23607 Sun Apr 06 17:56:34 -0700 2003 9 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 90124 A planned lunch at Otaez Restaurant on International Blvd took an unexpected turn when we passed the La Gran Chiquita, which until recently was a teriyaki restaurant, and decided to change plans. We mused over the name--Ruth Lafler asked whether a "gran chiquita was like a jumbo shrimp" but Melanie Wong suggested it was more like a Big Babe. What we enjoyed: 3 excellent salsas: a mild orange salsa is the house regular plus a mild salsa verde and a gorgeous blood colored chipotle salsa. Tom from NY thought the chips and salsa needed a little extra salt. A sinchronizada, a flour quesadilla with ham and cheese and served with a side of guacamole and sour cream. I hadn't seen one of these since my last trip to Mexico and thought it was the thing on the table. Ruth thought the gordita with chicken (?) was very good. Quesadillas with squash blossom and huitlacoche (corn fungus) were interesting and well received. I was less enthusiastic about the greasy shell and I had hoped for a Oaxacan style quesadilla with just a squash blossom, but it was delicious just the same. The machaca was tasty, but the meat seemed too moist. This was better at Otaez restaurant. It needed salsa to bring it to life. Homemade flour and corn tortillas are available. The flour tortillas, which I didn't get to try, were described as "tangy." We ordered a bowl of menudo blanco (white tripe) out of curiosity, but found it lacking. A generous helping or tripe and a yummy bone of tendon to chew on, but this menudo was more like tripe water, even after adding epazote, onions, lemon, and salsa. La Gran Chiquita has offal to please any palate--not just a generic cabeza or tripa, but eye balls, cheeks, glands, brains. We got a mixed taco but no one was terribly enthusiastic about it and no eye balls were spotted. The longaniza (sausage) taco was filled with plump, well-spiced meat. Friendly, very casual service. The horchata and jamaica were from mixes; skip them in favor of freshly squeezed OJ. We managed to spend $34 for the five of us (not including tip) only because we ordered one from every category. Strolling down International, we enjoyed an excellent taco al pastor from a truck that Ruth or Melanie will have to name. A required stop at the Ojo de Agua truck produced heavenly liquados--a fresa (strawberry) and the sensational nuez (mixed nut). The mango agua fresca tasted not quite ripe--at least it was made from fresh fruit. We also noted a new rotisserie (chicken necks 3x$1 attracted William Wong's attention), a gumbo house, and the Cinco de Mayo birrieria (say that 3 times fast) for another trip. La Gran Chiquita Taqueria 3503 International 510 533 6484 Afterward, we stopped in at JC Cellars open house in Alameda, in the warehouse used by Rosenblum and St. George Spirits. Jeff Cohn is the winemaker at Rosenblum who also sells his own wines under the JC Cellars label.The clear favorite of the wines we tasted was the '99 Ventana Vinyards Syrah available for $25. I also liked the late harvest Viognier dessert wine. A highlight was Tucker's Ice Cream of Alameda offering tastes of their syrah ice cream made from JC's 2001 Syrah. Upstairs at Rosenblum, their dog wine (Chateau de Paws) was a good value at $12; it's available at Berkeley Bowl JC Cellars http://www.jccellars.com/ Tucker's Ice cream 1349 Park Street Alameda www.tuckersicecream.com 510 522 4960 Sun Apr 06 17:56:34 -0700 2003 0 Windy 1 90126 Thanks for the great post, Windy. It got me thinking about St. George. I keep meaning to get out to Alameda and check it out. In regards to the Cinco De Mayo birrieria: do you know if this is a beer hall or a birria (goat stew) place? Sun Apr 06 18:15:47 -0700 2003 90124 0 Miele Maiale 2 90127 Definitely a goat (or lamb) stew place, in a layout similar to a KFC outlet. Sun Apr 06 18:24:57 -0700 2003 90126 0 Windy 1 90135 The taco truck with the great al pastor is El Gordo #2. Its usual parking spot is at the front of a small parking area on the short fragment of a block north west of High (across from the Burger King, next to where the street dives down to go under and connect with 880). I've found, however, that this truck keeps irregular hours and is often not there when I look for it. Here's a previous description of this truck -- I note that on that visit there was spicy red salsa, not the mild pale salsa we had yesterday. Perhaps they gringoized it for us this time. Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/20884#73714 Sun Apr 06 21:35:24 -0700 2003 90124 0 Ruth Lafler 2 90183 Also in the thread I linked I had mentioned the downturn in the economy had sparked an increase in taco trucks. This seems to be true of storefront restaurants, too. When we did our Fruitvale taco crawl last September I noted at least two new places in the 3400 block of International, and this time not only was La Gran Chiquita new (four months old), but the other place Windy described as well, which was only one month old. BTW, in addition to the chicken necks, that place also had whole rotisserie chickens for 5.99, and several other dishes that aren't particularly common. As we stopped to check it out, one of the staff came to check *us* out, but when her English proved not up to answering our questions, she sent out another young woman who spoke fluent English -- she said they were doing "Mexico City style" food. Well worth checking out (on the west side of International between 37th and 38th, IIRC). And again, I want to point out to all of you how easy this neighborhood is to reach by public transit: we met at the Fruitvale BART Station, walked ONE block up 35th to International, turned the corner, and there was La Gran Chiquita. Then we strolled down International past another favorite (Mariscos La Costa @ 37th), past this new place, to the famous El Ojo de Agua truck (between 38th and 39th). Alternatively, from 35th you can turn left on International and walk half a block to another chowhound favorite: La Torta Loca. And scattered up and down the street are push carts with snacks (including corn slathered with mayo, rolled in grated parmesan and sprinkled with chile -- yum). Mon Apr 07 13:34:54 -0700 2003 90135 0 Ruth Lafler 2 91343 El Gordo makes great al pastor! A wonderful find, Ruth, thanks so much. Here's a picture (taken through the window) of the spinning cone of meat and the single taco we shared cradled so lovingly in Tom's and your hands. Image: http://www.chowhound.com/misc/mel/mex/alpastor.jpg Mon Apr 21 23:10:27 -0700 2003 90135 0 Melanie Wong 3 91525 Melanie, Is El Gordo #2 the one at High Street and International? OR somewhere else? Never had it. Must try it. Love al pastor. -MP Wed Apr 23 15:13:00 -0700 2003 91343 0 Missy P. 4 91539 Yeah, it's actually on International a block up from High (I think it's 42nd), across from the Burger King. Very irregular hours, but worth checking out if you're in the neighborhood. Wed Apr 23 17:12:14 -0700 2003 91525 0 Ruth Lafler 1 91342 I've finally edited the pictures from birthday weekend. Here are two plates from La Gran Chiquita with items made from fresh masa. On the left is the gordita spilling forth roast chicken and white cheese. On the right are the pair of quesadillas. I can't say enough about the one heaped with huitlacoche (corn smut) which is the black stuff sticking out. My brother and I were still talking about it this weekend. We'd never seen that much huitlacoche in one place before. This was the first time we could finally figure out what it really tastes like! Image: http://www.chowhound.com/misc/mel/mex/masa.jpg Mon Apr 21 23:07:36 -0700 2003 90124 0 Melanie Wong 2 91344 Here's Tom Meg at the Ojo de Agua truck clutching that delicious nuez licuado. Image: http://www.chowhound.com/misc/mel/mex/ojo.jpg Mon Apr 21 23:12:45 -0700 2003 91342 0 Melanie Wong