San Pablo: Former Taqueria Del Palmer owner opens Martinez Restaurant ... yum

[rworange]

The three tacos were some of the best I've had in a long time .... full of flavorful meat and generously topped with super-fresh chopped cilantro and onion. Two pickled peppers, a sliced radish and a cup of tongue-tingly red salsa with smoky notes came with them.

My favorite was the lengua with such a beautiful texture and so much beefy goodness that I picked it out of the taco to enjoy the meat on its own.

The carnitas was juicy, pleasantly porky cubes though not crispy outside. I didn't detect the verde in the chile verde, but there was a lot of cilantro and onion on top so that might have disguised it. The meat however had a tender flavorfulness of long stewed meat.

Even the two small tortillas were nicely handled ... warm but not greasy ... I've had one too many bad tacos ... it was a real pleasure to get such good versions

All this yumminess for $1.50 per taco. Yes, I said the dreaded overly-cute 'Y" word, but ... yum. No complimentary chips but I'd rather have more meat in my taco than mediocre chips.

There is a standard Mexican menu. Unlike Del Palmer, there is a breakfast menu with about a half dozen breakfast burritos and a half dozen dishes such as chiliquilies.

This is in the doomed location that formerly housed my much-missed Mom's Cuisine and another market/taqueria before that.

Martinez Restaurant is a work in progress. There are some chairs with backs which is a huge improvement from the little stools in the previous restaurant. There is also parking in back of the restaurant.

It is a little bare bones still in terms of decor but the tacos were great. I'm looking forward to see how this restaurant evolves.

[rworange]

The restaurant seems to be evolving nicely.

They have birria de chivo every day. This is a plus for this section of the East Bay. Lots of beef birria but I can't recall a nearby place serving goat. Martinez restaurant has both beef and goat birria, something I haven't seen elsewhere.

They have added fish tacos. The restaurant menu has a hand-written 'mocajete' on it. Tacos are $1 after 6pm. They have taco dorado (hard shell) and alambre a mixture of beef, peppers, cheese and onions. There are a lot of shrimp dishes

Despite my pending move to Central America and trying to avoid anything Latino food-wise since I'll be getting a lot of that soon (including the promise of a whole peligugy roast over an open fire. My husband's uncle owns a herd of this animal which is half-sheep/half goat. it is supposed to be delicious)

But I digress ... after another exhausting day, I needed something to eat. The new gelato / sandwich shop was already closed ... yes ... GELATO in Richmond ... in flavors like corn ... I'll post seperately)

I digress again ... I was going to get Laotian food instead ... closed. I was on my way to Raley's for a sandwich when i passed Martinez. I thought I'd go chowhound and eat local

The chicken mole was very good. It was the standard Mexican restaurant mole, a dark sauce with sweet and spicy accents. The rice and beans were good. I think the thick tortillas were house made. Anyway a solid B mole and it hit the spot that night ,... the chicken was very tender too.

I wish I had remembered them this morning. I was in the mood for eggs for breakfast and couldn't think of anyplace nearby ... ok, I admit it .. anyplace I haven't tried. Dang. Maybe I'll try breakfast at Martinez before I leave