66 MOTOR PALACE

Taco Life

(Originally posted on our old site. Reconstructed with help from Jay at OLAS CREATIVE and web.archive.org)

Taco tracking has its rewards out west and we ended up winning three-for-three on a recent journey.

Placentia CA

There’s no shortage of great Mexican food in Orange County but for this post I went back to the place it all started for me: the 301 Cafe.

The 301 Café in Placentia has been in business for over seventy-five years and they’re still going strong. 301 Café is where my appreciation for restaurant tacos began. My father and fellow aerospace workers would cash their checks and drink beer there in the early ’60s. My mother started taking us to meet them when my sister and I were three or four years old. Every once in a while I get by there and the place looks and feels the same as I remember. It’s a little quieter without a bunch of drunk young aerospace workers but a taco tastes the same as it did in the “good old days.” Check 301 Café on Google Maps

GUADALUPE CA

Guadalupe is a small town of 7000 on Highway 1 west of Santa Maria.

La Simpatia opened in the 1940s and operated by a member of its founding family. People who’ve worked here for decades prepare food from original family recipes. The taco, chilé relleño, and enchilada I had for dinner was so good I went back the next day to eat the same thing. When you go here be sure to look at all the old pictures on the wall. Look at the cooks, the counters etc.,  and look at the pictures again. Be warned, La Simpatia is possibly the best Mexican food in California.  La Simpatia

YUMA AZ

Nicer and bigger than we expected, Yuma’s business district is clean, seems well used, and they’ve done a great job with their “Old Town” district. We were just overnighting on our way east and left too early to see much. We plan on spending a weekend there in the near future.

Early morning in Downtown, everybody’s still asleep but joggers, and dog walkers.

Mi Rancho serves great food all around in a crowded but fun atmosphere with a friendly/busy staff. The tacos are great as were the rice and beans.

I just thought this guy was cool  Robert G Fowler landed the first airplane in Arizona as part of a cross-country adventure (looking for the perfect taco?) in 1911. I can’t imagine there were many airports in Arizona if Mr. Fowler was the first guy to fly in Arizona. Think about it. If your horse dies pulling your wagon across the desert you have a place to stay and food for at least a week. If you want you can settle and name the place after yourself. If this guy has a problem he has to find a place to land…ponder that for a second.