Mexican Restaurants – Page 38

Yuma Part 3 – Dinner

November 8, 2005 mmm-yoso Memorable Meals, Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

After hitting Ranch 49.5 Market, Ed dropped me off at 315pm to "freshen up", telling me he'd be back at 430 for dinner! And there he was at 430 on the nose. When I mentioned that I'm still a bit full, Ed laughed and said, "I've seen those meals on your site, I know how much you can eat, I've seen the Sam Woo post." I had to remind Ed that the post was actually THREE MEALS, not one! We drove back down 8th Street, scene of the first part of our Taco Truck Crawl. A bit further down the road there was a small stand in what looked like a former garage, across a patch of maybe lettuce, or broccoli – Ed said pick either one and you'd have a 50% chance of being right. The name of the stand was El Nayarita, named after the coastal region of Nayarit.

We got our ice chest out of the back of the car, and had a seat at one of the lawn furniture tables. We were a bit early and Ed's friends had not arrived. So we popped a few cervezas and Ed ordered a dozen Empanadas. What arrived were what looked like deep fried folded tortillas. Though these were bright red in color:

Ed theorizes that achiote, and perhaps some other seasonings were folded into the masa, before these were stuffed with shrimp and deep fried. Topped with some salsa verde and a squeeze of lime, these empanadas were delici-yoso! Crunchy, slightly spicy, with nice plump shrimp, this was simply amazing. The groups on the other tables were having Seafood "Cocteles" and wonderful looking Seafood Tostada's topped with a large amount of chopped octopus and shrimp. I on the other hand, was really busy scarfing down my empanada(s).

Soon Ed's friends started arriving, and the orders started "flying". 2 dozen more empanadas, fish tacos, shrimp tacos, seafood salad, seafood cocteles, all taken by a very pleasant, smiling Young Lady. Ed and I split an order of fish, and an order of shrimp tacos.

In each flour tortilla either a battered shrimp or battered fish filet was placed with some cabbage and salsa. A squirt of white sauce completed the taco.

The tacos were good, though I must say that I've had tacos just as good in San Diego. The tacos were delivered to the table wrapped in foil, causing them to not be as crunchy as they could have been.

Fairly soon the sun went down in the horizon, and in what seemed a heartbeat the coolers were empty and the kitchen had run out of empanadas. As I stepped out to take this picture the Young Lady who did a fine job waiting on us asked me if I enjoyed my meal. My guess is that there aren't to many Asian customers at this fine little food oasis.

I'd like to express my sincere thanks to Greg & Loidene, Chip & Betsy, and Chris for the fine conversation and laughs. None more funny then when Loidene looked at the photo's in my camera and asked me, "Don't you take pictures of anything else, except food?" And of course a very grateful Mahalo to Ed, for ferrying me around and showing me a great time in Yuma.

As we left the stand and drove up 8th Street I could see an ocean of headlights making their way down 8th Street. The long, hard workday over, the customers, mostly Latino, many Migrant Workers and Laborers were finally ready to start their weekend. We passed what was an empty lot with a banner with "Corona" written on it during the afternoon, had suddenly been transformed into a "hotspot". I could hear the music blaring, blue and red disco lights spinning, strobe light blinking, and most of all, see the large Al Pastor turning on the vertical spit.

I turned to Ed and said "This is pretty neat!"

Ed turned to me and said "Damn, I forgot to order the whole fried fish!"

Leave it to him to put things into perspective!

I've got one more post on Yuma, which I'll do on Friday. Tomorrow it's back to San Diego…..

Yuma Part 2 – Taco Stands and Some “Errands”

November 7, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

As we pulled out of Tio Juan’s lot, I suddenly thought about the weather! Ah, yes, the weather, a nice 80 degrees, with no wind. I mentioned this to Ed, who said, "you, picked a good day, this is about as good as it gets here".

