Mexican Food in Northern California

[rancho_gordo]

OK, who's going to organize?

You are

But I think as your Scout Master herein the California forum, you may shoulder some responsibility here.........

Actually, I'm a little up in the air at the moment but the second things settle, I'm thinking it would be fun to rate them and post the results somewhere. I'm still stewing over the idea.

[rancho_gordo]

Hey, a friend of mine has a teenaged son who is always on the quest for the perfect burrito. He grew up in San Francisco, and has been keeping a burrito diary for years, as he roved the country with a touring band.

He'd probably hate my reaction, but that was so cute! Ultimately, his being a vegggie makes what he looks for in a burrito kind of irrelevant to me, but it was fun.

He seems surprised by the El Faro taqueria. At one time they were the king with many outlets and from what I hear, they grew too fast and now have shrunk down. I never cared for them much- too much sour cream and cheese. El Farolito has only 2 outlets. They have the BEST al pastor and they grill the tortillas rather than steam them, picking up traces of pork juice. They also used to have bowls of gorgeous tomatillo/avacodo salsa that I could drink by the gallon. Good jukebox, too.

[rancho_gordo]

For me- native Californian who has never lived outside the state- this is my comfort food. I've been eating this stuff since I was a kid-I don't want you messin' w/ it! I know what you are saying, the preparation can be inattentive at times, but I LIKE these classic dishes.

Well, as a fellow native-Californian, and some mornings I look old enough to be a Californio- I want better!!!!

The reality is- you have nothing to worry about. I think "combination-plate Mexican" is here to stay.

I do like it when good flour tortillas are served warm (and wrapped so they stay that way), when the cheese has been melted on top of the refried beans, and there is an assortment of salsas on the table.

I don't mind that, although I 100% prefer corn to flour tortillas. I mostly object to a plate bigger than my head loaded with food that all tastes the same. But I do agree, tortillas, beans and salsa is about the best comfort food there is and if a restaurant at least has good salsa, the meal can be saved.

[cmvnapa]

If you go to New Mecca, bring cash. No credit cards, no ATM cards, no checks, and the guy with the little store across the street will charge you for getting cash back on a purchase.

Everytime we go there, we approach with trepidation; the entire area looks deserted and a bit seedy. But as you get closer, cars abound and you're lucky if there's room inside. They are open extremely late though.

Taco trucks: best to our taste in Napa is Tacos La Playita but I've stopped bringing food home. My husband says there's no substitute for eating as soon as the plate hits one's hands. There's a truck parked at the Lake Herman exit off 680 that he hits on his way home from Martinez. I had a burrito there recently and it wasn't too bad.

[rancho_gordo]

Everytime we go there, we approach with trepidation; the entire area looks deserted and a bit seedy.

Sounds like my kind of place!

best to our taste in Napa is Tacos La Playita

I've mentioned this before, but their new $5 price for a burrito made me stop cold. They have the best carne asada but Michoacan down the way has a greal al pastor. But quasi-locally, Dos Hermanos in Vallejo, on Sonoma Blvd, parked in a crappy furniture lot is divine, with a gorgeous roasted deArbol chile salsa.

[cmvnapa]

WHAT? $5 for a burrito? I'd want a table cloth with that, thank you.

Come to think of it, I probably pay a little under $5 for burritos over at Favela's in Fairfield. Some years ago, they made Sunset Magazine's burrito round-up list, if that would be anything in their favor, along with my all time fave: Rosa Maria's in SoCal in San Bernardino. Rosie's offers many burritos costing between $3 and $4, and I like mine with meat, rice, and cheese (sorry). That was my first burrito and that's how I like them.

[mcdowell]

WHAT? $5 for a burrito? I'd want a table cloth with that, thank you.

Not unreasonable. These burritos are the size of a baby's leg.

[Lois]

For sit-down Mexican in a divey atmosphere, I like Mom is Cooking, which is waaaay out in the Excelsior in San Francisco. For taqueria, there's a newish place in the Mission that I love, called El Metate. It's on Bryant, I think somewhere around 21st/22nd. Lots of great options and a little fresher and more interesting than the standard taquerias.

