Reborn – Cabañas Back in Yuma!!

Kirk and Cathy aren’t posting today; Ed (from Yuma) is posting and he is a happy man

Last Saturday, I nearly caused an accident on 8th Street. Disappointed and hungry, we'd given up on locating an elusive truck that I had been told about beyond Ave B. So we were just cruising 8th St to some place open when I glanced over to the right, hit the brakes, and swerved.

On a little building behind the Los Compadres truck, just to the west of El Zarape, were written magic words:

I went around to the front and was disappointed to see that it was CLOSED, but the curtains in the window and the signage let me know that someday soon it would be OPEN:

Here's the back story: Tina and I spotted Pupuseria y Taqueria Cabañas for the first time in April of 2008. It quickly became my favorite place in town, so I posted on it a second time (tendon “like the flesh of angels”), then again, and one more time after that.

In November of 2009, it vanished.                                  

I went through at least seven stages of grief, finally accepting that it was gone, pretty much giving up any hope.

Now OMG it's back.

Around 5:30 pm, May 5, 2016, Tina and I dropped by and saw that it was open. With smiling faces we opened the door, walked in, and immediately saw Lucia smiling behind the counter. Her first day in business at this new location.

The interior space is very small, but clean and bright. There are only four tables; here’s one:

Here’s another:

The building is much more modern than her last location and seems to have an effective AC system:

The aguasfrescas ensalada are still very sweet and chocked full of fruit:

The tamales de pollo may be even better than before:

Extremely rich, but complexly flavored. Note the green and red flecks of herbs and spices in the masa:

And completing the tamale striptease, here's a shot of the juicy hot tender flesh within:

Tina had sopa de pollo, a large bowl packed with bone on chicken, chayote, potato, zucchini, carrot, and chicken broth:

The soup came with colorful rice

and 2 thick handmade corn tortillas:

The broth was light and clean tasting, picked up by a generous squeeze of the lemon. And the portion so generous that the leftovers became Tina's next lunch.

I had pollo en salsa, chicken braised in a light tomato sauce, served with rice, chopped lettuce, cucumber, tomato, and radish, and of course 2 thick corn tortillas:

That picture is somewhat deceiving because the thin but very tasty tomato sauce was put on top of the chicken and rice and then the lettuce and vegetables were plated, so I took another picture just to show the hidden "salsa"

The chicken was moist, fall apart tender, and savory. The rice was perfectly prepared and married happily with the tomato sauce. The lettuce etc. was more condiments than salad. Downhome goodness.

The rebirthed Cabañas did have one new item, a very special cornbread:

We took a simple looking piece home for dessert and were amazed by its complexity. Covered with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a light glaze, it was dense, slightly sweet, corny, and cheesy. Waves of flavors. Only after we had eaten some did I realize I needed a picture of it.

The new Pupuseria Cabañas has hit the ground running. Early on opening night, there were two other tables occupied and people grabbing to go orders.

Because I have written so much about Cabañas in the past, I probably won't be updating information unless something remarkable happens. Based on this one meal, I expect the reincarnated Cabañas will measure up to its former self – and maybe even exceed it!

Lucia plans to be open every day: 8 am through 9 pm Wed – Sat, and Noon through 8 pm Sun – Tues. Every day she expects to have one or two soups and one or two entrées available as well as tamales, pupusas etc. Thursday will be bean soup (woohoo) and Sunday Sopa de Pata, my favorite, sort of a muy rico Salvadoran Menudo.

I feel like I just ran into a dear old friend who I thought I would never see again.

Comments

[Jason]

Looks good, did you find out why it vanished in the first place?

[Ed (from Yuma)]

At the time it disappeared, Jason, I wrote, "One of the few cases of a restaurant doomed by its success. At least as I have heard it, the landlord was getting complaints from the towing/repair shop next door that there was no place to park during the day because the pupuseria had too many customers. Lucia was not allowed to be open weekdays, and then on Nov. 1, the restaurant was empty with no sign about another location etc."

I think I heard that she had relocated back to Hawthorne CA. Based on some signage inside the new location, it appears that she was running a fast food/snack food pupuseria called Mama Lucy's. I haven't had a chance to talk to her about any of that because she was busy, but it makes sense. Perhaps she returned because Yuma offered her an opportunity to cook a full range of dishes - but that is purely speculation on my part.

[Joan Koblas]

We'll have to stop in there. That tamale looks superb and the chicken and rice dish looked delicious, as well. Nice post. From the heart. 💕

[Soo @ hungryones]

Congrats. She's alive!

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Yes, Joanie, well worth a stop.

Soo, she is very much alive.

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Learned some more today. Lucia owns that bldg. In addition to good AC, there's a huge exhaust fan over the grill, so she's now up to date, and it really is her kitchen.

Had sopa de pata for dinner. Just perfect. Tendon still like the flesh of angels incarnate. Tripe, weird veggies, broth oh so good. Reminded me how soups get better as it gets later in the day.