Las Nayaritas
2727 N Lombard
(503) 595-1093
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get there via trimet
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Well surprise, surprise, in spite of the sign, the new shop is called Taqueria y Restaurant Las Nayaritas, and there is no sign of a buffet. Indeed, it's just a sparse hole-in-the-wall filled with fastfood molded plastic booths and tables, and the sort of place where the dishes listed on the walls are just suggestions, really.
They have all the usual stuff: tacos, burritos, tamales, enchiladas, but weekends are really the time to stop by, because they increase their menu almost two-fold, making delicioso caldo de cameron, rico menudo, rico pozole, carne en su jugo, and birria. They also serve Desayuno Classico starting at 9am!
So after some consultation, we ordered the pozole ($4.99) and a quesadilla ($2.99), and grabbed some sodas out of the cooler. I asked for the quesadilla without onions, and I was happy to hear the cashier tell the cook to hold the pico de gallo and any other onions en espanol. As we sat down, I immediately regretted ordering something as pedestrian as a quesadilla.
Maybe we looked hungry, I don't know. One of the ladies brought out tastes of their sopa del dia, Carrot Soup, which was seriously rich and luscious. Then she brought out chips and salsa -- no great shakes, but I appreciated getting them in a taco stand. Then, out came our food. The pozole was a pho-sized bowl, with lots of shredded pork on top, accompanied by a plate of cabbage and several slices of lime. The quesadilla was huge, a giant flour tortilla griddled, filled with a little cheese, and a lot of chicken.
The quesadilla was good, especially with the homemade salsa; the pozole was great. It was full of hominy with a yummy broth, very definitely homemade, and such a huge portion.
When we were finishing up, one of the ladies brought us tastes of their carne en su jugo which was wonderful: lots of broth and smaller pieces of meat. Yum.
With the cheapest thing on the menu being tacos ($1.25) and the most expensive being the filet minon ($11.99), it's hard to imagine you could go wrong here. No alcohol, no smoking, cash only.
Posted at October 02, 2006 * add entry to del.icio.us

