Noticing The Color Purple

As part of my college coursework, I was asked at one point to read Alice Walker's The Color Purple. An amazing read all on its own, I have always remembered certain quotes, even decades after reading the book and watching the subsequent movie. Most memorable to me was when Shug and Celia are walking down the road and Shug says,

"I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it. "

It took me a while to figure out what that statement meant. My take on the phrase these days is that it is a real shame when you find something so simple, so perfect, so delicate and don't take the time to enjoy and appreciate it fully, it is wasted. It doesn't live up to its potential. I'm here today to tell you that I've found the color purple and it lives in a North Hill restaurant called Ranchero's Taqueria.

Ranchero's Taqueria was located at 286 East Cuyahoga Falls Avenue, Akron, OH 44310 and can be reached at 330-510-2110. Sadly, their web presence is almost completely off the grid. Parking was along the street, or more likely, the fairly large parking lot across from the restaurant.

Speaking of which, here was the front entrance:


What started out as a small operation has grown to include the space next to the original restaurant with a number of tables at which you can sit and enjoy your meal. After being seated, my server left me with the menu:




In addition to the menu, a small whiteboard hung on the wall by the beverage cooler and listed the daily specials. While the daily special during my first visit wasn't anything particularly interesting, I did note that Saturday was "mole" day and Sunday was "menudo" day.

As with every other Mexican restaurant, Ranchero's was quick to deliver fresh corn tortilla chips and salsa:


During my second visit, my chips were accompanied by both a mild and a spicy version of salsa:


The chips were fresh and tasty, but nothing remarkable. The salsa, however, wasn't your traditional tomato, onion, jalapeno, lime, and cilantro. There was something else in the salsa that danced on my tongue -- a slight fruity sweetness. Not so much that it threw off the balance of flavors, but it was completely noticeable. It really added a nice brightness and uniqueness to Ranchero's version of this ubiquitous condiment. It made me think of peach or mango.

The menu was comprised of more traditional and less traditional dishes. If what you seek is your standard complement of burritos and enchiladas, smothered in tons of cheese, you can probably find it without too much trouble. And I'm okay with that because in addition to those more Americanized dishes, you can also find this:


This was the Al Pastor and Carnitas Burrito combination with refried beans and Mexican rice. Seeing that the carnitas tacos also came dressed with nopales (aka cactus pads), I asked if my burrito could have the same and the kitchen happily complied. While the burritos did have finely shredded cheese on top of them, they also came sauced with a creamy queso bianca salsa. The sauce added a wonderful creaminess to each bite.

And speaking of bite, the al pastor burrito had a wonderful combination of savory, sweet and sour (from the pineapple). The carnitas burrito was also a real winner with the cactus salad adding to the overall flavor of the burrito. I think I finished both burritos in record time as they were so delicious. I'll talk about the beans and rice in another minute or so.

Of course, this write-up would not be complete without me going back for a second visit to check out the mole. Even as I sat down at the table and the waiter handed me the menu, I knew what I wanted. When my server came back to take my order, I simply said, "Mole." He then asked if I wanted flour tortillas with my meal or the more authentic corn variety. I asked for corn. During my first visit, my dinner had come out of the kitchen fairly quickly. This time, it took a few minutes. I suppose the anticipation was what had me checking my watch time and again.

Finally, my server approached my table with this incredible plate of goodness:


At every other restaurant in which I've ordered mole, the chicken has come pre-shredded. Adorned simply with freshly chopped cilantro, I thought Ranchero's was a thing of beauty to behold. While there are many different kinds of Mexican moles, one thing to note is that they are usually long-simmered complex sauces comprised of garlic, onions, chiles, spices, and seasonings. In addition to my chicken mole, my server also brought a foil wrapper with freshly steamed corn tortillas,


and a separate plate filled with more of the refried beans and Mexican rice:


I gingerly began to shred the chicken from the bones and discovered that the leg meat was hot, juicy, and incredibly tender. After separating meat from bone, I tossed the chicken in the sauce, grabbed two of the corn tortillas and ran a line of sauced chicken from one side to the other before folding it up. From first bite to last, I was in pure heaven. The chicken was luscious and soft, the tortillas added a small hit of sweetness and the mole added everything else.

