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It's been a couple years since Mi Tierra Taqueria, located in west Roseville, CA opened for business, and on this blustery January Saturday morning, today seemed the perfect day to enjoy bowl of a hot, steaming bowl of menudo for breakfast. I was running errands in the area, so I stopped by Mi Tierra Taqueria for breakfast... As with all restaurant reviews I publish, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: It's 10 o'clock on a chilly, brisk Saturday morning, January 22, 2022 and I've "opened up" Mi Tierra Taqueria for breakfast. Today, I was the first customer, and had the huge dining room all to myself for the first fifteen minutes of my visit.
Photo: A Corona beer sign, sponsored by the San Francisco Giants baseball team welcomes you to the dining room as you enter the restaurant. When it comes to major league baseball, the nearest teams are located in the Bay Area, which is an easy 2-hour drive, so there are many Giants and A's fans in the greater Sacramento area.
Photo: As you enter the restaurant, you'll notice the dining room is GIGANTIC, spacious, and well-lighted, thanks to natural light from the floor to ceiling windows. The dining room is spacious, with the furniture - all tables and chairs - widely spaced apart. The walls are decorated with a few pictures and posters, and Mexican banners hang from the ceiling. The dining room is clean, comfortable with plenty of room to move around in. The blackboard to the right lists the daily specials. You'll notice an order counter at the rear of the restaurant, but Mi Tierra Taqueria is a full-service, sit-down restaurant. You can place your order at the counter, like I did, or sit down at a table, and a menu will be brought to you. Unlike most taquerias, there is no order above the counter, as the restaurant has printed menus, and the menu is posted online. Whatever the case, you pay for your meal when you're finished eating.
Photo; Another look at the very spacious dining room. The restaurant opened in May, 2020, during the height of COVID, which made wide spacing a necessity. Fast forward to today, and the furniture is still widely spaced.
Photo: The order counter is where the server works, assembling to-go orders, along with chips and salsa for dine-in customers. During my visit to the restaurant, the phone was busy, which the only server on duty very busy.
Photo: A small section of the menu lists menudo and pozole offered on weekends. There is also a blackboard that lists daily specials. Click on the image to see the complete menu. The complete menu is also posted online, on the restaurant's web site.
Photo: I was impressed by this colorful painting of Mexico, which is hung on the back wall.
Photo: Meet Melissa, my server who brought my chips, salsa and glass of ice water to me with a smile. She apologized for the delay in bringing my chips and salsa to the table, as it seemed the phone rang continuously after I placed my order. No worries, as I understand how things work.
Photo: As Melissa was bringing my chips and salsa to my table, the chef came out of the kitchen with my bowl of menudo, along with four warm corn tortillas, wrapped in foil. My menudo arrived about fifteen minutes after I placed my order, which made for great service.
Photo: Thanks, Melissa, for taking my photo, as I'm getting ready to enjoy a great breakfast of menudo, tortillas, chips and salsa.
Photo: From the "Saturday and Sunday ONLY" section of the menu, I ordered a bowl of menudo, along with a rolled stack of corn tortillas. When you order menudo or pozole, you get to choose between corn or flour tortillas. Like most listings on the menu, "Menudo" includes a basket of chips, and a dish of in-house made salsa. My server was very kind to offer to include part of the calf's hoof with my soup, to enhance the flavor, but I declined, as when the hoof isn't included, there's more tripe and soup to enjoy, as I was ravenously hungry on this brisk Saturday morning. The soup was served in a square bowl, for in intriguing presentation, and I would guess the total helping to be around the size of a larger, round soup bowl, but it was hard to tell. The broth was a rich, brick-red in color, and was flavorful, and not at all spicy. The soup arrived very hot from the kitchen, which was perfect to warm me up inside on this chilly January morning. A rolled stack of four fresh, warm corn tortillas - a necessity to go with menudo - made for amazing dipping into the savory broth. Rounding out the menudo was a small bowl of garnishes that included chopped cilantro, diced white onion, Mexican oregano along with super hot dried chili peppers. I was not-so-pleasantly surprised to see there wasn't any hominy in the bowl of menudo. Granted, not all menudo recipes include hominy, but I've grown up to expect hominy in my menudo, so I was disappointed. The soup included a decent amount of very tender honeycomb tripe, and I was surprised to see it cut into very small pieces, like I've never seen before. The broth was on the thin side, and the small pieces of tripe seemed a little lonely floating around in the ample amount of broth. Thanks to the busy phone, my order of chips and salsa arrived just before my breakfast was placed on my table. I certainly enjoyed the tortilla chips, as they were warm, fresh, and had lots of great "crunch." The dish of salsa was fresh, delicious, and just a medium on the "spicy" side which works perfectly with me. The combination of chips and salsa offered at Mi Tierra Taqueria makes for an outstanding accompaniment to your meal!
