mmm-yoso!!!

Yuma - Tacos Mi Rancho and Los Manjares de Pepe

A few weeks back, I headed on over to Yuma, to visit my good friend and fellow mmm-yoso contributor, "Ed from Yuma". I'm sure, based on the previous post you know the reason. Sadly, it had been almost a dozen years since I'd visited Yuma. I never meant for it to be that way; after all, I had a great time during that all-too-short visit, which was capped off with a wonderful dinner. But time just seems to get away from us.

Since I've been doing a good bit of driving recently and the Missus was busy working, I decided to stay the evening. Strangely, it was drizzling during my entire drive east......scattered large drops of rain dribbling about.....I mean, summer didn't officially end in these parts until a few days ago.

While it was great seeing Tina and Ed, I could tell that he was getting very tired, it was time for me to take my leave.

I needed a place for dinner. I could have eaten at "that restaurant" across the parking lot.....

But this is Yuma.....

So, I decided to drive around a bit. I hadn't been around this part of Yuma on my last trip....it's basically the mall....though I had to send the Missus a photo of Dillard's. I haven't seen a Dillard's since I used to work in Arkansas and Georgia back in the 90's.

Tina had mentioned that a branch of Sprouts had recently opened, and there it was on 4th.

For dinner, I decided to head to a place Ed had recommended to me on my first visit to Yuma, Tacos Mi Rancho. Funny thing, Ed never did a post on the place until 2013, but it was obviously a favorite of his as well. On my previous visit, I had stayed right across the street from this reclaimed fast food stand. And there it stood; looking just the same twelve years later.

Just as on my previous visit; I sidled up to the counter. The very friendly young lady asked me if I wanted a table, but I told her he counter would do just fine.

The place was just as I recalled, basically two rooms, news and sports on the televisions.......colorful and cozy.

I went with three tacos; Al Pastor, Lengua, and Chicharon. But first, some chips.

 

To me, the big winner was the lengua; beefy, buttery, a squeeze of lime took the "edge off". The salsa here is on the milder side, but the tangy flavors helped to cut the richness.

The Chicharon had a nice smokey, spice, though it was a bit too chewy for my liking.

The Adobada kind of threw me off; it lacked the red achiote color; but was nicely flavored.

Overall, three nice tacos.

And very nice service.

Tacos Mi Rancho
188 S 4th Ave
Yuma, AZ 85364

I spent the evening studying for a couple of certifications I needed to renew.

I'm an early riser these days....I think what they say about needing less sleep as you get older might actually be true. I was ready to hit the road and head back to San Diego. It was 630 am and I got into the car and....decided to make one more stop. There was one place that Ed said I should try....he mentioned regretting not being able to take me there. I wanted to have no regrets floating in the air; so I headed off to Los Manjares de Pepe; which Ed has called "the best Mexican restaurant in town" and possibly the "best overall restaurant in town" in two posts over the years; Los Manjares de Pepe.

So I drove on over to West 8th Street and waited a bit in the parking lot of this converted residence until the open sign lit up.

The warm and friendly woman working quickly seated me; handed me a menu, and asked me if I wanted some coffee, which was exactly what I wanted. The morning was already fairly warm and the previous day's moisture had made things a bit muggy. The nice A/C swirling around me really stimulated my appetite.

There was one item from Ed (from Yuma)'s posts that had caught my attention all those years ago. The Pepe's special. Pork stewed in what is described as a tomatillo sauce on the menu.

Man; this was delici-yoso. The pork was moist and tender; that sauce, as Ed noted, wasn't very tangy, but had a nice balance of flavors. The smokiness from whatever pepper was used for it came through nicely. The salsa added a touch of heat, but was still mild, but really helped to cut any richness. The tortillas were excellent; I ate them all....and of course those runny eggs, adding another layer of velvety richness to the dish. The beans were good as were the breakfast potatoes. But it was all about that pork.

I saved that last tortilla to mop up all that sauce.

Ed my friend; I can only imagine how even more enjoyable this meal would have been with you!

Los Manjares De Pepe
2187 W 8th St
Yuma, AZ 85364
Open Daily - 7am - 9pm

For those who want to know a bit more about Ed's life; you can find that here. And a very nice post here. As to how Ed got the moniker "Ed from Yuma"? Well, I think only Ed and I know that one......

Saying Goodbye - In Memorium: Ed from Yuma

It is with a heavy heart that I pass along to our "Friends of Yoso", that Ed from Yuma passed away this past weekend.

If you have been nice enough to visit our humble little blog over the years, you have undoubtedly read one of Ed's posts.

Tina wanted me to pass this on to all of you:

"Please tell the readers at mmm-yoso how much he enjoyed blogging and conversing with them about the restaurants and the food."

We'll miss you Ed. Rest well my friend. Until I see you again, you'll be missed.

Julieanna’s in Yuma

Kirk and Cathy are really busy right now. Ed (from Yuma) not so much, so you get to read about a meal he and Tina recently consumed. Hope you enjoy.

