Taco Shops – Page 10

El Zarape seven years later…….

July 20, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops

Ed from Yuma recently mentioned in his post on Sea Rocket Bistro, that we've been doing this for over seven years…..sheesh! I recently saw a comment on an old post of mine wondering why I hadn't posted on El Zarape(the original) in over seven years. so I thought I'd better get this done before another seven passes…….

Seven years is a fairly long time. I'm trying to think what was going on back in 2005…..it sure was a different landscape back then, social media was in it's infancy, we thought Flickr was the best thing since sliced bread…it was "BiP"….."Before iPhone". And that was also the last time I'd eaten at El Zarape.

This was before I'd eaten at all those lonchera's, before I'd experienced birria, before I'd had decent mariscos. I couldn't help but wonder how El Zarape as aged over those years. Curiousity warranted a visit.

And the place looked just about the same……….. I know that the "purists" now sneer at El Zarape, at the soy, wasabi, and buffalo chicken burritos. For some reason, the thought of having an "Aloha Burrito" sends shivers up my spine. Yet, I recall, many of those who now criticize El Zarape were head over heels when Luche Libre opened…….

I was pretty pleased to see that EZ's loss leader, the fish taco is still 99 cents, the same price it was when I first ate here in 2001.

Heck, Mariscos el Prieto couldn't even hold their price at a buck for more than a couple of months and the tacos de pescado at Mariscos el Pescador hasn't seen that price in my memory. Truth be told, I'd still pay quarter more to eat at those two trucks than the fish tacos at El Zarape. I'm still not a fan of the crema and the fish was o the dry side with a not so tasty blood line in it. Still, it's hard to argue with 99 cents……..

El Zarape makes up their profit margin with their other menu items. I decided to have a scallop and shrimp taco ($3.25/each) here as well.

The scallops seemed kind of sparse and were really bland and rubbery…..it doesn't even stand up to the tortilla in flavor. Not a good value at over three bucks as well.

I've always enjoyed the shrimp at El Zarape, so I wondered how that would be.

I counted six shrimp, which looked like 41/50, maybe about 2-3 ounces. They were nicely browned on the griddle, moist and tender. Decent shrimp flavor…….maybe better than I had back in '05, though that was a looooong time ago.

I'm hoping not to take another seven years before I'm back at El Zarape. Thought it's been far surpassed, they're still truckin' along and they still have a faithful neighborhood following.

El Zarape
4642 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116

Hours:
Mon 8 am – 11 pm
Tue-Sun 8 am – 2 am

Pasadena Road Trip-An early 2013 Rose Parade event and breakfast at Lucky Boy

July 19, 2012 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Sandwiches, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Hi there, person reading the blog called mmm-yoso!!! Sometimes Kirk writes here about meals and events and sometimes ed (from Yuma) writes about meals and events. Today, Cathy is writing about an event and a meal.

Well, it's been a hot and busy summer so far, probably for everyone. There are events every weekend it seems. Last weekend, San Diego was hosting both Comic-Con and Over the Line, the Orange County Fair opened and on Saturday, The Mister and I woke at 4:30 a.m., let the dogs out and back in the house, grabbed some snacks and coffee and jumped in the car and headed North, to Pasadena. In less than two hours, we were greeted by this sign.

Our reason for the trip and being here before 7 a.m.. Some of the floats that will appear in the 2013 Tournament of Roses parade were going to be road tested! There are at least three road tests for each float before the parade. This road test was mentioned on the Phoenix Decorating Company Facebook page and not on the website. The Rose Parade has fascinated both of us since we were children, watching it on television every New Year Day from our snow-bound homes back East and we are so happy to be able live here and be able to help decorate floats and also watch the progression of their creation every year.

This will be the Trader Joe's entry. You can see a few of the many kitchen gadgets (and cupcake holders) that will be part of the float. There will be some animation and those parts seemed to be the ones tested.

This is the initial sketch of the float. You can see the photo is facing the opposite of this drawing. It will be interesting to see the final product, which I am sure will be great.

