Times change, but Las Barcas still affordable

John Volo

Back in 1987, the Lakers were the best team in basketball, the median

price of a single-family home in Orange County was $163,000, Whitney Houston topped the pop charts, I ran around in size 32 OP shorts and

Las Barcas began serving tasty, homemade Mexican food at a fair

price.

Eighteen years later, the Lakers aren’t even in the playoffs, you

can’t find a tree house in Huntington for less than half a million,

Whitney Houston has bottomed out, I lumber around in expandable waist

shorts and Las Barcas continues to serve tasty, homemade Mexican food

at a fair price.

Fair price, indeed! Our family got four well-stuffed soft tacos,

three flavor-bursting drinks, two guacamole-covered taquitos, one

sumptuous tamale, one fajita dinner platter, one burrito the size of

a small pinata, dozens of warm chips and an unlimited supply of

freshly made salsa -- all for less than $40.

The meat soft tacos (steak, chicken, or carnitas) at Las Barcas

come on corn tortillas with guacamole and a tomato-rich pico de

gallo. You can add cheese and lettuce, if you wish. Our grilled steak

taco was excellent with the hot red salsa. Our chicken tacos were

well-seasoned with Las Barcas’ own blend of tangy spices. Our grilled

fish taco was made with Alaskan pollock and topped with lettuce, not

cabbage.

As an added bonus, all three are not only tasty, but healthy too.

Not to mention the kids totally dug them.

My wife and I split the two shredded beef taquitos that were just

crisp enough without being greasy and topped with a snowball-sized

scoop of guacamole.

My lean shredded pork tamale was covered with plenty of melted

cheese and a nice chile verde sauce. The sweet corn dough had me

longing for more tamale. Maybe next time, but for now I had a burrito

to tackle.

My well-proportioned Las Barcas deluxe burrito was filled with

chunks of chicken (you can also get fish or steak), beans, cheese,

rice, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes. There were ample amounts of

everything, including chicken. The only reason I managed to eat half

of this bursting-at-the-seams burrito was because it was so good. The

remaining half made for a terrific lunch the following day.

My wife’s carne asada fajita platter, which came with rice, beans

and tortillas, was grilled to perfection. The grilled red peppers

that so well-complemented the steak were excellent. For those of you

forced to eat on the run, they also offer a fajita burrito.

My choice for drink was a creamy, subtly cinnamon-flavored

horchata -- a specialty drink of Mexico made with rice and milk. My

wife opted for a nonalcoholic, light and fluffy pina colada.

Although we didn’t imbibe, Las Barcas offers a variety of Mexican

beers. The coolest cerveza option is a bucket of Coronitas. You get

six seven-ounce bottles of Corona for $8. The fact they don’t serve

margaritas will be a bummer to some.

Diners should be aware that Las Barcas is a cash-only

establishment, which I usually avoid in favor of earning sky miles

with every credit card purchase. But the quality of the food makes up

for the missed miles. Plus, they’ve conveniently placed an ATM inside

the dining room, which seats about 30.

Las Barcas also does a thriving to-go business, in case you’re

looking for a take-home meal. I sometimes call in a post-workout

order for their “healthy fitness” burrito, which features chicken

breast and egg whites.

Eighteen years from now, houses on Edwards Hill will probably be

selling for tens of millions, and I’ll be wearing pleated Sansabelt

size 50 shorts. Las Barcas will still be serving up tasty, homemade

Mexican food at a fair price.

* JOHN VOLO is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have

comments or suggestions, e-mail hbindependent@latimes.com.