Both places have good chile verde (green chile pork), which for me is the sine qua non of Mexican.

I second the recommendation above of the tacos al pastor at El Farolito. They also do a good vegetarian taco (beans, rice, onions, hot salsa, and lots of avocado).

[ingridsf]

For sit-down Mexican in a divey atmosphere, I like Mom is Cooking, which is waaaay out in the Excelsior in San Francisco. For taqueria, there's a newish place in the Mission that I love, called El Metate. It's on Bryant, I think somewhere around 21st/22nd. Lots of great options and a little fresher and more interesting than the standard taquerias.

Both places have good chile verde (green chile pork), which for me is the sine qua non of Mexican.

I second the recommendation above of the tacos al pastor at El Farolito. They also do a good vegetarian taco (beans, rice, onions, hot salsa, and lots of avocado).

Do either have home-made tortillas by any chance?

[winesonoma]

Juanita Juanita in Sonoma on Arnold Drive. Ok for lunch Better menu for dinner.

[rdailey]

Commenting on the Marin Co. Mexican situation, I can say that there are a number of decent taquerias, but none are better than Taqueria San Jose in San Rafael. I believe they have another location Oakland as well. Awesome cabeza and lengua! Equally as good as any of the burrito joints in the Mission.

That being said, there has not been a good Mexican restaurant in Marin, aside from the aforementioned taquerias, since Juan's in Sausalito closed up.

Mexican restaurants in NoCal seems to be the equivalent of the Italian restaurants of the 60s. Of course it could be worse, we could be in Minnesota.

[merle]

Commenting on the Marin Co. Mexican situation, I can say that there are a number of decent taquerias, but none are better than Taqueria San Jose in San Rafael. I believe they have another location Oakland as well. Awesome cabeza and lengua! Equally as good as any of the burrito joints in the Mission.

They (Taqueria San Jose) do have an Oakland location, near 35th and International/14th.

It was pretty good. I didn't try the cabeza or lengua, though, but the carne asada and al pastor tacos were tasty. (there are only so many tacos one can eat in a single meal!) Pretty good salsas, too. But the birria (goat) was tasteless; I could only tell what it was because it wasn't any of the identifiable items... quite a disappointment.

I am a gringo, though, so I have no idea how authentic it was. Given other people's comments (about the SF and San Rafael locations), I think the Oakland one must not be quite so good. The food was tasty, but not mouth-watering. Noisy, too But I would go back there. I'm just not running back.

[kellycolorado]

This is Cal-Mex, but for a quick meal I really like Andale Taqueria in Los Gatos or Palo Alto. Their chicken is rotisserie and I love their salsas and agua frescas. It's been a staple of mine since I have a toddler in tow nowadays, though I've been eating there for 10 years.

I would love to discover more (authentic) Mexican places though, especially with homemade hard tacos shells. mmm...

[getalife]

Thank you to everyone!! I have been looking for some cheesy, saucy, Mexican goodness since I moved to NoCal!! Can't wait to try all of the suggestions!!

[Jaymes]

When I visited my son in San Jose, I made a concerted effort to find some good Mexican food. I found a neighborhood that was VERY Mexican. Lots of Mexican bakeries, music and bookstores, shops selling all the finery for a quincinera, etc. And there were at least three excellent restaurants there as well, along with a lot of smaller taquerias. There was one of the "fogata" type BBQ meat one, several unpretentious cafes, and large family-fiesta style ones, too. There was one place I tried where absolutely nobody in the place spoke any English at all. Nor were the menus in English. If I didn't speak some Spanish, I'd have had a hard time ordering. There were cholos hanging around in the parking lots. On Mexican holidays, there were parades down the main street of this part of town, with people honking horns and waving Mexican flags.

I went into the bakery and bought some terrific panes dulces and asked the owner where the best restaurant was. A lively conversation (in Spanish) ensued among him and the other employees and patrons of the store.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of that district, nor the restaurants (although I can ask my son if anyone is interested), but I definitely can confirm that there was excellent Mexican food to be had, in San Jose at least, if one puts one's mind to finding it.

[ExtraMSG]

Rancho, what are you looking for??? Mexican-American? Regional Mexican? Alta Cocina? Antojitos and taqueria food?