Photo: My bowl of menudo, four corn tortillas, along with a small bowl of garnishes made for a great Saturday morning breakfast. I must confess that I was a bit disappointed in my bowl of menudo, as it did not include hominy, the pieces of tripe were smaller than I've ever seen, and the broth was on the watery side. You enjoy menudo, along with all of your Mexican favorites at Mi Tierra Taqueria, located in west Roseville. Check them out! Let's go back to my first visit to Mi Tierra Taqueria on Wednesday, May 20, 2020... As of this writing, Mi Tierra Taqueria is the latest Mexican restaurant to open in Roseville, having opened their doors - sort of on May 1st - but due to the current COVID-19 scare, until May 15th, the restaurant had been reduced to curb pick-up and take-out orders only. Thankfully, Placer County has lifted many of the "quarantine restrictions," so Mi Tierra Taqueria is open, in business, and serving fine Mexican cuisine, in their spacious dining room.
Photo: It's just a little after the 10 o'clock opening time of Mi Tierra Taqueria, located in Roseville, CA, and I've arrived to enjoy a delicious early lunch. The date is Wednesday, May 20, 2020, the weather is bright and sunny, and today seems to be a good to enjoy great Mexican cuisine. Mi Tierra Taqueria chose a "hard luck" time to open, as the restaurant opened on May 1st, to greet guests with take out and "door dash" orders only, thanks to the COVID-19 virus thing, along with the enforcement by the state. The first three weeks the restaurant was open must have been difficult for the owners, but thankfully, Placer County loosened the "lockdown" and the restaurant opened it's dining room on Monday, May 18th, for all to enjoy. Here I am!
Photo: As you enter the restaurant, you'll notice the dining room is GIGANTIC, and it's only made bigger thanks to the "social distancing" that seems to be the trend on May 20, 2020. Note the sign that greets you, and lets you know of the "new normal" facing Californians, so to speak. Note the WIDE spacing between the tables... thank you coronavirus and Placer County. If you know any Spanish, you'll note the sign says, "Por favor sea cortés con los demás. Mantenga su distancia a 6 pies de distancia." Thank you, dear sign for reminding me of my "social obligations..." However on this late Wednesday morning, the dining room was lightly seated, so here were no "social worries." If this restaurant and dining room look familiar, you may recall back on December 14, 2016, I visited this restaurant when it was the home of Tandoori Bites, an Indian and Pakistani restaurant, which, sadly, closed the doors for good, back in 2019. Today, as you enter, you're greeted with a cheery "Bienviendos" above the counter.
Photo: Mi Tierra Taqueria operates on what I call the "taqueria format," in that you place your order at the counter, pay for it after placing your order, and during busy times, you'll be rewarded with a number for your trouble. The restaurant wasn't busy on this late Wednesday morning, so I wasn't rewarded with a number, as there was just only one other party, besides me, in the dining room. I noted an "oddity about Mi Tierra Taqueria, as there wasn't a menu posted above the order counter, but there were plenty of printed menus on the counter. Disposable menus during COVIRUS-19 times? The restaurant has a web site, as they seem to do a brisk on-line business. My hostess, Maria, is busy taking a phone order, as seemed to be the "norm" during today's visit.
Photo: The first page of the menu. Anything listed on the menu is available anytime the restaurant is open.
Photo: Second page of the menu. Since it was lunch time, I homed in on the "Especiales de Almuerzo" section of the menu, as it seemed right to me. Gosh... how long has it been since I enjoyed a "Sope?" "Sope" was my choice. All of the lunch selections include rice and beans, which make for a well-rounded lunch.