Another float was being driven, with the Observer in front, directing the driver (who will be in an enclosed area in the middle of the float) down the street using headsets and microphones and then directing to a 180 degree turn at the end of the street to get back to the barn.

You can see the driver in this photo.

Other floats have the rebar skeletons covered and are almost ready to be marked for colors. This is the Shriners Hospital float. One bear depicts the Shriners Open Golf Tournament and the other bear depicts the Shriners Football Classic:

The rectangle cut into the belly of that bear will be where the Observer for this float will be looking out along the parade route.

Some of the floats are essentially ready for decorating, covered with foam and painted the colors where the various live and dried materials will be placed and glued. This is the 'off side' of the Nurses' float-the side the television cameras won't show.

This is the "camera side" you will see when you watch the parade on television. So beautiful.

The Rotary International float is very animated- that screw knob in the back spins and so do all of the gears! It was tested with nine riders.

The City of Hope float looks like a Chemistry Laboratory, complete with a spiral bound notebook and microscope.

There were eleven floats in all, all in different levels of being finished and tested for safety. It was fun to watch…and was all over before 9 a.m. There will be another road test on August 18. Dry decorating of the floats begins December 1. Volunteers are always welcome, but you have to sign up. Here are three links about decorating opportunities.

So, it was breakfast time and The Mister and I walked half a block North and over the Metro Gold Line tracks (this is the Fillmore Station)

to Arroyo Parkway and took a left,

and stopped at about two blocks North, at Lucky Boy…which is right at the corner with
the *Original* Trader Joe's location (the logo under the main sign is "Your neighborhood grocery store").

Anyhow, Lucky Boy. Walk up, order…

pay and wait for your number to be called…

A little peek inside the cooking area. The tortillas are cooked on a grill- and have grill marks.

This is a cross section of the famous Breakfast Burrito ($5.80). It weighs about one pound. Really. Hash browns, cheese, scrambled eggs and, in this case, ham-which was warm from the grill; nice. The salsa which came with was tasty and unique, a tomatillo based with some green chili and also a red chili with some heat.

We have been here before, but for lunch and dinner, and I usually order a pastrami something, but this time I decided to try a simple breakfast…

An egg sandwich, on rye toast. ($3.25)(not a typo). Soft scrambled eggs with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise on a really nice rye bread.

A perfect day. We stopped at a few places and were home by noon. The day had just begun!

Lucky Boy Drive In 640 S. Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105 Website It is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, otherwise it's open.

Los Palmitos Taco Shop-Salads, Soup and Fish

June 6, 2012 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Yes, you're reading mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk is enjoying a vacation and doesn't have the bandwidth to blog. ed (from Yuma) is doing lots of things (in Yuma) and blogging isn't one of them. Cathy is the blogger for today.

Hello. I blogged about Los Palmitos in 2008 and thought the food was really good, but the taco shop did not become part of the "regular rotation" for The Mister or me, since it is not near home or work for either of us. However, I do have friends who give me recommendations about their favorite places and items to try and so when driving around town, I have stopped here on a more regular basis have found some standout selections for the times when I don't want a taco or burrito.

You can tell by the architecture of the building that Los Palmitos used to be a Taco Bell. The kitchen is intact and used as a kitchen. There are no other similarities.

This is the poster in the side window, if you need a reason or want an excuse to stop here. Yes, beer. At a Taco Shop.

The salsa bar, which has rules, is filled with four fresh made salsas and other condiments.

The brown-ish salsa is habañero. It is *very* good; there is heat but the other flavors come through. The next hottest is the green salsa, which has a touch of garlic in the flavor. The darker red one is my favorite: it is a chipotle- a roasted jalapeño- and tastes 'full' and rich, almost creamy to me. The lightest red one is very mild; almost like just tomato sauce with a bit of onion, especially after you taste the stronger flavors and then go back to this mildest salsa. Fresh chips come with all orders.