We drove further up 8th Street, and noticed a Taco Stand set-up in the parking lot of this meat market:

So Ed parked, and took me on an little tour of the Market. But of course, this was about tacos. So Ed paid for two tacos, and took the receipt outside:

What Ed got were 2 Tacos Al Pastor, or "Shepard-style tacos". According to the interesting story; Lebanese immigrants brought with them Middle-Eastern style of grilling meat, mostly lamb, on a vertical spit. Eventually this was adapted by Mexicans, who marinate pork, and also apply a dry rub, usually grilling the meat on a vertical spit, topped with a slices of pineapple. The final product is a slightly spicy, red meat:

At this location, the meat is obviously grilled, and placed by the Young Lady on top of corn tortilla’s. You grab your tacos and walk over to a metal "cooler" and add whatever "garnish" you want. In this case Ed added shredded cabbage, and a nice salsa. You could clearly taste the nice "spice" and slightly smokey taste. The meat was nicely balanced, moist and tender. I was starting to understand the "other" part of eating a taco; that is the melding of textures, the soft and slightly chewy tortilla, the moist and tender meat, and the crunchy cabbage. This was a "new" location for Ed as well; He usually takes a "right" at the intersection before this market. And it actually has an address:

El Toro Meat Market
1007 W 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364

The next stop? Ed’s favorite Meat Market, Coronado’s on 24th street. We finally saw some "Gringo’s" here grabbing a burrito, otherwise, we were the only "Gringo’s", well maybe I’m closer to a "JA-ngo" :

Though Ed shops here often; he had never tried the tacos from the market’s stand:

What we got here were two Cabeza Tacos. Literally "head" tacos; traditionally made from the head of a cow, that is steamed overnight, then shredded and mixed with the beef drippings(broth). Ed told me that these are very popular in Sonora, and most versions in Yuma are made with Beef "cheek". I’m assuming he meant the "cheeks" on the head side of the cow….

The moist stewed meat was placed on corn tortillas, Ed placed some cabbage and salsa fresca on top. The moist meat made this a somewhat ponderous taco. Oh, how did it taste? Delici-yoso!!! If one could condense "beef" taste into one bite, this is what it should taste like! Totally awesome. I asked Ed how he liked it? His response? "I’m almost ready to do a delici-yoso dance over this one." Perfect textures, for perfect beef. I’m basically at a loss for words over this.

Yuma Market Coronado’s
890 E 24th St
Yuma, AZ

Before dropping me off to "freshen up" before dinner, we went on a little side trip. Need Kim Chee in Yuma? Well the only place is the Oriental Gift Shop:

This little store is stuffed with everything from souvenirs and lucky bamboo, to health products, to asian food products. And according to Ed, on Saturday afternoon Kim Chee is delivered from Los Angeles, so he had to make sure he got a bottle. This is Yuma’s only Asian General Store, I jokingly called it Ranch 49.5 Market. The Korean Proprietor laughed when we asked when a Korean BBQ was going to open up in Yuma!

Oriental Gift Shop
1701 S Ave B Ste 107
Yuma, AZ 85364

Next – Dinner in Yuma! Stay tuned….

Yuma Part 1 – The “Taco Truck” Tour

November 6, 2005 mmm-yoso Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

*** Ed from Yuma has an update on Yuma Taco Trucks, you can find it here.

Earlier this year Ed from Yuma, and I were having one of our dinners and I broached the subject of a possible visit. At first Ed's response was, "huh"? But after pondering this for a while, Ed had come up with an idea. Ed has enjoyed some of Yuma's best Mexican Food at various Taco Stands and Trucks, and thought we should do a "Taco Truck Crawl". Ed's been wanting to this for a while, but couldn't find any takers. This sounded really good to me, I know next to nothing about Mexican Food, other then the "something" – Berto type Taco Stands we have here in San Diego.

We scheduled the visit during an open weekend on Ed's schedule; and so here I was fulfilling a very strange fantasy. You see, I often pass the 161 miles to Yuma sign on the 8 Freeway, always tempting me to "just keep driving" until I get "there". The drive took a shade over 2 hours, and was not what I expected. I'd assumed that El Centro, and all of the points East of San Diego was just desolate desert, but was changed as I passed all the fields of green. I got to Yuma at about 1115, and Ed picked me up in the Best Western Motel parking lot at 1130, and we were off.

It seems that there is an abundance of Taco Trucks in an area down 8th street in Yuma. There are literally empty lots lined with trucks around the perimeter. Many of these "shops" don't open until after sunset. Probably because most of their clientele works during the day, whether in the fields, or other manual labor, we also joked that the Dept of Health closes at 5 as well. Not very many "Gringo's" here. Ed wanted to take me to a specific Truck. So we drove down 8th avenue, which is being repaved. I thought the rough dirt road added a definite ambiance to the whole "event".

