Radicchio S.
Yelp
It's Sunday afternoon, and you can sit anywhere you'd like. I opt for the patio, beside an algae-filled water fountain. With some imagination helped by a recurring breeze, it almost feels like you're on vacation.
The server, wearing Oaxacan garb, drops off a small bowl of chips splashed with mole and cojita. The mole, red perhaps, is sweet and earthy and tangy and mild. It takes you forever to decide what to get, but you go with a mixed ceviche tostada and enfrijoladas with tasajo. You've been to Guelaguetza, but still had to Google "tasajo."
As soon as you get to the chip crumbs, the tostada arrives. You expect it to have imitation krab due to past experience and price, but sure enough there seem to be crab bits in there, as well as the fish, shrimp, and octopus that it promised. The tomato and cucumber are expertly brunoised. You don't expect to see bits of cojita on there as well.
You brush off a microscopic fiber on the ¼ avocado and bite. The shrimp and octopus are firm from marinating, and you're pleasantly surprised to discover a thin spread of mayo hidden on the crunchy shell. Lime rings throughout. The tomato salsa that accompanies it, served in a mortar, adds smoky depth if you want it.
As you finish the tostada, the enfrijoladas arrive on a colorful, square, plastic plate, chipped in one corner. You thought it was going to be more of an enchilada-type deal, but it's more of a fried-tortilla-covered-in-tomato-sauce-and-cheese affair, as the menu implies. The tasajo rests on top, shielding a bed of sliced, raw onions. A scoop of rice sits on the side.
The tomato sauce is unapologetically Italian and from a can - you see a couple wet basil leaves. The rice hints at chicken powder. The tasajo is appropriately salty and thin, thinner than the onions that give it texture and coolness. Taken all in, the whole thing reminds me of the holy trinity that is Rice-A-Roni, roasted tomato, and kabob. In addition to the cheese-covered fried tortillas, it comes with a whole loaf of pan to sop up the excess sauce. It's like dipping shitty breadsticks in shitty tomato sauce, and you have an out-of-body experience. It triggers something from your past - the buffet at the Disneyland Hotel? Something from before then... from the Before Time. From back and back and back...
It takes a minute for you to get your to-go box. Your server didn't forget, she's just busy serving a nearby family and she's the only one there. She has to make trip after trip to bring out dish after dish. The kids get something with French fries. They look fresh and house-made.