I've been to some great taquerias in Oakland and Sacromento.

Here's a Sacromento Chowhound post of mine:

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards...sages/9814.html

I started by going to La Favorita #2 on the way from the airport. I assumed it'd be a good start if I went to any others since (the other, nja) Nick established it as a kind of standard for his taco crawls. I got four tacos: carne asada, chile verde, al pastor, and carnitas. Also tried chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were mediocre at best. The chips have that been-in-a-bag feel to them, imo. The salsas didn't have enough flavor or kick to them. The nopales salsa was okay, but even it was lacking flavor. The tacos were a mixed bag. The carne asada was bad. Not browned at all, not juicy, not tender. Like a poor stir fry of beef. The chile verde was nice and tender with decent flavor. The al pastor was decent as well. I didn't notice any undo gristle, but I didn't think wow either. The carnitas, however, were very good. Nice and crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. Overall, I'd say it's a B+ level taqueria. Has some decent stuff. Has a very good item or two and is clean and a pleasure to eat at. The jugos and aguas did look great, btw. Nice to see they had carrot. I came away, though, pretty sure there was better. I figured if I found a second place that looked promising on my way across from I-5 to 99, I'd eat there, too. But I didn't see anything.

I got a chance to try another when I took my little brothers to Scandia Family Fun Center. It's just off Hillsdale off the Madison exit from I-80. The taqueria is called Zarape. I'd tried it before with my brothers last year. I remembered it as being pretty good. Better than La Favorita, as I remembered it. And it was. I got four kinds of tacos: chorizo, asada, adovada, and carnitas. They have decent chips and salsa there, too. Nothing as adventurous as nopales, but good ones with decent flavor and a variety of styles. No great salsas, but all decent. The chips were made there and decent. All the taco meats were good to excellent, for my tastes. Zarape is a strong believer, as am I, in the Maillard effect. All their meats had a nice crispy, caramelly crust to them (except the adovada). The chorizo had a good flavor, extra sauteed onions, etc. The asada were small little diced bits of beef with golden brown and delicious crusts. The carnitas were crispier than La Favorita's, but drier. That's a trade-off I can live with. I like a range of carnitas, from ones that aren't crisped at all but very juicy and tender to ones, like these, that are very crispy. The adovada was quite flavorful and very tender. The tacos here were a bit expensive at $1.95 each, but bigger than any other place I went to. I'd give this place an A.

On my way to the airport, I gave myself an extra hour so I could hit some more places. I started just with the idea of hitting Esperanza. But I noticed that up Franklin from Florin as you got farther north there were more and more taquerias and carnicerias and panaderias. So after finding Esperanza and going to it and it's sister panaderia, I tried a couple more places. Esperanza is a small little place right next to the food stamp office. Their prices are great. Only 79 cents for a taco. I got a carnitas taco and carne asada taco and a pork tamal. The carnitas was good, crispy, tender and moist. The asada was more like pot roast. In fact, it sort of reminded me of the pot roast I grew up with -- braised in french onion soup. Odd, but tasty. The tamal was good, but a little denser than I like. The flavor of the pork was very good, though. Best value, probably, though. They put a lot of lettuce on the tacos, which I didn't like. I went to the bakery, but didn't get anything. I wanted churros, easily my favorite pan dulce, but they only have them on weekends. The selection was good, though not really any better than the places I go up here in Portland.

Next, I went back south to Carniceria Lopez. The first one. They have a big, nice-looking place south of the original with a taqueria, also. In the back of the original is a little deli counter where you can order tacos and other typical carniceria hot foods like carnitas by the pound. I got a carnitas, adovada, and asada taco. The carnitas was good, though a little drier than it should have been. The adovada was tender and flavorful. The asada was nicely charred. The best thing about the tacos, though, was the great red salsa that came on them. I asked for hot salsa on them and it was very good. It was spicy, but I've had much more firery salsas at lots of taquerias before. It was very, very good.

Just a couple doors away was another panaderia, La Mexicana. They looked like they might have a bigger selection of pan dulces than Esperanza, though it was close. Still no churros. What's up wit that? The most wonderful of all pan dulces and no one has them. Annoying.

