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.
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