Tacos Jalisco, Independence CA

Tacos Jalisco

Highway 395

Independence CA

There are several great things about driving up Hwy 395. The drive is truly beautiful, and right now (Late April) the weather is perfect. Crisp and clean, in the 60's, it's easy to see what fascinated people like John Muir. The Owens Valley is a whole different California than the So Cal beaches and cities I grew up with-though the city and county of Los Angeles would not be the same without the Owens Valley. Towns like Lone Pine and Independence have some very good family run restaurants, and even the big town of Bishop has for the most part avoided the plethora of chains that pollute most larger cities.

I was thinking about a sandwich after spending some time at Manzanar (which will probably be another post), and was looking for an interesting place when I saw Tacos Jalisco. Now it seems that every city that has more than one taco stand has a "Tacos Jalisco," so before you start to think it's some sort of secret national chain, "Jalisco" is a region of Mexico and generally denotes a particular type of cooking, the subtleties of which escape me.

What I thought was interesting was that the Tacos Jalisco trailer occupied the parking lot of a former gas station. Nothing unusual in that, until I noticed that TJ used the former gas station office as their dining room, with a sink and food prep and storage area on one side. If there was a 'mini-market' selling groceries on the premises, it was so mini that I missed it.

I asked about the taco size, unsure if they were using the 4" or 6" tortillas. The $2 price would be a bit high for the smaller, but I was a long way from Ventura, so I was unsure as to what the going rate in this area would be. The guy at the window just said, "You know, regular size." I really didn't know what that meant, so I figured I'd order three. They had a variety of meat, but as always, I ordered asada and lengua, two of the fist and one of the second. I was pleasantly surprised when I was given the larger size, stuffed full of meat.

Inside the office were the taco fixin's, and for some reason, a pot of pinto beans. I loaded my tacos with onions, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pinto beans, along with a touch of salsa. I found the tacos to be moist, not overdone and dried out, which can sometimes happen, and overall pretty good. Not so good that I would drive up from Ventura or anything, but exactly what they were supposed to be, and in a truly amazing setting. 

I'd recommend them.

Added Note:

When I passed by a second time, a few outdoor tables were set up and filled with people. It really is a spectacular setting to chow down on a few tacos.