As I let the flavors linger on my tongue, individual components of the sauce revealed themselves, like peeling layers of paint off a well-worn wall. There was heat from the chile, citrus notes from coriander seeds, earthiness from cumin, bitterness from chocolate (I'm guessing chocolate), pungency from garlic, and a whole host of other flavors -- each of which perfectly balanced the others, none of which took the lead. Was the mole spicy? My sinuses registered yes, but just barely.

As I savored the flavors, I felt the love that the chef put into this dish and I immediately realized I was seeing the color purple. After greedily chowing down on that first corn tortilla, I took my spoon, pooled some of the sauce in it and brought it to my lips. As I cleaned the spoon of its contents, I closed my eyes and savored the peeling layers all over again. Pure bliss.

I finished up the corn tortillas and the chicken mole before turning to the beans and rice. I appreciated the fact that the beans weren't smothered in melted queso fresco. I also thought that while both components were tasty and fresh, they weren't particularly interesting. Perhaps the beans and rice were there as supporting characters to the burritos and the chicken mole. I'm okay with that. While there were salt and pepper shakers on every table during both visits, everything I've had so far has been seasoned perfectly coming straight from the kitchen.

What amazed me more than the food was that as I sat there last Saturday waiting for my dinner to arrive that the restaurant wasn't completely packed. There were perhaps five tables filled when I arrived and only two when I left. Ranchero's Taqueria may be one of the best kept secrets in Akron right now. I suppose I am doing myself a disservice by telling you, gentle reader, about this hidden gem. But if you are a fan of authentic flavors, of delicious food, of food that will make you thankful that you have taste buds, you owe it to yourself to check this restaurant out.

I should mention that the cost of experiencing heaven in your mouth is roughly $10. I'll be back for the mole often and the menudo soon.

Speedy Mexican Cuisine At Casa Del Rio

How I could have possibly overlooked such a happening Wadsworth dinner spot does not reflect well on my ability to feel the pulse of my hometown. I have covered much of the local, independently owned restaurants in Wadsworth over the last two years, but there was one that I had not gotten around to until tonight, Casa Del Rio. Situated back from the road behind the Sunoco station right at the exit onto Rt. 94 from I-76, the building has had a long history of restaurant locales. When I first moved to Wadsworth back in 1986, it was an L & K Diner. Then it became a Denny's for a while. About nine years ago, it turned into its current incarnation, Casa Del Rio.

I had eaten there prior to tonight, but it had been quite some time. At a recent meal at a completely unrelated restaurant, I overheard another patron recommend Casa Del Rio and this put a bug in my ear to return and check it out for myself. While the sign can be seen from the highway,


if you are programming the street address into your GPS, it would be 839 High Street, Wadsworth, OH 44281. They can be reached at 330-335-4001. Parking was in the lot surrounding the restaurant.

Here was a shot of the front entrance to Casa Del Rio:


When I pulled into the parking lot tonight (a Wednesday night) at 7:15 PM, I wasn't expecting a parking lot so packed with cars that it took me two revolutions around the restaurant to finally snag a spot. As I walked through the front door, there were people in the hallway leading to a secondary door which actually took you inside the eatery. The place was packed with at least a fifteen minute wait list. Since it was only fifteen minutes and I was fairly hungry by this point, I decided to wait for a table.

Fortunately, most of the dinner rush must have been finishing up their meals as only ten minutes later, the hostess indicated that she had a table ready for me. She left me with the menu to peruse:





Within seconds of my arrival at the table, salsa and tortilla chips quickly followed:


The salsa was mostly pureed and had a nice acidity from the tomatoes and the lime juice. It had a touch of spice from the jalapenos and personally, I would've liked a little more spice, but I can see how this level of heat would be good for the average customer. I could also taste the fresh cilantro, which gave the salsa a nice herbal flavor.


The corn chips tasted fresh, but were served room temperature. Perhaps I've gotten spoiled by other Mexican-American restaurants, but I do enjoy the chips more when they are still warm. That being said, I'll take fresh room temperature chips over stale, warm chips any day. The other interesting discovery I made was that Casa Del Rio serves tortilla halves instead of tortilla quarters. It didn't affect the flavor, obviously, but I did find that breaking the halves into smaller pieces made for easier dipping into the salsa for consumption.