Here's another post from some other people:

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards...ages/10151.html

Here's an Oakland post on Chowhound from me:

http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards...ages/58892.html

LA GRAN CHIQUITA: A Chowhound find that paid off well enough. Had tacos de molleja (gizzards, I think) and cabeza (head or cheek). Both okay, but nothing special. Only the salsa roja was decent here. Also had a quesadilla de huitilacoche. Needed something to kick up the flavors of the huitilacoche, but the tortilla was fabulous. It was better than many of the best I’ve had in Mexico. I would have liked to try the squash blossom. Note: speaking a little Spanish will help here.

LA TORTA LOCA: This place rocks. Another Chowhound find. Funky little place connected to a laundry-mat. Great food, though. Started with a huarache de tinga. Huaraches are one of my favorite street foods. I love the thick masa tortillas covered with cheese, salsa, and meat like an authentic Mexican pizza. And this one was excellent. The tinga, stewed pork, was spicy and tender with a nice deep, rounded flavor like all slow foods should have. The salsa verde was nice and the cheese was nice. Based on the strength of this we got a taco de carnitas, my litmus test for taquerias. It came with cilantro, crema, tomato, pickled carrots, and salsa roja. Very good. The meat was good alone and the taco was good as a whole. This is a great little place and even though I usually prefer trying new places, I’d have a hard time not trying everything on the menu here before moving on. I imagine this should be the gold-standard for taquerias in the Bay Area.

I've always been able to find these kinds of communities all over California.

I've read up on several regional Mexican places in N. Ca. but haven't tried any yet. I've tried plenty of Mexican-American food. Honestly, I don't think Tex-Mex has any definite advantage. There's good, mediocre, and bad just like there is in California. Chevy's is no worse a chain than On the Border.

[ExtraMSG]

Anyone know the area Jaymes is talking about in San Jose? I'm headed that way.

[Jaymes]

Anyone know the area Jaymes is talking about in San Jose? I'm headed that way.

I've emailed my son, and as soon as I hear back, I'll let you know.

[Jaymes]

Anyone know the area Jaymes is talking about in San Jose? I'm headed that way.

The two restaurants in particular that I enjoyed are at the intersection of King & Story (just east of I-280 & US101 interchange). The restaurant where no one spoke English but me was Los Jarritos. Kitty/caddy/catty-corner was Tacos al Carbon. It's that kind of typical Mexican BBQ meat place where you can see the meat cooking. This is a Mexican neighborhood, and there are many small shops, stores, bakeries, etc.

Another restaurant (that I didn't try), but that was recommended as a "hole in the wall for gringos" is called Cafe Teresa. It's on the corner of Santa Teresa & Snell.

[Jaymes]

Edited April 7, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[ExtraMSG]

Thanks. They're on my list.

[Jaymes]

Thanks.  They're on my list.

Great. If you don't like them, please PM me so I can take them off of my "recommend" list.

If, on the other hand, you love them, please feel free to brag about me right here.

Edited April 8, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[ExtraMSG]

I'm taking both my digital camera and my film camera, so I should have pics. I'm really hoping I can fit it in. I should be able to.

[ExtraMSG]

Here's my report on the favorable Mexican food experiences I had on my trip:

MEXICAN FOOD

Sacramento

Sacramento has a 22% Latino population, most of which are certainly Mexican. There's a wonderful stretch of taquerias, carnicerias, panaderias, and tiendas along Franklin north from Florin. Even the billboards are in Spanish.

You can begin with La Favorita #2. I'm not sure where #1 is, but it probably doesn't matter. The rule in Sacramento seems to be that the first place opened in these mini-chains is a dive and the second is the restaurant they wished they could have had from the beginning. La Favorita has excellent agua frescas and freshly made licuados, a decent salsa bar that includes a nopalitos pico de gallo, and endless serve-yourself chips. It's an open, clean room with murals on the walls and lots of light. I've had many tacos there now, and probably enjoy the chile verde and carnitas most. While nothing may astound, most things are consistently good. They have several mariscos dishes I haven't tried and usually several seafood specials as well. Note: they only accept cash.