Ground Beef Tostada ($6.10)- simple meal that isn't a burrito. Beans on the bottom, ground beef, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa fresca (chopped tomato/onion/cilantro) all inside an edible flour tortilla bowl. This is very good. However, for a few pennies more-

The Carne Asada Salad ($6.25) is beautifully presented. It isn't in a flour tortilla bowl and there are no beans (less carbohydrates!). It is flavorful and quite large and filling. Lettuce topped with a mild, creamy house dressing, cucumbers, carne asada, cheese and shredded tortilla strips. This is a healthy, filling choice for a meal here.

Caldo de Res ($6.99) Beef soup, with add ins. Rich beefy broth, corn,carrots, squash and a lot of tender pieces of beef. I usually eat half the soup 'as is' and then add in the lime, onions and cilantro and rice…it's like having two different main courses.

Whole fish, fried ($10.05). Usually listed on menus as mojarra frita, this traditional Mexican tilapia preparation is perfectly done at Los Palmitos. The cleaned fish is slit (so it won't curl when being fried) and then rubbed with a marinade of lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Then the fish is pan fried in olive oil. The fish is served with rice, beans (the beans are really good here), tomatoes, salsa fresca, cucumbers, pickled onions, sour cream, guacamole and tortillas.

The day I ordered this fish, the chef from the kitchen brought it out to me. I think he was proud of this presentation, and the fact that someone had ordered something other than burritos. Usually the nice lady working the cash register will hand the fish to me over the counter. This fish was large and the meat was moist and had a good fresh flavor.

Once again, I ate every last bit.

I think Los Palmitos is a hidden gem.

Los Palmitos Taco Shop 5145 Clairmont Mesa Boulevard (between Limerick and Longford) San Diego 92117

(858)974-1946 Open 8 a.m.-midnight, daily Website

California’s Taco Shop (National City) Tostilocos!

May 19, 2012 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

You have somehow found your way to mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) don’t have a post for today, but Cathy does.

Hi. Since January, friends have been casually telling me about where they like to eat and what I should try if I go there. Usually these places are either close to where they live or close to where they work and a number of those places are taco shops. I seem to have accumulated a plethora of Taco Shop posts, all of which have really good food. Here is one.

Located in a nondescript strip mall on Highland Avenue in National City, the signage for California’s Taco Shop should catch your eye.

The interior is neat and clean and has seven tables. The menu is a bit more than standard (there is a clearer photo coming up). After we ordered, I was more interested in the pinball machine over there to the right.

Yes, it’s a World Cup (Copa Mundial) machine, made in Spain and very fun to play.

There are even some cool prizes you can win if you get a high score. We played two games while our order was being prepared.

Two Del Mar enchiladas ($4.34) from the a la carte part of the menu. These were excellent. You can see one of the very large fresh shrimp on the top right. The green sauce is exceptional.

The plain quesedilla ($2.40) is GIGANTIC and filled with a lot of cheese. The house made hot sauce is unusually good.

Here is a bit of a better photo of the menu. The description on the sign of ingredients for Tostilocos is pretty accurate, except on this day there was no jicama in the mix.

Tostilocos has been a Tijuana street food for about about ten years now. Sometimes called a fruit-nut-nacho-lard salad, Tostilocos is a meal you can eat with a fork while walking, since it is self contained. Chips, garnished and sauced…loco. Open a bag of some sort of ‘base’ (you can see the choices of Churritos®, Ruffles®, Takis® and Dulces(an extruded masa snack in the shape of a wheel with spokes) in addition to the ‘traditional’ unlisted Tostitos®.

By ‘traditional’, I mean salsa verde Tostitos®, the flavor sold only in Mexico, not the USA. The bag is cut open and the ingredients added.

From the sign above- Cueritos are pickled pork skin (usually sold in kilo size jars; there is no fat and the flavor has a bit of vinegar, the consistency is soft chewy, like gummy candies-it’s those strips of white that look like onion on the left side of the bag in photo below)-Pepino is a fruit that is a cross between cucumber and melon -Chacahuate are peanuts coated in a soy powder (you can buy them at Mexican markets) -chaca-chaca is tamarind candy pieces –Chamoy is a liquid condiment-it is salty, sweet, sour and spiced with chiles and also chile and lime juice are added to the ingredient mix.