Since I had already looked at the menu on-line before coming to the restaurant tonight, I already had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to order, the Burritos Decebrados:


I know that many of the components used in Mexican cuisine can be prepared ahead and at the time of service, most of the menu can be assembled a la minute and plated quite quickly. What I didn't expect was that a mere three minutes after placing my order, my entree made its way from the kitchen to my table. The gentleman delivering the plate warned me that the plate was extremely hot. Over the years, I have developed a personal theory that the hotness of the plate seems to be inversely proportional to the correct placement of the dish in front of you. In other words, the hotter the plate, the more it will need to be adjusted so that it is directly in front of you.

Only mildly heeding his warning, when I went to adjust the plate for a better photograph, I discovered that the plate was indeed 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. Okay, so maybe I am stretching the truth just a tad, but when they warn you that the plate is hot, they truly mean it. After getting a nice photograph of my dinner, I started to examine it a little more closely. The dish consisted of two flour tortillas filled with braised beef and topped with a chile con queso. Some of Casa Del Rio's refried beans were served along side and topped with just a touch more melted queso.

Here was a shot of the filling inside of the burritos:


When I got to the end of one of the burritos, I decided to open it up and expose the delicious beefy filling for an even better shot:


The beef was completely tender, juicy, and very tasty. Based on the what was in the tortilla shells, it had been braised with tomatoes, red peppers, and onions. The meat was seasoned nicely and would've made an excellent filling for a number of other dishes. The flour tortillas were fresh and the edges that hadn't been covered in chile con queso had browned slightly under the broiler. The chile con queso had a bold flavor and was both creamy with just a touch of heat from the jalapenos, but was a tad thin and rather than stay on top of the burritos instead pooled on the plate.

The refried beans were served in a massive portion next to the burritos. I tasted the beans by themselves and while creamy and quite "beany," were just a tad underseasoned. Mixed with some of the melted cheese, they were okay, but just to check, I grabbed a spoonful of beans and added just a small sprinkle of salt from the shaker on the table to see if that would fix the problem; it did. This was a minor gripe, however, as the beans were just shy of being well-seasoned.

When my server returned to check on me, I asked for the check. With water to drink, my check came to roughly $9.50 with tax. As with most casual Mexican-American restaurants, there was a cashier at the front of the restaurant where you actually pay the check. When I got to the front, I asked the gentleman running the register if it was always this crazy. He replied that until the national chain Chipotle had opened up several months ago in Wadsworth (where the Blockbuster used to be, in case you were wondering), it was like that every night of the week. Business died down a little after Chipotle opened, he surmised, because people were checking it out for themselves. When they realized that the food being served at the two establishments really was entirely different, business has once again returned.

My hat is off to anyone who manages to keep a packed restaurant seven nights a week. Based on the meal I had tonight and the incredibly quick turn-around between the time I arrived, was sat, and paid the check, even if there is a wait when you go, you won't spend hours until you have eaten and are ready to leave. The food was tasty and fresh and even if the beans were a bit underseasoned for my taste, overall the experience was quite a positive one. If you already happen to live near Wadsworth, there is no doubt in my mind that you should try out Casa Del Rio. Since I visit family and friends in Wadsworth often, I don't have to make the decision of whether to travel there just for a restaurant. Should you find yourself in this neck of the woods, definitely put them on your list of restaurants at which to eat.

Extra Helpings: Taco Happiness At Taqueria La Loma

My curiosity was finally piqued and I knew it was time.

I could only drive by something so uniquely non-Akron so many times before the epicurean gravitational pull eventually caused me to stop and pull in for a closer look. Perhaps part of me was in disbelief that something so small and unassuming could really produce anything of quality. Perhaps it was the somewhat vicarious location, an open parking lot in front of a set of stores that had seen previous owners, but were now vacant and lifeless. Whatever it was that kept me away for so long, I began to notice things. Things like the place always seemed to be open. Things like the place always seem to have a line. Things like they were open on major holidays when every other store was closed.