One of the numerous benefits of marriage is that you have wedding anniversaries – it's like adding an extra holiday to each calendar year. Another cause for celebration.

But Tina and I couldn't figure out where to go for dinner. In addition to dining at the Patio at Desert Hills, we had been to River City for my birthday and Crouse’s Flat Top Grill for Tina's, and currently Yuma doesn't have a lot of special occasion dining choices. So . . . I finally suggested that we try Julieanna's. After all, our last bad experience there was at least seven or eight years ago; maybe that was too long to hold a grudge.

Julieanna's (website) is a large restaurant with patio located on 25th St. among doctors’ offices and other healthcare facilities. On this cool and breezy evening, the entrance was welcoming: We arrived around 5:30 on a Tuesday evening, so there were very few patrons in the two large interior rooms: On this evening nobody sat outside, so the resident peacock stared wistfully into the room, aware that he was not going to get any table scraps:

Our meal started with three fresh warm dinner rolls (Tina grabbed one before I could take the picture):

They were pleasant and were accompanied by two little metal ramekins of soft butter, one garlic herb and one maple cinnamon.

It took us a while to figure out what we wanted, but we finally decided on a salad, an appetizer and two entrées. Our very friendly and helpful server suggested that we start with the salad, which she could bring right away, and then follow with the appetizer. That made sense, so soon she brought over two plates of pear and candied walnut salad:

It was excellent. The tangy balsamic dressing complemented the sweetness of the pear and nuts. We were also impressed by the very fresh and sturdy baby lettuces in the salad.

Then the appetizer, fried calamari, arrived:

The squid was superb. The breading was hard and crunchy and most of it stayed attached. The calamari itself was clean tasting and tender chewy. Really perfectly done. The netting on the lemon wedges keeps lemon seeds out of the food, and there was a choice of dipping sauces – a spicy marinara or honey sesame.

Since we would be eating seafood, and I wanted a meat entrée, picking a wine was difficult, but I hoped that this Château Ste Michelle Riesling would work:

The riesling, which went well with the calamari, was crisp and moderately sweet, the wine bucket was fine, but the stemware was pretty ordinary.

For an entrée, Tina had chosen the crab two ways, with a pair of crab cakes and a tempura softshell crab:

Here you can see one of the cakes and the whole crab more clearly:
Tina was pretty happy. The lightly dressed greens and perfectly cooked yellow squash went well with the crustaceans. She also enjoyed the contrast between the two styles of crab. On the other hand, I thought the crab cakes were a little fishy tasting and the deep-fried softshell too greasy. Maybe the riesling wasn't the right wine for this entrée; a drier white like a sauvignon blanc might have been a better match.

I had chosen the pork chop, which showed up looking really wonderful:

Here's another view:

I loved everything on the plate. The mashed potatoes were buttery and mixed with strips of caramelized onion. Rich, creamy, and nicely textured and flavored. The three large asparagus spears were perfectly cooked, tender but not limp. The dark paste smeared on one end of the pork was a medjool date sauce whose sweetness matched perfectly with the umami of the pork.

And the chop itself was outstanding – thick, flavorful, nicely seasoned, and perfectly cooked:

And this entrée went very well with the riesling.

The check seemed reasonable considering the quality of the food, service, and ambience:

The only odd thing on the bill was the “service charge,” an automatic 6% added to the food and beverages. I don't recall ever seeing such a thing in another restaurant.

Nonetheless, we had a great time, and maybe Tina and I should make celebrating our anniversary at Julieanna’s an annual affair.

Julieanna’s Patio Café, 1951 W. 25th St., Yuma, AZ 85364, (928) 317-1961.

Yuma Thai Cuisine

Hope 2017 is going well so far. Today it's Ed (from Yuma) blogging here. Tomorrow it'll be Kirk or Cathy. Thanks for reading the blog.

In 2013, Yuma changed for the better when Red Rose, a Thai restaurant, opened off of Fortuna road in Foothills. The food was generally good, and it was one of the few places with many choices for vegetarians and vegans. So I was worried last summer when our server told us that new ownership would be taking over. The good news was that the new owner was already the chef at Red Rose.

A new ownership with a new menu means it's time for a new post.

Except for the name change, the exterior looks much the same:

As you can see from these two pictures of the interior, there's not a lot of change there either:

Something else that has not changed is the restaurant's BYOB policy, customers can bring their own bottles of wine and Yuma Thai Cuisine will provide glasses etc.:

But I would not recommend bringing a Chardonnay; here I speak from experience, trust me.

There are some significant differences like the huge mugs for ice water:

That picture was taken on my first visit after the ownership change, so I requested lemon. There was no need for it, however, because that's not water straight from the tap, but fresh tasting, very quaffable H₂O. Particularly great during our summers when I can get thirsty just walking from car to restaurant.