It takes a bit of a drive north, maybe as much as a couple miles, to reach the next promising taqueria, but after that the options come quickly and favorably. Carniceria Lopez has two stores along this stretch of Franklin. Their first, farther north, is in a strip mall and is primarily a carniceria and tienda. You can watch the workers stirring the carnitas and pulling out carmelized hunks of pork. The other store, farther south, has a restaurant where you can sit down, but a more compact carniceria and tienda. This second spot, Lopez #2, is across the street from a Campbell's Soup factory which has a sign that announces, "M'm! M'm! Good! Starts here." They ain't kiddin'. Lopez has excellent carnitas and birria. Their salsas add great flavor to their tacos. And if you're on a low-carb diet, you can grab some carnitas and chicharron from the carniceria's deli case by the pound.

My favorite panaderia along this stretch, La Mexicana, is just a couple doors down from Carniceria Lopez #1 in a stip mall. They now offer taqueria food, too, but I haven't tried it. I always fill up on the panes dulces. Pinatas hang from the ceiling and the walls are packed with Mexican candies, dried chiles, canned goods, and other assorted typical tienda offerings. You grab some tongs and a platter and snatch panes dulces from the extensive case. They generally run a cheap forty cents each.

El Michoacano doesn't have the best quality offerings, but they do have some items you don't find in every taqueria. They have, for example, the original Mexican pizza, the huarache, and gorditas on the menu. The carnitas and asada here are mediocre (especially the asada), but the adovada is tasty. If you haven't tried a huarache, this place may be worth a stop.

Clearly the best value -- and a place to get some of the best carnitas you're likely to have -- is La Esperanza, right next to a food stamp distribution center. It's a tiny store with nowhere to sit, packed full of Mexican groceries. In the back through a door behind the counter, you can see the tortilleria machine plugging away, workers stripping the conveyor belt of the Mexican flatbread and bagging them. To the right of the counter is a small deli case with chicharron and carnitas -- golden, brown, and delicious. Tacos only run 79 cents here and weirdly come a little Americanized with lots of lettuce. The flautas are very light and crispy. The carnitas, as I've indicated, are wonderful. The asada is strange, more like a deshebrada or pot roast, but still tasty.

On the south end of the shopping center from La Esparanza's market and taqueria is La Esperanza's panaderia. I don't like it quite as much as La Mexicana, but they also have an extensive selection of panes dulces and offer churros on the weekend.

North of Sacramento, just off I-80, is one of my favorite Sacramento-area taquerias, El Zarape. It's not really near anything else (and certainly not near the wonderful stretch of Franklin) except Scandia Family Fun Center, which is the reason I discovered it. But I like it a lot. They have a drive thru, but if you go in, there are free self-serve chips and salsa that are better overall than the comparable offerings at La Favorita #2. The kitchen emphasizes the crispy texture of the meats they serve. Their asada comes as little seasoned, crispy bits of beef. Their chorizo is caramelly with sauteed onions. Their carnitas seems to have been pan-fried crispy just for each order. Only items that are naturally not meant to be crispy, such as the adovada, lack this emphasis on the Maillard effect. It's a style I very much appreciate. Add to this that every meat seems to be good to excellent, and I think that makes El Zarape one of my favorite taquerias in Sacramento (even, perhaps, Northern California).

Oakland

In the Bay Area, the mission district of San Francisco is famous for its horrendously huge burritos, taqueria food, and even pupuserias. But across the the bay lies Oakland where Mexicans can actually still afford to live. Take the Fruitvale exit and head east to International and you've landed in the midst of another world -- taquerias, tiendas, panaderias, joyerias, fruterias, carnicerias, etc, etc, etc. Whereas the mission district is largely mixed with as much Asian influence as Latin American, the Fruitvale area of International Blvd in Oakland is aggressively Mexican. The restaurants have gorgeous murals both inside and out. Snack and fruit carts stand on every corner, waiting for the many families to walk by, kids begging for something sweet.

