Review of Taqueria Los Jarritos, mesquite-grilled tacos in Bahia de Los Angeles...

Who needs a printed menu, when all you have to do is to ask the friendly chief cook and bottle washer, who owns and operates Taqueria Los Jarritos, and tell her what your dining needs are? Yes, the lady who runs the place is friendly, but if you're looking for a printed menu, posted anywhere, then you're out of luck, as a printed menu doesn't exist at Taqueria Los Jarritos. But that's only the beginning...

Photo: Taqueria Los Jarritos, located along the main street, and the facade is completely open to the elements. Note the sign reads "Desayunos," but during my visit, they were never open for breakfast. Note that they're already in the spirt of Haloween, and its only October 4th. The restaurant features both indoor and outdoor dining.

Jarritos is a very popular taco joint, and its located along the unnamed main street in the small Baja California town of Bahia de Los Angeles, between the Motel Las Hamacas, and the city park, facing the azure blue Sea of Cortez. The small restaurant is quite impressive, as its built at the base of a steep hill, and the restaurant is engineered to be flat, level, and offer convenience to its patrons. The facade that faces the street features concrete steps and a rock retaining wall, which allows easy, level access for the diners. In keeping with the character of Bahia de Los Angeles, the restaurant is open air, and open to the elements, but it does have a good deal of space allotted to enclosed, comfortable dining, albeit, open to the street and the elements.

Menu at Taqueria Los Jarritos? Well friends, no menu exists, as they operate strictly by word of mouth, and strictly by what ingredients they have on hand, at the time of your visit. During the time of my visit, I could have anything that my heard desired, as long as it was carne asada, which was what they had on hand. Friends, this isn't Tijuana, this is Bahia de Los Angeles, which is quite isolated from the rest of Mexico, so you get, what you get, and you will have to pay for it. To order, you simply walk up to the open-to-the-street counter of Los Jarritos, and ask tell the friendly lady what you want, if she doesn't have it in stock, she'll tell you, and then you just ask what she has, and again, she'll tell you, and you can choose from there. The process is simple, painless, and very much in keeping with the laid-back lifestyle enjoyed by residents and visitors alike of the sleepy little town of Bahia de Los Angeles.

Photo: From the table at the indoor dining room, you get a great view of the main street, and the beautiful Sea of Cortez.

Taqueria Los Jarritos features something that you rarely see in small, Mexican restaurants: A wood-fired grill, which is used for grilling, and more. I'm not talking about a smoker located in back of the restaurant, but I'm talking about a fire pit, that's built into the kitchen counter, that burns real mesquite logs, and allows the operator to grill meat, or whatever, and to heat pots of meat. The fire pit is built into to the counter, and it features a huge stainless steel range hood, which channels the smoke up and out of the restaurant, through the roof chimney. It's quite an impressive operation.

So I bellied myself up to the bar, and stood, bug-eyed, taking all of this in. I hadn't seen a setup this impressive since a visit to Tijuana, back in 2005, when I had the opportunity to enjoy a fantastic lunch at Pollos Asados al Carbon. The kitchen, and kitchen counter at Taqueria Los Jarritos, are quite impressive, and feature the fire pit, a propane fired griddle, and lots of counter space for the convenience of the restaurant workers. Naturally, there's a refrigerator, and a vertical cooler, where beverages are stored. The coolers seem to be very well insulated, which is a necessity, due to the unpredictable nature of the electrical power, which is locally generated.

Photo: Here's the order counter of the restaurant, the kitchen, and the lady who owens and operates the taqueria. The clock reads twenty minutes to six, on this late Thursday afternoon.

During the time of my visit, late afternoon, Thursday, October 4, 2007, there was only one worker at the restaurant, a rather full-figured lady of about my age. I know, the food police say to shy away from a restaurant where only one worker is present, but most of the time, I ignore that advice, as I trust my "gut instinct," no pun intended, as Los Jarritos appeared to be clean, and how could you resist a restaurant that features a mesquite-fired pit for grilling meat and heating pots of beans and condiments? I ordered 2 carne asada tacos, although I really wanted fish tacos, how could I pass on carne asada that had been grilled over mesquite coals, as opposed to fish tacos that had been fried in recycled oil? When asked by the friendly lady what condiments I desired on my tacos, I replied, "Con todo," which is my de facto standard answer.

The carne asada was already grilled, and had been placed in a pot, which was heating over the wood-fired pit. The gal placed a couple of medium-sized corn tortillas on the griddle, to allow them to heat, so they will conform to the perfect shape and texture for the perfect taco de carne asada. After allowing one side to heat, for about 10 seconds, she flipped them over, and cooked the opposite side for about 20 seconds, when blisters started to appear on the tortillas. She removed the tortillas from the griddle, and spooned carne asada from the pot, that had been heating above the wood-fired fire pit, on to each tortilla. As I had ordered "con todo," she deftly applied chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, shredded cabbage, diced white onions and runny guacamole to my tacos, and placed my tacos before me, as I sat at the bar, and had observed her every move. Note: I took a lot of audio notes into my voice recorder, as I wrote this article nearly six months after my visit. Digital audio recorders help you remember...

Photo: The owner is grilling the carne asada for my taco, over a real, mesquite fire. My body was shaking in anticipation of the delicious tacos that I knew I'd be enjoying!

As I was so excited at the prospect of savoring such delicious tacos, my hands were shaking as I picked up my first taco, took a bite into it, and was instantly transported into a state of taco serendipity. I was rocketed into a state of taco heaven, as I ate my first taco, as it was sooooo good... you know, such things as tender, smoked, marinated carne asada, delicious, fresh vegetables, and perfectly prepared corn tortillas, all for the bargain price of MEX $10.00 per taco. How can you go wrong?

Photo: Here's a portrait of some of the most delicious carne asada tacos that I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Note the attractive presentation and all of the condiments. Gee, these delightful tacos are a complete meal!

Yes, I know that you're looking at the Sea of Cortez, one of the best sport fishing meccas on planet Earth, but you'd be short-changing yourself if you passed on a mesquite-grilled carne asada taco at Taqueria Los Jarritos, and order a deep-fried, fish taco instead. Save your fish taco taste for Restaurant De Mariscos, which produces an outstanding fish taco, and enjoy one of the finest carne asada tacos you'll ever have the pleasure of eating, at Taqueria Los Jarritos.

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