The first bite might be startling- all the flavors hit all of your taste buds at once. Then the textures of crunchy chips, gummy cueritos, soft tamarind candy, pepino/cucumber soft crunch and peanuts are amazing and awakening. The second and further bites are pleasant and cause cravings for the unusal combination of flavors. It’s an amazing snack-and really, a meal. I do like the version here.

If you look at the sign next to the Tostilocos description- it indicates that Sinaloa Style pozole, sopes, tacos and tostadas are only available after 6 pm Friday to Sunday. That’s another post. This is a great taco shop that is far from common.

California’s Taco Shop 51 N. Highland Avenue National City 91950 (619)263-3000

La Perla Cocina Mexicana

May 1, 2012 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

**** La Perla has closed

A short while ago JeffL emailed me, telling me that a little shop in PB made the best lamb tacos he’s had in San Diego. So of course I had to check them out. The address on Emerald Street sounded kind of familiar……as it should have. It was right across the street from Mad Dog’s Cafe and right around the corner from Bare Back Grill.

Jeff had advised me to call ahead to make sure they were serving lamb that day. Which is what I did…..and got an affirmative from a very friendly gentleman. I’m assuming the same guy who mans the counter. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the menu consisted of standard San Diego taco shop (i.e. CABs and California Burritos) fare. Not complaining mind you, but I was in search of borrego. I also noticed that all the customers seemed to come from the hostel next door…filling up on calories and carbs. Sadly, the guy at the counter told me they were out of lamb on this day. But hey, I was here, right? So I ended up ordering a variety of tacos all priced between $2.25 – $2.75.

It ended up being a Al Pastor (adobado), Carne Asada, and a Carnitas. The worse of the bunch was the Al Pastor which had a nice texture, but was terribly bland. The carne asada was decent, but also under-seasoned, the two standard salsas were also pretty mild. These were not “street tacos” mind you, but pretty hefty in size. I quickly noted that every table was going to town with the salt shaker as well.

It was the carnitas that caught my attention. While it too needed a bit more seasoning for my tastes, it was super tender.

Based on the lack of caramelization, I’m thinking these are steamed in their own juices. Though I prefer some crunchy bits with my carnitas (and just about everything except cabeza and lengua), the texture was very nice.

The front desk guy apologized for not having the lamb and promised me they’d have it next time. And so I returned. This time I noticed the availability of lamb on the board outside and got my Barbacoa de Borrego tacos.

I was informed that the lamb is indeed steamed in it’s own juices. The texture of the lamb was not quite as soft as the pork, but it was indeed tender. Loved the gamey flavor, but I think a bit more seasoning would lift the flavor up a bit. As it stands, in my opinion, it’s a good taco that could be great with a bit more…..also, I ran into a couple of hard bits that need to taken out, especially if being served in a taco. Crunchy is ok, but hard can take your teeth out……

I found that the owner, who also runs the front counter is from Toluca, so if I recall (my geography sucks), this is more Barbacoa.

Still, these were good…

La Perla Cocina Mexicana
745 Emerald St
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 274-3038

Thanks for the rec Jeff!

Mariscos El Navegante: New Seafood Truck in Yuma

February 12, 2012 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Believe it or not, ed (from Yuma) finally has finished a post and Kirk and Cathy can finally take a day off.

Navegante is no longer on Ave B. Currently (2014) Pacific Ave has become a new taco truck hotspot, with two stands across from each other at the intersection of 24th and Pacific, and several stands (4 or 5 some nights) in a large lot on the west side of Pacific a couple of blocks or so south of 16th.

