Tacos!

* * 1/2 Los Adobes
169 Park Road, West Hartford, (860) 231-1431; closed Mondays

In my ideal world every neighborhood would have a taco joint. They’d be as ubiquitous as pizza parlors, dry cleaners, barbers and gas stations. My fantasy universe would be filled with places like Los Adobes, a small Mexican restaurant that opened up a few months ago on Park Street in West Hartford. Lisa and I ate there last week, along with a friend. There are tables for maybe four parties, and a short strip of counter lines one wall. Customers can order take-out at the register, or the waitress will come take your order if you’re sticking around. 

The menu at Los Adobes is easy to navigate. It’s divided up into sections featuring each of the specialties — tacos (made with soft corn tortillas), tortas (Mexican-style sandwiches made with French bread and avocado, sour cream, lettuce, cheese and a choice of filling), huaraches (a sort of hearty pancake-like corn tortilla), burritos, quesadillas, tostadas, soups, flautas, enchiladas, tamales and plates specials served with rice and beans. That sounds like a sprawling selection, and it is, but the food is made with basically a set of meat fillings — roast pork, spicy beef, grilled beef, beef tongue, cabeza (cow’s head), marinated pork, Mexican sausage, fried sirloin or chicken.

Tacos are $2 each. Everything else is between $5.50 and $9. Los Adobes also serves a few festive specials on weekends, including menudo (tripe) soup and pozole, a wonderful, filling soup made with hominy and pork. So, things may be affordable, but that doesn’t mean that you get a lot of no-charge extras. You’ll need to order a basket of chips and guacamole if you want something to munch on before the meal starts. Also, Los Adobes doesn’t serve alcohol (or fajitas), so if you were thinking of sporting a sombrero while downing margaritas, you’ll want to go elsewhere. But what they do they do well.

The tacos are manageable without being dainty. And the generous topping of chopped cilantro and onions plays together with the corn flavors of the tortillas, no matter what goes inside. As astute taco students know, some taquerias make them with two thin tortillas per taco, to better manage the filling, presumably, and some stick with a single tortilla. I’ve always been fond of the double-layer approach, mostly for visual appeal. Los Adobes is of the single-layer school, which leaves more room for the ingredients to shine. Our tacos were served, curiously, on commemorative John Deere plates. I tried suadero (fried sirloin), which was mildly seasoned and pleasant in the mouth. Each table was outfitted with squirt bottles of a semi-spicy red salsa and another of more mellow green tomatillo salsa. I realized I’d never had a lengua (tongue) taco, and so had to split one with our friend. I found this to be tasty, mostly appealing for its gently springy texture and with a subtle earthy flavor that reminded me of mushrooms. A spicy chicken burrito was plenty to eat and flavorful, though not the kind of burrito you necessarily want to eat while driving.

The huaraches are one of the less common items on the menu (the word means “sandal” in Spanish). These are made with a flat and thick tortilla, topped with meat and lettuce and onions and cilantro. I tried one with chorizo, and the grainy corn flavor of the tortilla balanced nicely with the cumin and tang of the chorizo. I found the profusion of finely shredded lettuce on dishes at Los Adobes to slightly obscure the charms of the dishes.

A nearby table (all tables are nearby there) had a small bowl of wonderfully grilled jalapenos, marked with black streaks and blisters from the heat. I didn’t see these on the menu, but the waitress said all you have to do is ask.

E-mail editor@hartfordadvocate.com