This entrée of basil eggplant reflects other changes:
The menu (website) has been tweaked. For example, the featured eggplant dish used to contain deep fried slices (think tempura) covered in a Thai style brown sauce, a nice combination of crunchy and smooth. YTC's eggplant dish is more of a standard stirfry, but the eggplant is still creamy and the flavor good overall. I also like that the "pick a protein" dishes provide the option of extra vegetables – as in this case – so that vegetarians or vegans don't have to have to overdose on tofu.

A couple of other differences you can see in this picture:

These days, YTC has a two-page lunch menu with lunch size portions of many dishes at lunch size prices. Some are noodle dishes, but the rest – like this one – are served with rice. Also different is the "brown rice" option. It used to be a nutty flavored and light brown; now it is what I call Korean purple rice.

All the lunch specials also include a small cup of very flavorful spicy tom yum soup with vegetables:

A similar broth highlights the mixed seafood soup:

The soup contained mussels, shrimp, scallops, and squid along with tomato wedges, mushroom slices, Thai basil leaves, and onion chunks. It was all good, fresh tasting and flavorful.

YTC also serves rice noodle soups that remind me of  phớ. The first one I tried was the beef noodle soup:

There was a lot to like. The broth, while not super beefy, was rich and sweet with the taste of anise. The rare steak was flavorful if not especially tender, and the meatballs were lightly spiced and not rubbery. Fried shallots, chopped cilantro, and a sprinkling of bean sprouts were fine.

The soup was served mild with no hot spiciness, but was accompanied by these condiments if I wanted to turn up the heat:

There was just one problem:

The noodles were overcooked, sometimes breaking apart. As I was leaving, the friendly server mentioned that the regular chef was out of town, and I suspect that was the problem because the noodles were perfect a couple of months later when I had the oxtail noodle soup:

And the chunks of oxtail were tender, rich, and succulent. Just wonderful soup.

Noodle dishes in general are a strong point at YTC. This is pad se eaw with chicken:

Overall good flavor, a nice range of ingredients, and the product of a hot wok. Much like this pad kee mao with shrimp:

The ultimate fried noodles are a curry flavored combination of egg, chicken, shrimp, pork, beef, veggies and noodles:

And I really love YTC's version of pad Thai, here with shrimp:

and here with pork:

The sauce is powerful and complex. There is the sweet tang of tamarind and rich umami flavor as well. Good with a lime squeeze. And the noodles masterfully prepared, al dente and toothsome.

The papaya salad always spicy is well done as well. When we request it, YTC happily will prepare a vegan version that's almost as good as the standard version. Sadly, my best papaya salad photo is what was left on the serving plate after four of us had hungrily attacked the salad:

Tina and I also liked the yum nua, the spicy Thai beef salad:

The lettuces were nothing special, but the steak strips were beefy and the salad crunchy and tangy, nicely balancing other dishes like noodles or curries.

While the chicken larb had many of the same flavors, on this night, the meat seemed a little dry:

YTC has many of the same curry options as before – such as this somewhat under flavored green curry with shrimp:

The shrimp and vegetables were great and the sauce creamy, but not a lot of green taste.

The jungle curry, here with tofu, is a new addition and is the only curry sans coconut milk:
Again, my only complaint is a lack of intensity. Perhaps if we ordered the dishes at a higher spice level, the other flavors would be jacked up as well.

The menu has also been expanded with an entirely new section, "Thai specialties," which includes many new seafood entrées as well as this very enjoyable red curry duck:

Half of a boneless duck, deep-fried until crunchy crispy, served with pineapple chunks, tomato pieces, pepper strips, abundant Thai basil and a creamy red curry sauce. Our server said this was his favorite dish on the menu, and I can understand why.

We've also sampled a variety of the desserts, the least interesting being sticky rice and Thai custard: 

Cool and refreshing in the summer, this dessert seemed more one-dimensional than the fried banana, sort of deep-fried eggrolls filled with soft fleshed banana:

But on this evening, the real winner was the mango sticky rice:

The mango was wonderfully ripe and partnered perfectly with the sweet creamy rice.

If you were a fan of Red Rose Thai, I'm sure you'll love Yuma Thai Cuisine. And if you have not tried this restaurant, you're really missing one of the highlights of the Yuma culinary scene. YTC serves some excellent quality dishes with preparations that you can't find anywhere else in Yuma County.

Yuma Thai Cuisine, 11274 S. Fortuna Rd., C1, Yuma AZ 85367, (928) 342-7777.

River City Grill – A Dinner in Yuma

mmm-yoso!!! is Kirk's blog with his amazing posts from San Diego and around the world. Cathy posts here too, about San Diego County and beyond. But today, it’s Ed (from Yuma) writing about somewhere in Yuma.

I had a birthday coming up, and Tina offered me a dinner – my choice of restaurants. It was an easy decision; over the years, I have celebrated more birthdays and special times at River City Grill than any other place in town. About the same time I moved to Yuma, over a decade and a half ago, Nan and Tony Bain opened River City Grill (website) in a nondescript building at the corner of 3rd Street and 6th Avenue:

It soon became my favorite restaurant in town. Its eclectic menu might include curries, pestos, hummus, or spring rolls. There were always vegetarian and vegan dishes, a wide range of seafood entrées, and more. While the food was not consistently great, it was usually pretty good, generally adventuresome, and occasionally outstanding; the service always professional and friendly.

