554020 Tue Sep 02 00:08:50 -0700 2008 3 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 4002746 Address is 3700 E.12 (going east on Int'l Blvd, turn toward the BART track/right on 35th Ave, then left on 12th, or just walk over from the Fruitvale BART sta.) the awning over it says "Cynthia's" but there are sidewalk boards right in front with its own name and some specials. The illustrious E.Nopal and K.Raisu recently gave it their thumbs up which is how we learned about it. Of particular merit was the Mixiote, chicken cooked in a mildly spicy sauce til it was falling off the bones w. nopales and potato wrapped in a banana leaf, served with rice and black beans for a mere fiver. The sopes w. cochinita pibil for three bucks each were very good, and in the interest of a wider sampling I also tried one tamale each of chicken w. mole and chile verde. These were excessively dry, probably from how they were reheated, but had excellent flavor, about two bucks for hefty specimens. All the food had a complexity and savoriness with delicate herbal nuances. We also tried all three flavors of the homemade ice cream, strawberry, chocolate, and mango, 2.50 for the cup of three small scoops. They had a lighter consistency somewhere between gelato and sherbet and all tasted fresh. We only had plain water to drink, the two people working could not have been friendlier or more helpful explaining the food, and the total after tax came to just over seventeen bucks. Granted, this was on a Monday holiday, but were were the only customers from about 5.30 to their 7 closing time. They have an full size espresso machine and serve breakfasts, tortas, pambazos, and other platos. Tue Sep 02 00:08:51 -0700 2008 11012 moto 1 4003746 Thanks for the report! I must have missed the first ones. Tue Sep 02 12:22:58 -0700 2008 4002746 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 4020148 Thanks for following up on this and giving it a little more attention. Here's the link to the original post which is a little buried in an excellent trip report. Glad you picked it out. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/544166#3919501 One of the things to note is they use real sour oranges. Interesting menu http://chaacmoolcafedeli.homestead.com/menu.html Tue Sep 09 08:25:01 -0700 2008 4002746 10264 rworange 2 4069796 I had read the earlier report by Kaire Rasu and added Chac Mool to my Fruitvale day list. Now that we actually have four full days open on our November trip instead of the usual three, I've begun fleshing that list out. Thanks for the additional info. Mon Sep 29 09:44:26 -0700 2008 4020148 169233 grayelf