Every fall, as the snowbirds, packers, and fieldworkers come back to Yuma, new mobile eateries – taco trucks if you prefer – open to serve the burgeoning population. This year, I was delighted to spot a new Mariscos truck, El Navegante, on the east side of Avenue B between 8th Street and 12th – just behind the location of Yuma's Best:
A meal there starts with complementary peel and eat shrimp:
The shrimp are served along side a container of spiced red onions and fresh sliced limes, both of which improve the flavor of the crustaceans:

Soon roasted yellow chilies also make an appearance. Spicy, smoky, and juicy:

Although the menu is limited, just about everything is well done. For example, the fish ceviche has all the right flavor notes, lightly fishy and citrusy. It is also crunchy and fresh flavored:

As good as fish ceviche tostada is, Tina and I think the ceviche de camaron tostada is even better:

The shrimp has not been cooked before marinating and has a very fresh flavor and a bit of chewy texture. The fish and shrimp tacos are also good:

The shrimp tacos have a bit more breading and a bit more crunch. The fish tacos are wonderfully fresh with moist real fish fillets. This fish has never seen a freezer and, after frying, hasn't sat under a heat lamp waiting for someone to order it.

The aguachile at El Navegante is close to perfect. When Roger Naylor, the travel writer for the Arizona Republic (and other publications) was in town, I made sure he and I and some other local eaters dropped in on Navegante around 6 one evening, and the whole lot of us were impressed by the chile and lime marinated raw shrimp plate:

We had ordered it moderately picante, so the hot chili flavors did not overwhelm the freshness of the pristine shrimp. Unlike other aguachiles I have had in the past, the lime juice complemented the seafood instead of souring it. Spice, tang, and shrimpiness were perfectly balanced. Crunchy tostadas, avocado wedges, and mild slices of cucumber went with the camarones perfectly.

On a more recent visit, Tina and I tried their seafood soup, simply called caldo. This is the small size:

The clear mild natural tasting broth was filled with pieces of fish, two or three small shrimp, and a little bit of octopus. At three dollars, it was certainly a good value. I found that the soup got even better when I added the chopped onion and cilantro, squeezed in some lime juice and shot some house salsa into the Styrofoam cup.

We also had what they call chile relleno, a yellow chile stuffed with cheese and shrimp, breaded (or not if you prefer), and served with a chili mayonnaise dip:

While a little bit greasy, it was also crunchy and irresistible:

On this visit, the restaurant even had mantaraya, reconstituted dried giant stingray from the sea of Cortez. We had it in a taco:

Muy rico. I had never had stingray with such rich and concentrated taste before. Not overly salty, the smoky, almost sweet flavors filled the mouth. Amazingly good.

El Navegante also does take out. For example, I once brought home a good fresh tasting campechana (mixed seafood cocktail with onions and cucumber in complex tomato water). While lacking the seafood variety of Juanita's campechana, The mariscos were excellent in flavor and half of it filled a small soup bowl:

From that same day, here is a fish taco, a shrimp taco, a chile relleno, lime wedges, and marinated onions, making a tasty and attractive plate:

El Navegante seems to open around 10 AM and closes around 6:30 or 7 PM. The mantaraya is only available on the weekends and the aguachile takes a little while to marinate. Prices are extremely reasonable, and the family that operates this little truck is friendly and helpful. English (as well as Spanish, of course) is spoken. A little dining gemstone in the southwest corner of Arizona. Navigate yourself here.

Mariscos El Navegante, 1019 S Ave B, Yuma AZ, 928-261-6481

La Casa Maria – Good soup on a cold day

February 2, 2012 Cathy Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

La Casa Maria is closed.

Well, you're back again, at mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are still crazy busy and Cathy found a moment to write a short post on her busy day.

Hi. We had some cold and rainy days a few weeks ago (and it looks like we'll have some more this weekend). On one of those days, I happened to be near SDSU -on El Cajon Boulevard just West of 70th- and decided to stop at La Casa Maria, because I wanted a nice bowl of soup.

I knew I could get soup here, because I have been getting soup and mariscos at this sit down shop for many, many, many years, just never blogged about it…the mariscos are excellent, by the way.

Usually people walk up, order to go items and sit down to wait. This family owned and run restaurant is efficient and makes some great food.

You can also eat in. When you do, fresh salsa and chips are brought to your table.

My tlalepeño soup ($7.99). Served with fresh corn tortillas. Tlalpeño is basically a pollo (chicken) soup with a chipotle kick. It is one of the more expensive soups on the menu, but I really wanted no rice and the flavor and heat of a smoked jalapeño.