The seating in the inside dining room is pretty standard:

But the room has always featured at least one hip and edgy mural:

Even the restrooms have unusual decor:

So why have I never posted about this restaurant before? Well, laziness explains a lot, but also River City seemed like a comfortable old friend by the time I started blogging. But River City really deserved a post, and my birthday dinner offered a perfect opportunity.

We arrived in the early evening, and enjoying the mild weather, chose to eat outside on the adjacent patio:

We were each given a chunk of baguette accompanied with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping:

Tina usually likes to begin with a martini from the cocktail list – this evening a lemon drop martini ($7):

Made with citrus vodka, triple sec, and lemon juice shaken together and served in a sugar rimmed glass, it was tasty.

While we were figuring out entrées, I looked over the wine list, and since it was my birthday, I decided on a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay ($68):

It was (IMHO) an excellent wine, full-bodied with good balance, nice structure, and pleasant flavors and aromas of pear and melon and other fruits. River City has always maintained a well-chosen, if limited, wine list with reasonable markups (double retail or less). That's been one of the reasons I've kept coming back.

As an appetizer we ordered the Thai curried mussels ($10), something we'd enjoyed previously. The mussels arrived looking like this:

At first I thought the kitchen was using some type of green curry, but it didn't taste like curry. "Pesto," Tina said, "that's basil pesto flavoring." I tasted again, and yeah, that's what was going on.

We mentioned it to our server, who looked kind of puzzled, but when he checked with the kitchen that's what it was. I should say the mussels themselves were excellent, but the basil/coconut milk combo seemed weird.

The entrées at River City always come with a choice of soup or salad. Tina wanted the roasted tomato and red pepper bisque, which arrived looking beautiful:

I've never quite understood why they call this soup a bisque since it doesn't seem to have any cream in it, but it is an excellent soup, full of the flavor of roasted red peppers, their sweetness balanced by just a hint of vinegar tang.

I opted for the Mediterranean salad:

While smaller than it used to be, this has always been my favorite salad choice. The fresh greens, chopped marinated tomatoes, roasted yellow peppers, Mediterranean black olives, feta cheese and balsamic dressing work well together.

Tina's entrée, mustard crusted tofu with spinach ravioli in Alfredo sauce ($18) arrived at the table:

This was quite good. Tina was delighted with the tofu because it was not thick and dense, but almost fluffy with a perfect light crunchy crust. The ravioli and sauce were flavorful and rich. The olive tapenade provided a bridge between the Asian/Mediterranean flavors. The mixed vegetables were . . . mixed vegetables.

I ordered the tequila snapper with black beans and rice ($20):

The two small fillets were lightly breaded, spicy and moist, and laid across a generous portion of black beans and basmati rice. Overall, the entrée had a nice spicy kick accented by the pico de gallo and roasted pepper/corn topping. Really good. And there were mixed vegetables.

For dessert, we shared a cinnamon apple bread pudding ($6), drizzled with caramel and served with whipped cream and a small scoop of vanilla:

It was soft, almost creamy, and very satisfying. And you gotta love the birthday candle.

While River City in 2016 is no longer cutting-edge and its menu does not change much any more, Tina and I will gladly return. The dishes are generally good, the kitchen prepares seafood very well, the decor is enjoyable, the servers are well trained, and the prices are extremely reasonable. In fact, the bottle of birthday wine cost more than all the rest of the meal - heck yes, we'll be back! 

River City Grill, 600 W 3rd St, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 782 - 7988.

La Resaca – Curatela de la Cruda in Yuma

Kirk and Cathy are doing something else today, so Ed (from Yuma) is posting.

Yuma is blessed with numerous Mexican restaurants, but seafood places are not common. Of course, there is Juanita's and usually one or two other seafood trucks, but Mariscos Mar Azul has been the premier local seafood house ever since it opened. But now with La Resaca, Yuma has two excellent options:

Located somewhat off the main drag on 3rd Avenue, where the Mad Greek used to be, La Resaca has a large main dining area with many modern booths:

a bar area with more tables:

and even a small stage for music some evenings:

When you sit down, you are soon served whole crunchy tostito rounds, a few saltines, flavorful and spicy salsa, and a bunch of lime wedges:

On my first visit, I decided to start with tacos:

They were served with a mayo based basic crema and a chipotle flavored one:

The shrimp taco was excellent, the flavorful fresh shrimp nicely breaded and perfectly cooked:

Similarly, the fish taco was about the freshness of the flavorful breaded fish rather than crunchiness:

And the mantarraya was also nicely prepared, full flavored but not too salty, fishy but not funky:

Food this good I wanted to share, so the next evening Tina and I showed up for dinner.

As appetizers, we picked tostadas. One was ceviche:

the other octopus:

The octopus was sliced well and had just the right amount of chew and mollusk flavor. We were especially impressed by the ceviche. The fish and vegetables tasted very fresh and the whole tostada had a very pleasant flavor and multiple textures.