Photo: Shortly after placing my lunch order at the counter, Maria brought chips and salsa to my table. Delicious! The tortilla chips were warm, and fresh out of the oven. I "assume" the salsa was in-house made, as it was fresh, delicious, and just a medium on the "spicy" side which works perfectly with me. The combination of chips and salsa offered at Mi Tierra is simply great! The chips and salsa came as a welcome surprise to me, as neither the menu, nor the web site suggested this fine accompaniment was included with the meal.
Photo: If you look beyond the counter, beyond the soda fountain, you'll get a peek at the bottled beverages the restaurant has to offer. In my case, I "zoned in" on "Pacifico Beer," and didn't look any further, as "Pacifico" is most likely my favorite beef brewed on the planet. If you're a fan of the soft drinks, there is a stand-up cooler in the dining room, so you can just grab your drink of choice.
Photo: During my visit, the phone rang... rang... and rang some more. Maria is very busy taking phone orders, and during my visit, many customers came by to pick up phone orders. I'm sorry, as I'm "old school" as I don't do "phone orders," as I prefer to enjoy my meal in-house, served to me on a plate, by a real person.
Photo: My super friendly hostess, Maria, brings my lunch to my table, in less than 10 minutes after I place my order. That's LIGHTNING FAST service! I wasn't in a hurry, but I was amazed by the fast service. The service is faster than most "fast food" restaurants. Forget your "Bell" or "Taco" joints if you're in a hurry. Sure... you'll pay a couple dollars more at Mi Tierra Taqueria than at your typical "fast food" restaurant, but you'll be treated to a superior meal, prepared to your specification, along with personal service. Unfortunately, thanks to Placer County and the COVID-19 stuff, my friendly server is forced to don "The Mask."
Photo: Thanks, Maria for taking my photo, albeit blurry. Despite the blurry photo, I'm ready to enjoy an amazing lunch at Mi Tierra Taqueria.
Photo: From the "Especialies de Almuerzo" - otherwise known as lunch - section of the menu, I ordered a "Sope," with beef. All lunch specials, served weekdays from 10:00 until 3:00 include rice, beans, chips and salsa. When "Sope," is the choice of your meal, you get to choose between beef, chicken or pork; I went with beef. "Sope," also known as a "picadita," is a lesser-known Mexican favorite which originates near the Mexican heartland, and the dish has become popular all over Mexico, and just lately, north of the border. The base of the dish is a circle of fried maiz - like a really thick piece of tamale dough - and the ingredients are piled on it to form the "sope." In my case, my "sope" included beef - my choice of meat - diced tomato, diced onion, cilantro, shredded lettuce, and topped with sour cream. Oh yes... refried beans, as the beans are part of the "foundation." Delicious! The centerpiece of my amazing lunch was the "Sope," which started out with a thick slab of masa harina, about the size of a DVD, deep-fried to a perfect golden brown. On top of the masa, was a generous amount of seasoned, grilled beer - picadita - which covered the masa base of the meal. Under the layer of meat, there were delicious refried beans... On top of the beef and masa was a pile of fresh diced tomato, diced white onion, cilantro and shredded lettuce, and it was topped with a dollop of sour cream. Just like in Mexico! Delicious... Next to the "Sope" was a side salad, which was exactly like the "sope," except is was simply a salad, and didn't have the masa, nor the meat. Like the "Sope," the salad was amazing fresh, and delicious. Refried beans, complete with shredded Mexican cheese, along with Mexican rice completed the lunch. The rice was good, but... simply rice and not particularly spectacular. The beans, however were amazing, as I could taste the lard in them, and they reminded me of the countless meals of refried beans that I've enjoyed during my many trips to Mexico. At $7.99, the "Lunch Special" is an excellent value, and will keep you happy and satisfied for the rest of your day.
Photo: You're looking at an amazing "Sopa," as served at Mi Tierra Taqueria in west Roseville, CA. Note all of the fresh ingredients, along with the base of beef and refried beans. Simply delicious! You'll love the authentic Mexican cuisine, you'll love the spacious dining room, and you'll love the friendly staff. As the newest member of the "West Roseville Dining Family," I welcome Mi Tierra Taqueria to the area. Great dining! Mi Tierra Taqueria Copyright(c) 2022 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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