The specialty here is Caguamanta – Stingray Soup. Ed explained that dried salted Manta ray fillets are rinsed and re-hydrated I'd imagine much like bacalao, and cooked in a tomato based broth, with onions, celery, and other vegetables. The taste is somewhat briny and oceany; Ed describes it as a sting ray Manhattan Chowder. The stingray meat is slightly dense, not as tender at a fish fillet, but much more tender then the usual piece of rubbery clam that you'd get in a chowder. There is a nice bit of spice, and the cilantro and onions equate to a somewhat bracing flavor. You get a 12oz cup of soup, and either 2 corn tortillas or tortilla chips with your soup. Actually, I'd have loved a bowl of rice with this!

While waiting, I took look around the lot. There were several other trucks; some of them looked mobile, others looked like they were towed and left on the site. All of them were painted with the "specialties of the house". I turned to Ed and told him, "I know what this is, it's a food court!"

None of these "shops" were open; some were grilling meat in preparation for the "dinner rush". We came up to a truck on the corner of Eleanor and 8th that was open:

Unfortunately, they were out of everything that Ed tried to order. So we settled for 2 carne asada tacos. These were just ho-hum, I've had better before. But the one thing I noticed was that shredded cabbage was used instead of lettuce, and everything is with corn tortillas, not flour.

As we drove up 8th Street, Ed saw this sign and made a sudden turn into the gravel lot:

In this lot was a trailer, a counter with seafood in ice alongside a concrete "pad" covered with a tarp. Ed placed his order, and in a few minutes, this was delivered:

This large chalice contained a wonderful seafood cocktail. If it's in the ocean, it was in this. Chock full of shrimp, squid, octopus, scallops, great tasting oysters, cucumbers, celery, onion, all in a refreshing clamato and tomato water broth. But the item that surprised me the most was this:

In case you're not sure. Yep, that's abalone, there were at least 5 slices of nice sweet abalone in this goblet, amazing! The broth was just mild enough to add a little taste to all of the seafood. This was fabulous! I also discovered a hot sauce that I really enjoyed, Bufalo Jalapeno Hot Sauce.

Needless to say, we left with smiles on our faces. And lunch isn't over yet! And there's still dinner! STAY TUNED.

To Be Continued…..

La Torta – And the Quest for a Carne Asada Torta

September 21, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

**** La Torta has closed

Since I've been living in San Diego, I've developed a taste for Mexican style Torta's, basically a Bolillo (Mexican Roll) cut in half and stuffed with some kind of meat, say Carne Asada, Pollo Asado, and such. One very popular local chain is La Torta:

La Torta specializes in what else, Torta's, and feature about 35 different Torta's on the menu, many of them very "Americanized", like the "Hawaiiana" that features, Ham and Pineapple. Not my cup of tea, but apparently someone must order it! The problem with having too many items on the menu is that it leads to major bouts of indecision; which happens to me quite often at La Torta. I've got my mind set on say, Carne Asada, and end up with say a Mole Torta ($6.75):

Though smaller in circumference than the "usual" torta, it makes up for it in height! To date this has been the best Torta that I've had at La Torta. Filled with moist shredded chicken in a mild chili based sauce; slightly spicy, very moist, and seasoned well. The roll which is baked in-house, was a bit on the dry side and the "Home Fries" tasted of stale oil. Pay attention to them "fries…."

On the following Saturday I arrived at the College location right outside of San Diego State University, just as the "rolls" were finished, and got a fresh one, with my ~~Carne Asada~~, ummm ooops, Chipotle Chicken Torta($6.75):

Again the menu got the better of me and I ordered this. Notice the "home fries" this time; guess they got them from a different home. They're totally different from the ones on my previous visit! The roll was nice and hot, toasted and crusty on the outside, and soft and doughy on the inside. The chicken was, bleh, tasted like shredded chicken with hot sauce, sure didn't have any "chipotle"(smokey jalapeno) taste. I did have alot of avocado on this sandwich which really tasted nice and creamy.

Now that SDSU is back in session, I don't dare go back to the College location and "parking hell". So now that summer is over, I switch to the suddenly laid back Pacific Beach location, this time with the Missus in tow:

As soon as she saw the menu she told me "I don't liiike it, too many choices!" "But they have pictures!" "Really now, how many different kind of tortas can there be?" Yes, too many choices are a bit of a problem, you should see her in Vietnamese Restaurants…"how 'bout number 190, please…."