That evening we also tried a couple of cooked seafood entrées. Tina chose the albañil, shrimp grilled with bacon, poblano and jalapeno peppers, and onions, served on corn tortillas:

The shrimp were well-prepared (not over-cooked) and the bacon and grilled vegetables really added to their flavor. Tina loved the abundant avocado, The rice was okay and the salad had no dressing – though I suspect we could have asked for some.

I had the pescado Veracruz:

I liked the fish preparation. There were four or five little filets of tilapia, lightly breaded and nicely grilled, covered with a very mellow Veracruz sauce, much like a ranchero sauce with onions, celery, green olives, peppers, and a lot of carrot slices. Good food.

On my next visit, I had to try a seafood cocktele; after all, La Resaca specializes in cruda (raw). They come in three sizes with your choice of mariscos – shrimp, octopus, oyster, scallop, and/or snail. I ordered a medium "campechana," a combination:

That is a nice looking cocktele:

The cooked shrimp were pristine and juicy. The scallops clean and fresh tasting. The octopus was fine. And the snail pieces (you can see one hiding under the scallop in that picture) added some chew if little flavor to the contents of the sundae glass.

I was especially impressed by the quality of the cocktele water. Smooth flavors of the sea, with a little lime tang, balanced by a touch of ketchup sweetness. My only complaint would be the lack of an oyster in the cocktele.

So when I got together for lunch with Greg, I made sure to order a half-dozen oysters:

They were very fresh and pristine, mildly flavored but distinctively oyster. Next time I will try some of the 10 bottles of salsa on the table to see which goes best.

That day Greg selected the house special tostada:

You can see why the folks at La Resaca choose this tostada for the first page of their menu.  It is a combination of their basic cold mariscos along with avocado slices, onion slices, and a dice of vegetables . As tasty as it is attractive.

My first version of this post ended right about here, but Greg called me soon after I was finished (so I thought) and we decided to go back to La Resaca the next day. We tried three more dishes.

The first was fried calamari:

This was pretty standard stuff, might even have come from a Sysco truck. Strips of squid steak, decent texture but little flavor. The breading substantial and crunchy. Served with the chipotle crema and a first-rate cocktail sauce. Not bad at all.

Aguachile – the original red version – came next:

The cool lime and chile broth was just right for my tastes, tangy but not sour, picante but not fuego. There was plenty of avocado, sliced red onion, and seeded cucumber, but the real star of the show was, of course, the wonderful raw camarones:

Their fresh clean taste matched their impeccable white color.

Last to show up was caldo de siete mares (seven seas soup):

The best version I've had in the United States, for sure. And well presented. A good seven seas soup needs to have claws, legs or tentacles projecting out from the bowl. The seafood and tomato flavored broth contained sliced red onion, sliced poblanos and jalapenos, chunks of carrot, and chopped cilantro. Along with those veggies and that crab (what kind of crab is that?), the soup contained shrimp, mussels, clams, tilapia, octopus, and sea snails, and yes, that adds up to seven seafoods. It was good enough to remind Greg and I of our first bowls of siete mares over 25 years ago in a restaurant overlooking the Pacific right by Bufadora park near Ensenada.

As you can tell, I am delighted that La Resaca decided to locate in Yuma. With other locations in Calexico and El Centro, the restaurant has the experience to know how to do things right. The menu is large and interesting, everything I've eaten has been tasty, and the service and decor are good as well.

La Resaca, 1725 S 3^rd Ave, Yuma AZ 85364, (928) 276-3280

Del Pueblo Birrieria – Yuma

Tomorrow Kirk or Cathy will be posting, but today Ed (from Yuma) is talking about a restaurant he found (in Yuma).

Someone told me that there was a Birrieria on 8th Street. Thinking that it would be easy to find, I didn't ask for – or perhaps remember – any more details. But the place seemed to be hiding. It was a couple months later when I finally spotted it, and then it was closed. But I read a sign on the window that said it was open Friday through Sunday, so the next Friday I showed up:

As you can see, Del Pueblo has no bright signage and it presents an inconspicuous storefront wedged between a smoke shop and a $.99 store across from Food City. Inside, however, there are two large tables and at least eight smaller tables arranged on the sides of the dining area:

The room is clean and brightly painted, and a couple nice decorations make up for the folding chairs:

Love these boots:

The small menus are on the sides of the napkin dispensers:

First visit, I ordered a torta:

It was generously sized, the roll had been nicely grilled, and I wanted to eat it immediately. However, I knew I had to open it up and show you, dear reader, what the insides looked like:

All the basics: avocado slices, crunchy lettuce, tomato chunks, and of course meat. I had been offered the four standard carne options – res, chivo, lengua, or cabeza – and had chosen the beef cheeks:

The meat was tender, rich, and flavorful. I also was impressed the meat had been properly drained before it was loaded onto the sandwich, so the bolillo roll did not become soggy and fall apart, and the sandwich went into my stomach instead of onto my shirt.

