area (with the Albertsons, McDonald's, Starbucks among other stores) made a stop (for the second time now) at this clean, modern tortilleria, La Casa del Maiz.
Basically a tortilla factory
which sells a few other related items
shelf stable milk, eggs, cheeses, salsas and a refrigerator of beverages, mostly Jarritos.
On this visit, we went all crazy and purchased a dozen flour and a dozen corn (you are given a choice of white or yellow) tortillas. The corn are wrapped in paper and are sold by weight. How much are these still warm , fresh made tortillas?
Yes. A dozen fresh, hot corn tortillas *and* a dozen fresh, nicely thin and flaky flour tortillas…that's the price.
Since it was close to lunch time, we continued East on University, down to one block West of the Kroc Center. This sign is on what used to be a Starbucks and can be seen from the street. The restaurant is just to the left in this photo.
Walk in and that's the menu: Burritos, carnitas by the pound, quesedillas, sopes, soups, tacos, plates, posole, tortas, tostadas maravilla and chilaquiles. The by the pound carnitas are not at all the only meat here, although (so far) I like it very much.
Neat and clean, there is seating for 60 inside.
If you order to eat in, sides are brought to your table when you order.
As well as a salsa bar at the front, if you are buying something 'to go'. As an aside, the green hot sauce tastes green-and is hot/spicy. The orange hot sauce is very pleasant and has a mild, if any, heat.
On our first visit we ordered one pound of carnitas ($10.99). It comes with rice, beans(cooked with lard and runny, in a good way) and a dozen corn tortillas.
The carnitas are just filled with flavor, moist with a little crispness, not fatty and just right. This serving of one pound was substantial for the two of us; we had leftovers (especially of the tortillas, which are good, but not when compared to those from La Casa del Maiz)
This was the recent meal- a carnitas taco ($2.39) and a cheese quesedila ($2.79)-filled with all white cheese and very good with the hot sauces offered.
The al Pastor burrito ($4.99). The marinated meat is tender, flavorful and plenty in the burrito, which has some rice and the wonderful wet beans, the al pastor marinade and avocado. This was a wonderful surprise and I now want to order the other meats on the menu…
All in all, a nice drive, great food and shopping and we were almost home. I hope all of you are having a good week.
Penzey's Spices 1274 University Avenue San Diego 92104 (619) 297-2777
La Casa Del Maiz 4403 University, Suite 100 San Diego, 92105 (619) 283-3566
Carnitas Las Michoacanas 6503 University Avenue San Diego 92115 (619)229-9574
I knew Penzey’s Spices was coming to SD, but I didn’t know when it was open. I think I’ll have to replicate your shopping trip – it looks like fun. Now when to do it …
I think it did just open Sandy; There was a mention on the front page of Section S in the Sunday paper. It’s so nice to be able to see and smell the whole catalog. If they are making tortillas when you go to Casa, mention that you have never tasted theirs; you might get a (very hot) sample (we did the first time). It’s a nice drive; the ‘original’ San Diego main street.
Great post. Good to hear about Penzey’s. And a tortilleria! And carnitas!! Hog heaven!!!
Great news on Penzey’s, this will definitely save me shipping fees and wait time from ordering online, I love their chili peppers, vanilla, cinnamons, and paprikas. ๐ Excited to check it out this weekend!
I can’t believe how dirt cheap those tortillas are! Great deal! Must check them out one day, along with Penzey’s (which I’d never heard of before).
We just drive and the start exploring, ed. Seeing Penzey’s “live” was better than I could imagine. It was another nice adventure to share, especially the lovely carnitas.
You’ll really like it Lori. Looking at the website, $30 and free shipping, although I’ve never spent $30 at once…but if I bought everything I wanted instead of exercising restraint, $30 would have been easy to hit.
By the pound tortillas, cc! They really are the best, even the flour ones, which are not made there, are very fresh and wonderful when heated in a pan for a moment. Oh, check out Penzey’s online, or Kirk’s post: it’s so nice for home cooking and baking. My first purchase was French Four Spice (quatre epices) that I used to make the best flavored cake and bread ever.
La Casa del Maiz is a good example of why my area (the Northeast) seriously needs some more Mexican immigrants, so I can get some glorious tortillas like those (heck, I’d be satisfied to find a place with good fresh masa).
And one of the saddest things for us moving away from Minnesota was no longer having a Penzey’s in walking distance…
I love Penzey’s! We went to one on our trip to Portland and I kept saying how awesome it would be if we had one in SD. Wish granted! I use the salt free version of season all and the bouquet garni. Looks like I need to restock my spices!
If you have extra flour tortillas, you can cut them into triangles, fry them up, and toss them in sugar and cinnamon. Easy bunuelos. My neighbors always did that with leftover tortilla.
I understand what you miss, Kas. When on vacation for only nine days, the first thing I want when getting back here is a real (soft shell) taco and carne asada. At least Penzeys is online.
I just used some Penzey’s Bouquet Garni yesterday,NWF! Haven’t tried Season All…but need to at least sniff it now. The kitchen vignette has the word “Cinnamon” on the wall- and every possible type of cinnamon is there…another reason to go back.
Hey Cathy – Thanks for the update. Just in time, I was going to need to restock on my Spanish paprika and full fat cocoa soon!
I didn’t need any paprika, but sniffed the California, Hungarian and Spanish choices and wanted some of each, Kirk. The cocoa was a page I used to skip in the catalog, but not here; we spent more than an hour in the store…
Oh, I would love for fresh tortillas to be sold in London! So jealous of those corn ones!
i can’t wait to go to hillcrest for penzey’s–yay! also, i’ve passed that taco shop before, and it looks like i’ll need to make it in there soon too.
now…as to casa del maiz, i have to disagree (respectfully). i bought their molcajete roja salsa and a pound of yellow corn tortillas. not impressed at all. both items had that ‘corporate’ flavor to them (think of guerrero tortillas and random grocery store salsa). not enough spice! neither tasted authentic. needed to do a LOT of ‘doctoring’ to get the salsa to taste decent. i should’ve known when i walked in and didn’t smell that wonderful tortilleria aroma. RED FLAG. there are too many mom-and-pops in city heights where you can get excellent salsas and tortillas, so they may have a problem staying open. oh, and i also bought a bag of tortilla chips which contained a preservative (or whatever cellulose gum is). they tasted like something you’d get at von’s.
one grocery store i’d recommend for great warm tortillas (and tortilla chips of many different flavors, eg. habanero chips) is foodland (on euclid or the one on 43rd in national city). for salsas, northgate gonzalez sells many good ones (a new location opened up on 54th and university).
anyway, love your blog. don’t often comment, but i read it regularly. ๐
But Su-Lin, you have the Olympics and can see the events live (a running joke out here; we know the results but can’t see anything on TV until 9 hours later). Each part of the world has its own advantages.
Welcome to the commenting side of our blog, caligirl. It’s OK to disagree and I do hear you. The corn tortillas from La Casa del Maiz are different than the ones from the local in-store tortillerias (where I do shop); they are thinner and not as ‘textured’ and don’t dry out and get hard if left open on the counter. I think they have a good corn flavor when warmed in a pan before eating. We got the salsa de rojo and it was too hot and needed to be doctored down to be enjoyed; along with the chips and even flour tortillas, the other items sold here make it more of a convenient one stop place. (It does smell like a regular tortilleria if you happen to be there when the men are making the tortillas in the morning. They are fastidious about cleaning up after finishing for the day.)
Sadly the tortilleria is *closed*
Thanks, Mike. We drove by the other day, but I was distracted and didn’t check. There are other places to get tortillas nearby, but I liked the ones here.