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I was out for an early morning walk on the streets of San Felipe, Baja California, snapping a few digital photos. I was hiking down Ave. Mar Baltio Sur, when I spied Birra de Res, which freatured a prominant sign announcing that they served menudo for breakfast. That was all that was needed to pull me in like a moth is drawn to a flame!
Photo: It's plain to see on their sign that El Japito specializes in menudo, along with birra de chivo and birra de res. Eating a bowl of menudo for breakfast jump starts your day. El Japatio is pretty much a very typical taco stand that you'll find in every Mexican town. It's a combination between a fast-food and a sit-down restaurant, in that you walk up to the counter and place your order, and watch as the food is prepared before your eyes. You can either take it and eat it on the run, para llavar, or you can eat inside if you prefer, as they have several tables in a mostly-enclosed area, or you can eat your meal outside at a colorful picnic table, under a large awning. My preference is to sit outside under the awning, as I like the sights, smells and sounds of the outdoors, especially in a place as scenic and exciting as San Felipe.
Photo: Husband and wife hard at work. Prices and menu is posted on the wall. Note the large pot of menudo cooking on the floor mounted burner. El Japatio advertises their menudo, which is a very popular dish in this part of the country for breakfast, and at lunchtime, they switch over to tacos. Their specialty is tacos de birra (goat tacos,) but they serve other varieties as well, if goat isn't your meat of choice. They're open for dinner, but they close at variable hours in the evening, depending upon business conditions. Since it was around 0700 on a December morning, it was menudo time for me. El Japatio is a family affair, owned and operated by a husband and wife team; the wife's sister and brother also come in and help out when needed. The husband is the cook and vegetable chopper, and the wife takes orders, waits tables, cleans and helps hubby when needed.
Photo: Hubby stirs a pot of beans that is cooking on a propane fired range, as wife makes way to wash her hands. I walked up to the counter and placed my order for a bowl of menudo and a coke. They had two big pots of menudo, about 30-quarts each, simmering over propane burners. Although not in use in the morning, they have a propane-fired griddle used to cook meat for tacos, when they switch over from menudo to tacos. No English spoken here! The husband asked me which type of menudo I preferred, rojo or blanco, as he had a pot of each variety simmering on the stove, and didI prefer corn or flour tortillas? I made my choice of corn tortillas, naturally, , sat down at a table, started sipping my coke, alternating between watching them at work, taking photos and watching the early morning unfold in San Felipe. After about a 5-minute wait, the wife brought my meal to me. Oh boy, there's nothing like sitting outside under a colorful awning and savoring a bowl of piping hot menudo rojo and a half dozen warm, moist corn tortillas! Included garnishes were lime wedges, chopped onions, chopped cilantro and red pepper flakes.
Photo: My delicious bowl of menudo rojo, with a side of corn tortillas, and garnishes. Was the meal good? It was so good, the surroundings were so awesome, that I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Good people, good place and outstanding food. How much did I pay for my little piece of heaven? $50.00 in pesos, about $4.76 in U.S. dollars. Such a small price to pay for a piece of heaven! El
Japatio Copyright(c) 2009 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since January 19, 2005. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...
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