So of course Tina and I had to visit Del Pueblo that weekend. And on weekends they serve menudo and birria de chivo. She ordered one and I the other.

First we got our beverages (Mexican Coke), a bottle of the fiery house salsa, and the wheel of condiments:

While we were waiting, I went back and watched the cook prepare corn tortillas:

Taking balls of masa dough from the bowl, she flattened them in the tortilla press, then grilled them on the little flat tops.

The tortillas arrived tasting fresh and warm:

The menudo was rich and mild flavored, filled with tripe and hominy:

Maybe not the best in town, but pretty darned good.

The birria de chivo was outstanding, deeply flavored by the extra savory broth: And packed with tender tasty goat flesh.

A couple of weeks later, I joined Deb W and Lauryn at Del Pueblo for a Friday lunch.

Remembering those homemade tortillas, I ordered tacos, which came with the same wheel of condiments:

The taco de res was filled with a lot of well-drained shredded stew beef:

The cabeza was as rich and meaty as on the torta:

And the lengua had perfect texture and mild flavor:

The girls ordered beef burritos. Our server returned a minute later and explained that they were out of the large burrito sized flour tortillas and asked if it would be okay if the burritos were made with more than one tortilla. "No problem," they said, so the nicely grilled burritos were a little unusual looking:

Having eaten with me and my camera before, Lauryn cut open her burrito so that I could get a picture of its insides. And then she photo bombed the pic:

If you ignore the hungry mouth, you can see the steaming burrito filled with res, frijoles, arroz, and queso. Both Lauren and Deb approved.

I'm glad I finally found Del Pueblo. The menu may be limited, but they are good at what they do. And the prices are cheap. The friendly young server (I think it’s a family operation) tells me that the restaurant will open weekdays once the weather cools down and business heats up.

Del Pueblo Birrieria, 1225 W. 8^th St, Yuma 85364, (928) 750-8678.

Flat Top Grill Again – Yuma

While Kirk and Cathy are doing important things like working or resting, Ed (from Yuma) is posting today.

Usually, after I've written a post on a place in Yuma, I don't visit again for a while, maybe feeling a little burned out. And when I do visit, I don't bring my camera. So when I had lunch at Crouse’s Flat Top Grill in early March I didn't have my camera with me, so I didn't take this picture of the entrance that day:

I ordered one of the sandwiches that I hadn't tried, the smoked brisket. When it arrived it looked something like this:

It was a great sandwich – a crunchy long roll filled with two thick smoky slices of brisket, crowned with abundant sweet grilled onion, and served with a choice of barbecue sauces on the side. Even the potato salad, which I had largely ignored before, was wonderful, the sour spicy crunchy pickle pieces adding true zest.

It was a meal so good that Tina and I have been eating at Flat Top Grill regularly, and of course I've been bringing my camera along.

Although the restaurant has a very modest wine list:

and a limited number of changing taps,

I can always find at least one or two interesting beers

On our most recent visit, Tina ordered an amazing watermelon, mint and jalapeño Margarita:

The rim of her glass was coated with Tajin, and that lime chili salt added one more level of complexity to the cocktail. Spicy, sweet, sour, cool, and smooth, with a touch of salt and a hint of mint. A real winner.

Since that last post, we have eaten a bunch of different things. For example, we were dining there with friends and they wanted to try the loaded JoJo's:

That could be somebody's dinner. The potatoes were nicely cooked and there’s bacon, cheese, and sour cream. Glad our friends had their teenage son with them.

Tina enjoys the tri-tip salad:

The fresh lettuces are nothing special, but the meat is well flavored and she loves the cilantro lime dressing that adds a Sonoran accent.

Of course, we often have sandwiches. Recently, Tina had the hot dog – split in half, grilled, placed atop a strip of bacon, and thickly covered with guacamole:

That same night, I had the guacamole bacon burger – we must have had guacamole on the brain:

In the last post, I complained about an overdone burger; this one was on the verge of under cooked, but the flavorful hamburger, ground on premises daily, had excellent flavor. And bacon and guacamole.

My favorite burger is the green chili burger:

8 years ago I posted about the mutant green chilies found in some Yuma Mexican restaurants, which are always made with beef, usually finely diced or ground. The green chili here is another variation on that theme. The beef is coarsely ground and is the focus of the dish. The chili has some good heat and green chili flavor. It is topped with melted cheese, pico de gallo, and chopped scallions (also with sour cream, but I ordered that on the side).

We have eaten several entrées as well. The Turkey dinner is an amazing combination of familiar and unusual:

On the left side of the plate, covered with gravy, was first rate red skinned mashed potatoes. The Turkey breast slices, like the ones on their turkey sandwiches, were grilled and pretty ordinary, but the waffle made with turkey dressing underneath was something I'd never seen before:

Kindof a Thanksgiving dinner like no other.

