Taco ’bout it

Tucked next to a busy freeway interchange, there is nothing fancy about recently opened Chavelita’s Cocina Mexicana. It’s tiny. The decor is minimal, and the counter staff aren’t completely familiar with the menu. None of that matters, because the food is pretty damn good, and the service is really quick.

A serving of tortilla chips gave my companions and me a chance to sample the salsa bar. It has a good variety of salsas, from mild and fruity to spicy and smoky—plus items to customize dishes, including roasted hot chiles and onion, chopped onion and cilantro, radish slices, lime wedges and curtido, a mildly pickled slaw. A pair of crispy pupusa ($2 each), one cheese and one chicharon—fried pork skin—made good use of the curtido, along with a red sauce that was considerably more flavorful and spicier than the traditional Salvadoran variety.

I ordered a variety of tacos ($1.50 ea), including al pastor (spit-roasted pork), cabeza (beef head), carne asada (grilled, marinated beef), buche (pork throat and stomach), chorizo (pork sausage), pollo (chicken) and carne molida (ground meat) with lemon and pepper. I also tried a few tacos that cost a bit extra—carnitas (slow-cooked pork) ($1.75), tripitas (pork intestine) ($2), and lengua (beef tongue) ($2.50). In all, it was 10 tacos on two big plates, each one a pair of little corn tortillas topped with a lot of meat and nothing else. I dressed them with onion and cilantro and dug in.

The tortillas held up well, and the meats were tender and well seasoned. The chicken breast was marinated and grilled. The lemon pepper ground beef was surprisingly good. The tongue and cow’s head were both top notch, and even if intestines and pig stomach aren’t your thing, these could change your mind. These were easily the best guts I’ve been served. The intestines had a smooth texture imbued with amazing flavor. The chopped stomach could have passed for dark meat chicken, as long as you didn’t look too close. The only one I found off was the sausage, which suffered from an unfortunate overabundance of salt.

The saltiness of a chorizo and cheese mulita ($6.95) was tempered with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado, sandwiched between a pair of grilled, housemade corn tortillas. It was messy and fantastic. So was the pambazo ($6.95), which was made with pretty much the same ingredients—plus potato—placed in a large, soft sandwich roll soaked in guajillo pepper sauce. A “Philly cheese” torta ($6.95) in no way resembled a Philly cheesesteak but was a good combination of carne asada and bell pepper with all of the other sandwich goodies.

I’ve often been disappointed with this trendy favorite, but a shared plate of carne asada fries ($6.95) with meat, cheese, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and sour cream was better than I expected.

Combo plates came with healthy servings of rice and beans—both excellent—and a nice ensalada of lettuce, onion, tomato, guacamole and sour cream. The aromatic pepper of a chile relleno ($8.95) was seriously stuffed with melted cheese. A big plate of carnitas verde ($9.95) in thick, spicy green sauce was so loaded with slow-cooked pork, it was almost too much for one meal. It’s fortunate this joint isn’t closer to my house, or I’d be tempted every single day.