I am speaking, for those who don't live on the east side of Akron, of Taqueria La Loma. When a Mexican supermarket actually opened up in the storefront on the same lot as the taqueria, it all began to make sense and fall into place. Both La Loma Supermarket and Taqueria were located at 421 Darrow Road, Akron, Ohio 44305 and can be reached at 330-784-9309. There was no website associated with the store at the time of this writing.

While the opening of the storefront supermarket added legitimacy to the little taco truck out front, I still wondered about the authenticity. I began to examine who was in line waiting for food. While there was the occasional non-Mexican waiting for food, the overall majority of the clientèle seemed to match the food coming out of the truck. I tried to do a bit of research ahead of time, but then as well as now, there just wasn't much available on the Internet. One night, a full four months after the taco truck opened for business, I basically bit the bullet and decided to pull into the parking lot. Between my broken Spanish and their broken English, I managed to order myself a chicken burrito. I paid my $5, took my meal home and discovered that in addition to the burrito being enormous, they had thoughtfully included both salsa verde and salsa picante. I dug in and discovered that to my surprise, this was really good. The salsas were fresh and flavorful and really added so much to the already flavorful burrito. Since then, I've returned numerous times and explored other options on the menu. I finally feel that I'm ready to tell you, gentle reader, about this crazy-good little taqueria.

I already knew that I was going over to my grandmother's today to take care of a few odds and ends. Being that I left right before noon, I decided that I would stop at La Loma and grab lunch to go. After pulling into the parking lot in front of La Loma Supermarket, I snapped a few pictures to start out my adventure.

Here was a shot of the supermarket:


While I haven't been inside the supermarket, if this was what the taco truck was using to source the ingredients for their menu offerings, then there must be many, many wonderful grocery items for sale inside the store. To the right of the supermarket was the taco truck:


Once you got close to the ordering window, the available menu was posted on the wall next to the window:


The menu was simple and was comprised of tacos, burritos, tamales, tortas, quesadillas, chimichangas, flautas, sopes, and alambre. You essentially pick the "vehicle" for your meal and then tell them what kind of meat you would like on it. Choices range from chicken, pork, beef, chorizo, and lengua. For those of you a little rusty on your Spanish, that last one was beef tongue. Up until now, I was a bit reluctant to give the lengua a try. Today, however, was a bold new day and if I was going to write up a representative review of the La Loma experience, I knew it was time for a bit of tongue action.

Once I ordered my food, it took them just a few minutes to assemble my lunch. I paid the check, loaded up my car and headed over to my grandmother's condo. Once I arrived, I began documenting everything before finally sitting down to taste it. I had noticed that on the left side of the ordering window was a small plastic holder containing an almost flyer-like paper menu. Here was a shot of the paper menu:


First up on today's lunch was the burrito pastor:


This burrito was HUGE. The takeout container the burrito was sitting in was the standard large styrofoam box that restaurants typically have available. The burrito only fit in this container because they laid it in diagonally. Here was a close-up of the side of the burrito:


I ordered the burrito sin cebollas, but even without the onions, there was plenty of pork, beans, rice, queso fresco, tomatoes, pineapple and cilantro. According to this site, pastor is pork that has been marinated in achiote, sliced thin and then served with various accoutrement. Achiote is actually made from annatto seeds and flavored with garlic and lime. Regardless of how they do it, it was wonderfully tasty and the pork was nicely crispy and chewy at the same time. All of the other ingredients in the burrito were also fresh and tasty. I added a little bit of salsa verde and salsa picante before taking each bite and the flavors just sang in my mouth. Of all the items I've tried at La Loma, this one is still my favorite. At only $5 for this massive flour tortilla-wrapped meal, it's also an excellent bargain.

