This is Ed (from Yuma) writing again today. A big thanks to Kirk (and Cathy) for letting me post stuff here and a big thanks to you for reading it.
I have already blogged about this small Mexican restaurant recently. It feels strange to do two posts about the same place, particularly when it is not even in Yuma, even though Tina and I have had two more interesting meals heresince my last post. So I promise this is my final post about Antojitos Como en Casa. Even if Anthony Bourdain asked me to meet him here for lunch, I would not blog about it; you would just have to see it on Parts Unknown.
The plain exterior has not changed: 
The bright and colorful interior is the same as well, but here is a picture of a wall in the side room: 
And this is the area that is a tribute to Jorge Negrete (or is that Pedro Infante?): 
The service at Antojitos has always been excellent, the waitstaff attentive, friendly, and helpful. On every visit, chips and salsa arrive in an instant: 
Here is a close-up of the brightly spicy green salsa, largely mashed roasted green chiles: 
And a close-up of the rounder and deeper dried red chili salsa: 
Again, the aguasfrescas ($3 large, $1.75 small) have been outstanding; in particular, on our visit in June, the watermelon fruitwater, which we had never had before, was crisp and flvaorful without being a sugar overload: 
On that June visit, Tina and I both had soup. She chose the chicken soup whose name I can never remember: 
Remarkably, this excellent and rich soup was different from the chicken soup I had a few months previously. Mine had had abundant chickpeas – Tina’s was more like a caldo de pollo, full of vegetables as well as tortilla strips, cheese, and red onion slices.
The broth in my menudo ($8.50) was fully flavored, savory and rich. In it, soft, succulent, yielding little pillows of tripe contrasted perfectly with abundant nixtamal: 
On our next visit, we ordered two different aguasfrescas (Antojitos always has 3 choices, but the choices have never been the same on any two visits). Tina had the cucumber/pineapple: 
I had lemon/strawberry: 
As good as hers was, I loved my lemon accented, intensely strawberry water even more. This place has the best aguasfrescas I have ever tasted – by far.
Since this visit was on a Saturday, Tina and I were looking forward to sharing an order of the lamb mixiote, available only Friday through Sunday. It soon arrived at the table: 
We decided on the option with beans and rice ($18.50), so we got a small bowl of soupy but tasty frijoles and plenty of Mexican Rice: 
The lamb also came with homemade yellow corn tortillas, smaller than regular corn tortillas with the bright golden color and a very corny taste: 
When we peeled the tinfoil back, we saw a whole lamb shoulder with a bone protruding at one end, the meat covered with parchment paper and surrounded by a rich and flavorful consommé: 
With the paper removed, we could see the moist braised shoulder, laden with herbs and spices, looking tender and inviting: 
The meat made wonderful simple tacos: 
Maybe the most flavorful braised lamb I have ever savored, and I have eaten (and cooked) a lot of lamb shacks over the years. One of the reasons for the savory complexity of the dish was the layer of maguey leaves we found underneath the mixiote: 
The owner/manager of the restaurant said that their particular version of the dish is native to Hidalgo, a state in central Mexico just east and north of Mexico City. This restaurant’s roots in central Mexico help explain the cuisine here and why this place seems unique in the American Southwest border region.
Since Tina and I happened onto Antojitos, we have been finding excuses to go to El Centro – there are some different stores in their mall; there's a Costco; it's a convenient stop on the way to LA. I never realized how many reasons there were to visit El Centro. However, since I will not be blogging about this place again (at least not in the immediate future), you now have a reason to visit El Centro yourselves – to find out more about Antojitos Como en Casa.
Antijitos Como en Casa, 425 Desert Gardens Dr, El Centro, CA 92243, (760) 482-5621, open 8 am – 8 pm every day, except Mondays. website