This *very* large bowl of soup had two skinless (but still bone-in) chicken breasts, carrots, onions, flat beans, cauliflower and garbanzo beans in addition to the chipotle sauce. Of course, it's topped with sliced avocado. I like that it doesn't have rice (like most of the other soups) and the chipotle flavor was just the amount of heat I needed on such a chilly day. The chicken broth/stock here is very richly flavored.

There are quite a few menu items here, in addition to the wonderful Birria soup and all the mariscos- buche, lengua, cabeza and tripa tacos are realy good. In the summer there are several 'specials' which include a beer as part of the meal-you have to read all the outdoor signs.

Even if you don't stop here, you can find some great soups at most taco shops. It's another choice on these cold days when maybe you don't want pho…

La Casa Maria 6969 El Cajon Blvd (between 69th and 70th)San Diego 92115 (619) 444-5869 website

Taqueria Aqui es Jalisco

December 14, 2011 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

*** Aqui es Jalisco has closed and is now Nhat Vy

Back in October as I was driving around after my meal at Lee's Deli and noticed that The Torta Factory was gone. In its place was a shop called Taqueria Aqui es Jalisco….Jalisco? Pictures of birria and tortas ahogadas danced in my head. That evening the Missus was tied up doing things with friends so I jumped in my car and headed back up to the shop…….

Walking in, I noticed that the place had a real "temporary' look, as if someone had just moved in and was still setting things up. The old counter stood alone, more of a wall than a counter.

I took a look at the hand written menu and was a bit disappointed…….it was pretty basic fare, tortas, tacos, and such, with pretty standard stuff.

The young woman working told me they had just been open for two weeks and was very nice. I would have felt terrible just walking out so I decided to get a taste of the different beef offerings and went for four tacos ($1.25/each).

The Cabeza and Lengua came out first.

There's no salsa bar here; I was asked how I wanted my tacos and told them with everything. The cabeza was the better of the two, beefy, but not overdone. The lengua was mushy and had a real liver-y flavor to it. The salsas were relatively mild.

The suadero, which has been descried as "shoulder, but is actually the meat from between the belly and leg was fairly good. Tender, but mild in flavor. The pale carne asada looked like it was going to be terrible.

It turned out to be more tender than it looked, but it was salty and lacked the introduction of flavor from any other seasoning or cooking (i.e. carmelization).

Overall, this wasn't a particularly good meal, but the investment was just five bucks and you've gotta give these places a shot.

I'm not sure how this place is going to do…….

Taqueria Aqui es Jalisco
4595 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115

Emma’s Mexican Food-Santee (revisit)

December 3, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome (back) to mmm-yoso!!! the food blog. On this chilly weekend day, Cathy is blogging. Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are frenetically researching places to blog.

Hello again. I noticed I had not blogged about any Mexican food in the last week, yet I know I eat Mexican food either in a restaurant or from a taco shop at least once a week. Emma's is a regular spot for The Mister and myself. In fact, Emma's was my very first restaurant post on mmm-yoso!!!. Since that post was about breakfast, and it is six years later, I'll post about lunch.

Located in a nondescript mall of cinderblock buildings on Buena Vista, just off of Cuyamaca (you can see the back of the building when driving on Cuyamaca), Emma's has been located here for more than 10 years.

It is located in the same block as the Santee Sheriff Station and Buena Vista has a Fire Department just a few blocks East. Emma's is always busy with eat in and to go orders. I have also seen the mailman eating here- a little 'hint' about where to eat I learned from FOY (friend of yoso) Trent in 2006.

The eat in area is quite large. If you order 'for here' the food will be brought to your table. That's the fresh salsa bar to the right, next to the refrigerator. Only three types of salsa here (mild and chunky, hot smooth red and hot green). That's all you need.

The menu has barely changed since 2006. Most prices have seen an increase of <$2.

The Mister ordered the a la carte flautas ($4.60). This is made with only shredded beef (not the stewed shredded beef with onion and green pepper) placed into one of those super large flour tortillas, cut in half then deep fried. Properly fried. Many other places seem to fry the exterior of the tortilla only and the inside is unfried and so a raw tortilla. The flautas here are almost completely crispy and combined with just shredded beef as a filler…really good. Eve though a la carte, sour cream, guacamole, shredded lettuce and a slice of tomato fill out the plate.