And yes, during evenings The Flat Top Grill does have good old-fashioned greens as a side dish. I'm talking serious greens, smoky and meaty:

A little less interesting – though still very flavorful – was the chicken with mushroom gravy. Two thick slices of grilled chicken breast rested on a bed of those mashed potatoes, all covered with delectably creamy mushroom gravy:

On a couple of weekend nights, we ordered specials not on the menu. Once it was the rib special:

Wonderfully spiced, deeply smoked, and fall off the bone tender. Though there is barbecue sauce on the side where it belongs, it really wasn't needed. We took the leftovers home and had biscuits, ribs, and eggs for breakfast. The corn was a little tough and flavorless, but I was still happy.

And if you are ever at Flat Top Grill and they are serving chicken and waffles, you should be eating chicken and waffles:

The waffle was crispy chewy and served with two different syrups, one maple and one spicy. The moist chicken was encased with a flavorful hard crust. Wonderful deep frying technique.

This place is so good it is hard to stay away.

Yuma's Mad Tacos

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food and travel. Today, Kirk is traveling, Cathy is busy eating, and Ed (from Yuma) is blogging.

"You eaten at Mad Tacos?" It was my friend and former colleague, Dawn.

"What? Where?" She then explained that it had won some awards and was supposed to be really good, and asked if I wanted to join her and a couple other folks there for lunch on an upcoming Friday.

The answer to "Where?" was a little complicated as well, because Mad Tacos is inside a pharmacy, Sant Drugs, that has had a lunch counter ever since the days when lunch counters and soda fountains were commonplace in drugstores and five and dimes:
This is what an old-fashioned lunch counter looks like:

Here is the view in the other direction:

With such limited seating, and being open only weekdays from 8:30-6 pm, how can they stay in business? This pic is part of the answer to that question:

Every time I've eaten there, people have come in for takeout, sometimes a lot of takeout.

So why is this little place really busy? I think because the food is really good and the prices are really cheap.

Case in point – Friday is fish taco day, so this taco cost $1 on a Friday (prices as of May, 2016):

There is nothing skimpy about that taco. There are numerous chunks of breaded fish and a lot of toppings including spiced mayo. And if you like your fish tacos to have some crunch, you won't find a better one in town, crackling crunchy.

What's more, the two house salsas are excellent:

The one on the left is the guacamole sauce, smooth and creamy from the avocado, with a lime tang and a spicy zip. Really excellent on the fish tacos, but also great on some of the meats, like asada.

The sauce on the right is a complex, smoky, dried chili salsa. This is not a chip dipping salsa, it is a spicing up flavor booster, perfect for a lot of things like these tostadas (regularly 2 for $5, but Thursdays $1 apiece):

So good. Underneath the cotija cheese, pickled red onions, chopped lettuce and tomato, and spicy mayo, lurked pieces of carnitas and a nice smear of frijoles. Even the crunchy tortilla was first rate, substantial enough that I could eat most of the tostadas with my hands and get no fallout on my shirt.

And if you look carefully at the salsa, you can see numerous tiny flakes, flecks, and bits, many red, but others green, black, white, yellow, and translucent. The complexity of a pointillist painting.

Maybe the most amazing lunch special is rolled taco Monday. Potato tacos at $.50 apiece. So this is a $3 plate:

The quality is also superb. The mashed potato is copious and flavorful, and the shell is deep fried crispy.

As I was leaving that day, I mentioned to Mannie (the head cook and proprietor) that his rolled tacos were better than my previous favorites at Buen Taquito up the street.

"Yeah," he said, "they don't flavor the mashed potatoes and their salsa is real basic." A spot on evaluation, and he could’ve added that his are larger in addition to better tasting. But his answer showed that he knows the competition, pays attention, and focuses on quality.

That's also evident in this bacon wrapped hot dog ($4):

While not as overloaded as some bacon dogs, the grilled and charred onions, chopped tomatoes, spiced mayo, mustard, and ketchup are enough, and the real focus here is on the quarter pound sausage:

That's a good hot dog. It has the right texture, excellent flavors, and abundant juiciness.

The quality also shows up in the plate of 3 tacos (choice of pastor, asada, carnitas, pollo, or pescado), a good value at $6:

In the photo, I’ve got a pastor, a fish, and an asada taco. There was a lot of asada:

and I was particularly impressed with the seasonings and grilling of the pastor:

Similarly, the chicken at Mad Tacos is not just bland generic white meat, but is nicely spiced and grilled. Look at this quesadilla ($4):

About as good as a quesadilla can be. The grilling of the tortilla is perfect, the cheese melted creamy, the chicken flavorful, and the roasted green chili strips abundant.

One day I decided to try takeout, so I called in an order for a chicken burrito ($6). When I walked to the counter, everything was almost ready, so Mannie could assemble it quickly, and my burrito was perfectly fresh and nicely packaged:

That burrito was also very tasty:

I realize that a lot of folks don't like lettuce in their burritos, but here the lettuce, pico de gallo,  refritos, and abundant guac sauce complemented the warm spicy chicken chunks.