Along with my standard burrito, I decided to mix it up a little bit and try two other popular menu items, a taco and a sope. At $1.50 and $2.00 respectively, each offers a smaller snack size treat that you could mix and match to your stomach's content. Here was a shot of my taco and sope:


The taco was in the back and the sope was in the front. Here was a close-up shot of the sope:


I decided to get my sope with pollo (in this case, cooked pulled chicken) and it was also topped with queso fresco, crema, cilantro and some frijoles refritos, or refried beans. The circular masa dough used as the plate on which to build this tower of flavor had been expertly fried and was crispy and not soggy. The corn flavor from the masa was particularly nice and melded in with the ingredients on top. Topped generously with salsa verde, this was delicious. The only criticism, and it was a very minor criticism, was that the sope was a bit hard to eat. With each bite, additional toppings would tumble down into the waiting styrofoam container on the table.

My final luncheon item today was going to be my most challenging. Here was a shot of my taco lengua:


Consisting of two small flexible corn tortillas topped with beef tongue, onions and fresh cilantro, I knew that tasting this was going to be a two step process. First, I needed to try the tongue by itself. My grandmother's eyes nearly bugged out of her head when I told her what I was about to eat. But, I've come this far and I'm not about to turn back. I picked a representative piece that wasn't covered in onions or cilantro, gave it a slight sniff and popped it in my mouth. Having never had tongue before, I wasn't sure what kind of flavor and texture to expect. My first reaction was to the texture. While it certainly wasn't filet mignon, it also wasn't too far off from other beef cuts I have had in Mexican cuisine. It had crusty bits and it had chewier bits. Not chewy in a bad way, mind you. Once the spices and seasonings from the meat began to excite the taste buds in my mouth, my second reaction was to the flavor. This was really very tasty. It tasted very much like the chicken or beef you get when you order fajitas. It had that same savory "cooked in a cast iron skillet" kind of flavor.

Having survived my taste of tongue, I decided to add both the salsa verde and the salsa picante to the top of the meat, folded up the corn tortillas around the filling and took a bite. Wonderful! Just wonderful! At that point, any issues with the fact that I was eating beef tongue went right out the window. The combination of flavors was really compelling and I found myself eating bite after bite to get more of them. Watching from the chair next to mine, I wasn't sure if my grandmother was looking on in horror or amazement at my display of pure gluttony. At that point, I simply didn't care.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the sauces and extras that you receive with every order. Unfortunately, they were out of the salsa habanero, which you must specifically request, but as always the salsa verde and salsa picante were fresh and delicious:


The salsa verde had a lovely fresh tomatillo flavor to it and a mild herbaceousness from the cilantro. The salsa picante lived up to its name and added quite a bit of zing when sampled on its own. However, this wasn't a one-note salsa; the fruitiness of the chillies were also present and even though I'm sure there weren't ground up nuts in the salsa, I could almost taste a bit or peanut or sesame seed note to the flavor. Used sparingly, the flavor of the salsa was what I noticed when eating it on my taco. A heavier handed application would've resulted in more of the spice being found in every bite.

Along with the two salsa, every order also comes with a small plastic bag of peeled sliced cucumbers, sliced radishes and lime wedges. The lime wedge seemed obvious to me, as a few drops of lime juice on any of the products I tried today would've added a nice little brightness (although wholly unneeded, I might add) to them. Were the radishes and cucumbers simply an edible side garnish? Most times I will simply squeeze the lime juice in the bag, marinate the cucumbers and radishes for a little bit and throw in a touch of salt. It turns into sort of a faux salad of sorts. Any way you decide to eat it, it has always been delicious.

Seeing as I wouldn't be able to eat everything I had bought today in one sitting, I returned the other half of my burrito the the refrigerator along with my salsas and salad and am looking forward to the leftovers later today.

I have a funny feeling that today won't be the last time I order the lengua again. Or the sope. Or the taco. And certainly not the burrito. Everything was fresh and delicious and very well balanced. The addition of the two salsas provided with my order was not to correct seasonings, but to marry two flavors together to produce an even better third. If I had doubted the authenticity of the food prior to my first visit, I now embrace it. I know of no other Mexican place in Akron that serve such unique and tasty products. Clearly the word has gotten out about this little truck as the line today was comprised of more non-Mexicans than Mexicans. I know that they will be getting a lot of my business whenever I crave this sort of food ... which is pretty much every single time I drive by. Taqueria La Loma is an absolute must visit if you live in Akron and quite honestly, a very big suggestion for a day trip to those in Cleveland and Canton.