She finally settled on the Jalapeno Chicken torta with no cheese ($6.75):

This basically was a grilled chicken sandwich with chopped jalapenos, no biggy really! Needless to say the Missus was not impressed. She did like the warm and toasted roll. She also enjoyed the potatoes, though we found that you better eat them fast, they got soggy real fast. But as a whole, no big deal. So what did I get? Well I finally got that Carne Asada Torta ($6.95):

The "Carne Asada" here tasted like thin sliced rib eye or a similiar cut, lightly seasoned, on a nicely toasted roll. I enjoyed the sandwich except for the cheddar cheese; I'd appreciated some other more creamy cheese, maybe provolone or something similiar. Hey a Philly Cheesesteak Torta sounds might good!

Some notes on La Torta; most Torta's come with "The Works", that would be lettuce, tomato, and onion. Most also have a pretty generous amount of avocado. The food can vary wildly and are pretty pricey as Torta's are concerned, from $6.50 to $7.75. But at least they come with some type of "fries". So if you've got a hankering for some almost Gringo style Torta's, give La Torta a try!

La Torta
5854 Montezuma Road
San Diego, CA 92115

4864 Cass St
San Diego, CA 92109

El Cuervo – Where Half of Hillcrest Eats.

August 4, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** After several decades, El Cuervo has become a location of Palomino’s

On any given weekday it seems that half of Hillcrest has lunch at El Cuervo, the other half at Bronx Pizza. People from various professions, laborers, “suits”, and “scrubs” from the nearby Hospitals, are all holding a spot in line.

After comments from both Jack (whom I’m sure I must’ve been standing next to in line several times) and Annie of Green Beans in San Diego mentioning El Cuervo were made, I finally decided to get down to business and actually do a post. I guess because of the close proximity to our offices, it’s relatively easy to take El Cuervo for granted. I mean, I could literally just up and walk the few blocks over (over people sometimes sleeping in the alleyway) and grab a quick order of Five Rolled Tacos ($3.20), a favorite of mine. These rolled tacos, or taquitos are smothered in guac and covered with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and cheese, and somehow find a way to stay nice and crunchy when I eat them back at the office. And I can justify it as a pseudo-salad if I need to, after all there is lettuce and tomato on it, right? You can also just get 3 rolled tacos for $1.90.

I prefer the guacamole at “Cuervo’s” to those of most taco shops, the guac here is more on the chunky side, rather than the usual runny, snotty mess that I get. Green is a really bad color for runny food! I think I’ve ordered many of the items on the menu, and today I had a Carne Asada Torta ($3.80). As you can see the veggie’s in the sandwich are really mostly symbolic, sort of to make you better about eating this slipper-sized torta. The one thing I could do without on this torta are the refried beans, they end up making the bottom bun soggy to the point of disintegration, and I have to end up eating this with a fork and knife. I’m at work after all, I wouldn’t want to walk into a meeting with refried bean smears looking like god knows what (I’ll let you decide on your own visuals here) on my shirt. On second thought this sandwich could’ve used a bit more carne asada.

The burritos at El Cuervo are pretty sizable ranging in price from $2.40 (Ground Beef) to $3.30 (Machaca), and for 90 cents more you can get it “wet”, that is with cheese and enchilada sauce on them. The item below is the Pollo Asado (grilled chicken) burrito, “wet”. Grilled chicken, salsa, guac, and cheese, wrapped in a tortilla the size of a hubcap. If there’s one complaint I would have, it’s that there’s too much tortilla, and when wrapped around itself, it can be pretty “tough”, but in this case the enchilada sauce cures that ill. The chicken in the burrito was moist and all the flavors blend well, until you get to the end and it’s only tortilla.

What does El Cuervo got going for it? The fare is not as greasy as other taco shops, good prices, fast service, good sized portions, good guacamole, and good hot sauce. A pretty good list by any standard. Some of the favorites Chicken Tostada ($2.40), Carne Asada Quesadilla ($4.25), Chimichanga ($4.20), and Machaca Burrito ($3.30). I would stay away from the “seafood” here, I’ve found it to be “grease city”. All in all, a good neighborhood taco shop!