So is everything at Mad Tacos really great? Well, truth be told, the french fries ($3), are pretty ordinary:

Not bad, but not great. Otherwise most things here are real good eats and real good value. Thanks, Dawn.

The Patio at Desert Hills Golf Course, Yuma – the Rest of the Story

Looks like Ed (from Yuma) is less busy today than Kirk or Cathy. That’s why you’re reading this post today.

In my last post about this restaurant, back in February, the focus was on breakfasts, but The Patio does a lot of things, most of them well.

Take for example appetizers. Recently at an event here, Tina and I really loved the crunchy deep-fried calamari and oysters Rockefeller, but I did not have my camera with me. So the only appetizer I have pictured is the pretty Quesadilla:

The red pepper flour tortilla surrounded creamy mellow cheese, shredded chicken, and chorizo. A step above most quesadillas.

The first time I ate lunch at the Patio, I chose the Reuben sandwich, which came with the house made chips:

Those chips are warm, thick, and crunchy and went well with the sandwich. The Reuben itself was marvelous:

The Rye bread was grilled perfectly and there was a generous amount of corned beef and sauerkraut. For my palate, this was a great sandwich and a great lunch.

Not quite as successful was this BLT, which I ordered with the french fries ($1.25 extra):

There was nothing really wrong with the sandwich though I should have added avocado to it for some extra creaminess. Those huge fries have a lot of potato taste, but not as much crispness as I like in french fries.

The burgers are uniformly excellent. Look at this close-up their standard burger patty topped with avocado:

What's not to love? Hand formed patty, char marks, juiciness. All those things add up to a first-class burger.  

That even applies to the very basic Basic Burger:

Sure, the burger toppings (lettuce, onion, dill slices, tomato) are standard, but the patty was so good they were all that the burger needed. I left the mustard, mayo, and ketchup untouched.

I had requested the house “kale slaw” instead of chips that day because it's a crunchy, tangy, pretty salad with an excellent balsamic dressing.

I had discovered that wonderful thing when I tried the fish and chips:

The two fish filets were outstanding. The beer batter was good and the sea bass tasted moist, succulent, and  fresh. The chips were okay, but less interesting than everything else on the plate.

Usually I don't like to include photos of things that I haven't eaten, but Evonne loved her Asian Short Rib Tacos, so here is a picture: 

She swore they were as tasty as they look. They are topped with pickled cucumber, spicy mayo, and sliced red onion. They come with the same slaw, but the deep-fried things in the back are not chips, but chicharrones. Gotta have this on my next visit.

Tina and I have also had a couple of nice dinners at the Patio. When the weather is temperate, you can sit outside:

There's even a little fire going:

While the wine list is small (though featuring Bogle wines) The Patio has a full bar and specialty drinks like the Moscow Mule:

This old time favorite features primarily ginger beer and vodka, and Tina approves.

All of the dinner entrées come with your choice of salads, both excellent. Here is the wedge:

Old-school decadence. Iceberg lettuce smothered in ranch and topped with blue cheese, real bacon pieces, and diced tomato. The drizzle of reduced balsamic adds complexity.

Here's the garden salad:

The half a heart of romaine is topped with dried cranberries, pepitos, chopped cucumber, chopped tomato, shredded carrot, and roasted corn. The sweet tang of the dressing plays well with the other ingredients. Excellent salad in both taste and plating.

The entrées also come with soft dinner rolls and balls of butter:

So far, Tina and I have tried four entrées. Here's Italian sausage meatloaf, a thick slice wrapped with bacon and stuffed with mozzarella cheese:

It lay on a pile of mashed potato and was covered with gravy and topped with crispy fried onion strips. Tina loved the Italian sausage flavor of this rich and decadent meatloaf.

That same evening, I had  short ribs:

Braised in stout, the large chunks of tender beef sat atop cheddared mashed potatoes and both were enhanced by the stout gravy. All surmounted by mini onion rings and a tangle of deep-fried carrot shreds that resemble Donald Trump's hair. Outstanding flavors, nonetheless. I'd order this again.

The next dinner we ate indoors, and Tina was looking for something  healthier, so she selected the grilled zucchini lasagna:

This tasted much better than it looks in the picture. Basically, it's slices of seriously grilled zucchini covered with cheese and tomato sauce. This close-up may give you a better idea about the entrée:

I wanted lamb chops, which turned out to be two double boned chops slathered with chimichurri sauce and set atop mashed potatoes (and again bewigged like the Donald):

This was tasty. The mildly flavored lamb was tender and not overcooked. The sauce was green and garlicky. That little bowl sitting on the back of the plate was brimming with Mexican-style yellow corn, just like you'd find out on 8th Street:

 Roasted corn kernels, charred from the grill, swimming in a rich combination of butter, crema, and Parmesan. Total yummy.

This last year has been good for us Yumans who like eating out. A lot of interesting and tasty new restaurants. The Patio, in particular, offers a great range of various foods in a nice setting. Service is first rate, and many of the dishes are out of the ordinary. That chef Alex's cuisine often reflects Yuma (like that street corn)is an added bonus.