Emma's only has three Mariscos plates, all versions of shrimp. This is the camaron mojo de ajo- shrimp in garlic sauce ($8.60). Five plump butterflied shrimp sauteed in a buttery garlic sauce on top of rice (which gets all butter garlicy and is a joy to eat) and also served with tortillas, refried beans, sour cream and a salad (which has real, not that sauce) guacamole under that tomato slice. Fresh and really good.

Emma's Mexican Food 8781 Cuyamaca Street, Suite L (at Buena Vista Avenue) Santee 92071 (619)596-8189 hours: 7-8:30 Mon-Sat. Closed Sunday

Tijuana (100%) Seafood Bar Mariscos La Cacho (Ambiente Familiar)- Chula Vista

July 12, 2011 Cathy Seafood, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! It’s a Blog O’ Food. Kirk is resting today after our week or so of crazy heat. ed (from Yuma) is also relaxing with his local temperatures being ‘only’ in the 90°’s, in the evening. Cathy did manage to head South and eat, photograph, download and is now checking in with a short report.

Last week, The Mister and I happened to be in Chula Vista and we were hungry. I vaguely remembered Kirk’s visit to a Mariscos food truck that had it’s own parking space in a lot on Main Street so turned West from Third Avenue on to Main. Before the next corner, we saw this sign.

I passed by. Cars were parked in front and on the side street (Fresno). At the next corner, I turned and drove back around the block. I had to. This was the side view of the building from the crumbling parking lot:

Parking lot was full at 12:30 pm. It was a Thursday. I figured this must be good. The mariscos truck could wait.
We walked in and seated ourselves kitty corner from the front door. We had a view of both televisions (showing soccer games) and of the kitchen area across the bar. No air conditioning. We were handed two menus- one in Spanish and one in English. Great atmosphere.

A basket of crackers and tostadas, some limes and the container with spoon of hot sauce (which pretty much was Sriracha) was brought to the table.

We ordered and soon items were brought out as they were ready. The marlin taco ($4).
A fresh cooked (large) corn tortilla that had a layer of melted Mexican cheese filled with the warmed smoked fish which was sauteed with onion and mild chile. Perfect. Not too salty (as I have grown to dislike) and with a mild smokiness. We both really liked this.

The 99¢ fish taco was excellent. A large piece of fresh flaky white fish dipped in egg batter and fried to a light and perfectly crispy/not at all greasy crust. Topped with cabbage and chopped tomatoes and a bit of sauce. Our waitress seemed surprised we ordered only one. But we were trying a bit of everything.

Here’s everything else we ordered…
The fish ceviche tostadas were advertised on the walls and doors and almost every table as ‘buy one get one’, so for $2.50, we got the fresh made fish ceviche overflowing on two small tostadas. Really fresh and with just enough touch of heat in the sauce.

This was the medium shrimp coctele. ($9). Fresh made with cucumber and mild onion, topped with avocado. It was good, the shrimp were pretty large. I am spoiled by the $8 salad bowl of shrimp cocktail I can get from my local taco shop in Santee. Let’s just say there were not 23, 20 or 15 shrimp in the cup. (That Corona was $3.50)

This. $2. Looks like machaca– because it is. A manta ray machaca taco. That’s what was written on the menu. Since machaca is traditionally made with dried beef or pork, I assume this devilfish was dried then rehydrated. Or maybe it wasn’t. It was soft and had a nice ‘tooth’. Not fishy. It was stir fried up with some egg, onion and green pepper- or maybe a mild green chili. It had a really good flavor and almost pork belly texture for me.

The sign out front, the receipt below and the name listings online are all different. You’ll be able to find the place. When we left and headed West, we saw the La Prieta Mariscos truck on the left, about three blocks West. Next time…

Seafood Bar Tijuana 100% 3120 Main Street Chula Vista 91911 (619) 422-2287