I've eaten one of the best tingas of my life atop a large, Mexico City style huarache at La Torta Loca. Apparently there's another outpost, but I haven't found it. This one shares a storefront with a lavanderia and is barely more than a take-out counter. But the food! Dios mio! Everything I've tried here was at least good, and it should be a first stop in an Oakland Mexican food tour. Certainly try the tinga, but also try the nopales if you haven't had them or enjoy nopales even a little bit. I'm not a Mexican sandwich person, but the pambasos look fantastico.

Just a couple doors up (south) from La Torta Loca is La Gran Chiquita. The items here are more mixed in quality and you'll have to brush up on your Spanish before entering because they don't speak English, but the quesadillas are excellent. They're the traditional folded masa quesadillas that have become way too difficult to find in the US. They offer both huitlacoche (corn fungus) and flor de calabaza (squash blossom) which makes this place an even greater find. The shell of the quesadilla is just like you'll find in Mexico and quite delicious.

Otaez is several blocks south and across the street from the previous two and marks the end of the heavy concentration of taquerias. It has both a restaurant side and a taqueria side. The desayunos and mariscos look especially alluring here, but even just the tacos are quite good. Tortillas are made to order and typical fillings like cabeza and al pastor are good.

A "do not miss" in this Mexitown-within-a-town is the agua fresca and licuado truck Ojo de Agua. Posters on Chowhound.com swear by the torta cubana as well, but I'd rather order an extra drink than waste my tummy on anything as filling as that. The tropical fruit aguas frescas such as the mango or guyaba are divine. The horchata is excellent. The licuados, such as the coco with a dash of cinnamon on top are wonderful. Do not miss!

In addition to these low-end places where brown people can afford to eat, Oakland also has a well-respected upscale Mexican restaurant serving primarily whities, Dona Tomas. The restaurant fits better as a Berkeley restaurant than an Oakland restaurant (eg, soy milk is available for your coffee), however it is truly in Oakland. Dona Tomas integrates New American/California cooking and traditional Mexican dishes. They use local and seasonal ingredients, western preparations, and simple but elegant presentations. The carnitas are made with Niman Ranch pork. The pescado en pipian verde is made with skate. The ceviche is made with salmon. The prices are fair with rarely an entree over $15 or an appetizer over $10. But don't expect the typical Tex-Mex place with overflowing plates the size of a pizza pan. The portions will stuff only the daintiest diners. I highly recommend their sopa de lima, a perfect balance of citrus, garlic, tomato, and chicken topped with crunchy tortilla strips. The pastries come across mostly uninspired, typical of even upscale Mexican restaurants, but there is a nod to seasonality even there.

San Jose

Even with most of the orchards covered by blacktop, strip malls, offices, and mini-mansions, San Jose still attracts large populations of Mexicans. Thanks to a recommendation from eGullet.com member Jaymes, I took an afternoon to explore just one corner of San Jose's Mexicana, the corner of King and Story.

The intersection of these two streets acts like a magnet for Mexicans seeking food and goods. Two local supermercado powers, Mi Pueblo Food Center and Tropicana Foods, anchor competing shopping centers caddy-corner from each other. Around these and in these are taquerias, restaurantes, panaderias, carnicerias, joyerias, clothing stores, and much more -- many owned by these two anchors.

Mi Pueblo is wonderful. It's huge, clean, busy, and comprehensive. It's larger than most Safeways. The carniceria offers an enormous line of meats, poultry, and fish. They have a deli counter with prepared foods like carnitas and chicharron. They make their panes dulces right there along with tortillas. They sell their fresh masa, too. They have an extensive selection of dried chiles and a very good produce section.

Slightly smaller and a little more run down, Tropicana also provides an excellent selection of meats, produce, panes dulces, chiles, and other Mexican groceries. The taqueria in Tropicana trumps Mi Pueblo's prepared foods. There are fresh caramelly carnitas and crispy chicharron, but also several guisados and all the typical taco fillings. The taqueria inside Tropicana even sells its own lard leftover from the making of chicharron and carnitas.

Tacos al Carbon, right next to Mi Pueblo, makes tasty tacos using freshly made tortillas. You can look into the kitchen which extends down one side of the restaurant as you walk in. Notice the hanging carne seca. The opposite wall has a stage and murals. Tacos al Carbon is more than a taqueria and you can order a variety of Mexican dishes and drinks. Their cabeza and their carne asada are especially good.