El Cuervo Mexican Restaurant
110 West Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Roberto’s Taco Shop – Clairemont Drive

July 13, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

If you live in San Diego, you’ve probably eaten at Roberto’s at least once. It seems like they’re everywhere. If you do a Google Search on Roberto’s Taco Shops, San Diego you come up with 17 matches between Chula Vista and Oceanside. Be careful of imitators, though I understand that there are actually only a few "authentic" Roberto’s, whatever that means. I’ve seen Reyberto’s, El Roberto’s, Filiberto’s, Aiberto’s, and countless number of "something"-berto’s around. Inexpensive, tasty, greasy, and usually open 24 hours, Roberto’s is very popular. The one I usually patronize is on Clairemont Drive, only 4 blocks away, a very scary thing indeed!

This tiny shop is the only 24 operation other than 7-11 for several miles around, and can sometimes be packed to the rafters.

Prices range from $1.75 for 3 Plain rolled Taco’s (taquitos) to $6.00 for combination plates. I usually get either the Carne Asada or a "California" Burrito ($3.25), and sometimes the Rolled Tacos. On this trip I got the California Burrito and 3 rolled taco’s with sour cream ($2.00).

So what’s a California Burrito? Well in this case it’s a tortilla filled with Carne Asada, Cheese, and French Fries, yes, you heard that correct french fries! Pretty "politically incorrect" but delicious. I was just thinking; one more starch and this could be a plate lunch! Here’s a closer look:

So how was it? Well, the Carne Asada was a little bit dried out, tough, and tasteless today – but the fries were great! In fact I woulda just ordered a french fry burrito if they had one. I like the way the tortilla was prepared, both a little crunchy and yet still with a little "pull", a nice texture. The taquitos were ok, a little too much sour cream glopped on them, and they were a bit smaller than I remember them. But still relatively cheap and filling.

I know alot of people who love Roberto’s, especially after a hard night of "liquid refreshment", and in the minds of many San Diegans this is the quintessential "San Diego" chain. Roberto’s fills a real niche in San Diego, a place other than Denny’s open 24 hours a day.

A last note, I’ve found that not all Roberto’s are created equal, the Solana Beach locale (I’ve been told that this is one created by the original "Roberto") is by far the best I’ve been to, Clairemont Mesa the worst in both service and food.

Roberto’s Taco Shop
Many Locations
Most open 24 hours daily

El Zarape – delici-yoso Fish Taco’s!

July 5, 2005 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

Now I have to admit something right off the bat, we’ve been to El Zarape 3 times since I’ve started this blog about 6 weeks ago. The first time I brought the camera, but forgot all about it when it was time to eat. The second time I didn’t even bother to bring the camera, period! Well this time I made sure to bring the camera, and displaying extreme self-control, even managed to take some pictures.

This little hole in the wall, features fresh, flavorful Mexican food. In what must be one of the best bargains in San Diego, the Fish Taco’s here are just 99 cents, yes, 99 cents.

The fish tacos are always fresh with a crisp batter, and moist in the interior. Though it usually comes with a white sauce, we order it without it, and use a good amount of the smoky hot sauce. It’s a taste and texture delight that totally blows another “famous” San Diego’s chains soggy, gloppy, fish tacos out of the water! Oh, and did I say, just 99 cents every day!

Today I ordered the Shrimp Chimichanga, basically a deep fried burrito. This was filled with a generous amount of large shrimp and topped with Sour Cream and Guacamole. Very crunchy, with shrimp that had been sauteed before being rolled in the tortilla, this is a favorite of mine.

My only, slight complaint with El Zarape, is that the Guacamole is a bit “over-processed” and tends to be runny and bland, but everything else is “spot on”, and scratches all those little “gastric itches” (OK, let’s call them cravings).

We also had a shrimp quesedilla($4.99), easy on the cheese:

Crunchy on the outside, with great tasting shrimp and fillings inside, topped off with some spicy hot sauce is the definition of what mmm-yoso!!! is all about. This was alot of food, but we managed to finish everything.

El Zarape boasts a huge menu with everything from soy burritos and vegetarian offerings to “don’t tell my cardiologist” loaded carne asada fries. El Zarape is another one of those “places” with a regular spot on our rotation. I may not know much about Mexican Food, but I know what I like, and I like this place.

Parking can be an adventure, so I recommend going to the end of Park Blvd, finding a space and walking half a block. Service can be slow at peak times with a line forming out the door. So be like us and go early, and often!

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant
4642 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 692-1652
Open Daily 10 am-10 pm