Los Pueblos

I noticed that this shop had replaced the taco shop on the premises a couple of weeks ago. I stopped mainly because of the "Regional Cuisines of Mexico" sign. The place was closed but I looked over the menu, which was interesting. It's been kind of busy so I promptly forgot about the place, until I read something on one of my all too rare visits to Chowhound. The folks running the show were the former owners of Chilango's, a place we used to enjoy every once in a while when we first moved to San Diego. This made it a required stop.......I went in with the purpose of getting some take-out.

Though the menu seems vast, it is built around several protein offerings and a couple of vegetarian offerings. The tall, somewhat distinguished gentleman named Jeremy was very chatty and indeed confirmed that he was part owner of Chilangos, though it might not be the Chilangos you remember. They sold the restaurant in 1996......way before we moved to San Diego.

Having not been here before, I'm not sure how much they've done to the place, but it was clean, had a flat screen playing a slide-show of Mexican sites and there's a salsa bar in the back.

I went with the Chicken Pibil Plate ($10):

This was a good amount of food, the corn tortillas were decent and still quite hot when I got home. The rice was on the dry side but quite fragrant and decently flavored. The Missus had the guacamole and thought it was quite good. I had doubts about the black beans because the place doesn't use manteca (lard), but though a bit on the bland side, I enjoyed the texture. The chicken was a bit of a surprise since about all the pibil I've had (all pork) have been roasted. In fact I recall having read that "Pib" is the name of the traditional name of the Mayan oven. This was obviously grlled.

Being that this was white meat chicken, I expected it to be on the dry side, which it was not. Pretty tender too. The flavor was lacking in the sour-citrus tones that I enjoy and I expected a bit more flavor. But it was not bad.

The Missus really enjoyed the Tortilla Soup (bowl - $5.50):

Which meant we returned a couple of nights later when the Missus was in the mood for some soup. This time around the missus went with the Black Bean Soup (bowl $5.50). Loved the flavor of the crema, much more ocmplex and creamy than the usual sour cream you get. The soup itself was much too salty this time around.

I got the special, 3 potato rolled tacos with rice, beans (black), and a agua fresca. The agua fresca, a tamarindo was watered down and bleh. The rice, guac, and everything else was fine......

The rolled tacos were a bit over-fried and too crumbly, the rolled tacos looked to have unraveled a bit and there didn't seem to be much potato in one of them. Not that great in my opinion. Though that would be made up by the third item we ordered......

Mole sampler with Huarache Chips ($6):

The Missus, now a sworn masa lover enjoyed the thick huarache chips, sort of like a crisp flatbread. The Mole Verde was ok, not very memorable. But the Mole Poblano was quite nice. Most recipes for Mole Poblano start at about 25 ingredients, Jeremy told me theirs has 30. Whose counting, right? The mole was nice and complex, though the flavor of cinnamon might be on the strong side, I'm thinking that it was me. Mildly sweet, very creamy, with a light spicy finish. Man, this had wishing they made Mole Poblano de Guajolote, a famous turkey dish from Puebla, one of the items on my "bucket list". Still, the Missus wasn't far off when She told me, this would be great on something.....

And that something happened a day later. I got the Pork Adobado Plate ($10) with Mole Poblano ($2) on it.

I gotta say, I'm not sure how the pork tastes without the mole, but it was moist and tender, and quite delicious, if not a bit too heavy for lunch. It made me want to roll up into a ball in the corner and take a nap. I'm sure to have this again.

Overall, we found the some winners among the dishes at Los Pueblos. There's some unevenness, but hopefully that would be ironed out. The dishes are pretty gringo-friendly, as in somewhat mild and toned down, but the quality seems good. As you notice by one of our meals, you can do vegetarian options quite easily. It is a great option in the area which is pretty full of standard taco shops. The prices are a bit above the usual taco shop, but the fare is also better.

I hope they do well, we need more of these type of eateries in the area.

Los Pueblos Regional Cuisines of Mexico
7081 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

Hours:

11 am - 230pm, 5pm - 9pm Daily.

Comments

[kat]

sounds like you found a decent place, everything looks great.

[Cathy]

Those wavy booths and the wavy ceiling (and the television) are left over from when that place was an Anthony's Fishette. The fresh made aguas frescas are made from scratch. The other day we were given small samples of jamaica, lemonade and the tamarind and they were not overly sweet or artificial. I'm really liking the food here. It is fresh well made really good Mexican food. The cafe de olla was a nice dessert for us.

[Sandy]

I just noticed this place last week; it was a taco shop (Cotijas? Cotixan?) between Los Pueblos & Anthony's fishette. It will be interesting to try some new dishes there.

[Faye]

Oh I wish i could see what the pork adobado looks like w/ the mole! Do they also have al pastor there? I'm still looking for the best al pastor in SD. Actually what's the difference b/c adobado and al pastor (have I asked you this before?). Great post - will have to check the place out!

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - The food is a great change of pace and it's a really ncie choice for the area.

Hi Cathy - Like the freshness as well.

Hi Sandy - This place is definitely worth a try.

Hi Faye - The typical difference, at least for me is that Al Pastor is served off the "trompo" or verticle spit. The typical taco shop adobaba is either grilled or cooked on the griddle. This adobado is roasted, seems like pork shoulder, though it was pretty lean. My favorite Al Pastor was from Mercado 2000 in Chula Vista, though they've recently renovated, so I'm not quite sure about it. I guess it depends how far you'll go for your Al Pastor......you know me, I'm willing to drive a bit for it.

[AZ]

I gotta ask, what was in the potato tacos? Just potato (fried/boiled)-- no chorizo? As for black beans, I never knew they existed until I was an adult, all the beans I ate as a child were pintos refried in lard or bacon grease.

[Alyssa]

Cathy has a good eye for details! I didn't realize it was the same building as Anthony's Fishette, but I definitely see it now. I like how they are generous with the avocados in your dishes. Too bad the rolled tacos didn't turn out right. Rolled tacos seem to be a standard that Mexican shops do well.

[Kirk]

Hi AZ - It was pretty much a vegetarian thing, no meat. Seasoned mashed potatoes.

Hi Alyssa - This really isn't your usual taco shop. I'd suggeat going with something more interesting here; like the pibil or adobado.