Los Jarritos is an expansive one-room restaurant near Tropicana with murals on the main two walls and a partially open kitchen. The day I was there they were setting up for a wedding party with large white lilies on many of the tables, colorful balloons, and a stage. They have an extensive selection of aguas frescas and licuados. The aguas come with the bottom third of the glass filled with chopped bits of the chosen ingredient that get caught in the straw, but flavor the water perfectly. The melon agua fresca is especially good and not too sweet. There are many mariscos on the menu as well as all the typical Mexican dishes. I really enjoyed the queso fundido con chorizo.

Santa Cruz

You might think that Santa Cruz would have some good low-end taquerias, like the places around the tiny apartments filled with Mexican families near the Boardwalk. But the two I tried, Rosey's and El Paisano were mediocre at best. However, in the upscale downtown area there's Taqueria Vallarta which does a good job of producing classic taqueria faire in a caucasian-approachable environment.

Watsonville

So close to the ocean and beautiful beaches, you might expect Watsonville to be a tourist town. That job, however, is served by Santa Cruz to the north and Monterey to the south, leaving Watsonville to serve the workers who spend their days in the agricultural fields inland from the Monterey Bay.

In Watsonville's quaint downtown you'll find El Alteno. In the front of the restaurant there's a taqueria bar. In the back, a normal bar. In between is a high, arch-ceilinged, semi-upscale Mexican restaurant with nods to local ingredients and Americanized dishes. The huachinango empanizado is encrusted in a wonderfully crispy breading that includes macadamia nuts. The snapper is topped with a red jalapeno glaze, a California pasilla chile salsa, and a mango-papaya-tomatillo salsa. The fish is fabulously fresh and a good-sized portion for only $10.95. The pipian verde balances the earthy flavor of pumpkin seeds with the sweet flavor of raisins. The orange-chipotle chicken on the sopes works perfectly. For prices competitive with Chevy's, you get food that's a giant step up in both authenticity and interest.

Not far away in a strip mall behind a gas station is a very different restaurant: Fiesta Tepa-Sahuayo. The dining room is tiny and crowded with cheap Mexican market decorations crowding the walls. The menus are hand-written and laminated, working double-duty as placemats. A Chowound favorite recommended by tanabutler on eGullet.com, Fiesta has a split personality. On one side of the menu are familiar Mexican-American choices like burritos. On the other side are regional dishes you rarely find outside of Mexico, like chiles en nogada and molcajetes. I ordered one of these molcajetes. Several varieties of mariscos or carnes (your choice) come in a large bowl with chorizo, nopales, onion, and a tomatillo-based sauce. On the side you get beans, rice, a salad, and -- easily the best item of all -- a quesadilla made from scratch. The quesadilla is remarkably good constructed with a thin house-made corn tortilla. The mariscos in the molcajete vary in quality and freshness and I wished I had ordered the carnes. But the sauce, chorizo, and nopales are delectable. Other fish items can be spotty as well, and I recommend considering non-fish dishes first. The aguas frescas come in a large jar that you can use to refill your glass several times. I love corn tortillas, usually preferring them, and they have excellent house-made corn tortillas here, but the house-made flour tortillas are out-of-this-world good and I actually ate many more of them. This is one of the most interesting Mexican restaurants I've been to in the U.S. even if the quality isn't always consistent. I would consider it a "must stop" if you're near Watsonville. Expect to have leftovers. The orders come on ceramic platters the size of wagon wheels and they're not mostly free space. Despite this, the prices are very affordable.

Real Colima provides a third style of Mexican restaurants, a more common style, that you can find in Wastsonville. The decor is minimal, the choices typical, and the preparations very homey. But they don't skimp on quality. The chips and salsa are addictive. The empenadas are hand-made as are the corn tortillas. Their mole poblano has excellent depth of flavor that suggests they actually make it from scratch.

One more place I'll mention in Watsonville primarily because it's open late: Popo's. The food was merely decent, but they are a much, much better option than the Taco Bell drive-thru. It seems to become a Latino joven hangout after about 9 pm with amigas at one table and amigos at another flirting with each other.

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