Venue Review: Cafe Maiz de El Cholo

You know – those little tiny super-delicious, fits-right-in-the-palm-of-your-hand snacks that you can buy from pushcart or truck vendors in Baja or Santa Ana. Rubio’s has been making them for a while now – teensy, with two baby tortillas. Now comes Café Maiz, providing the same fresh ingredients in a full-size tortilla, handmade on the premises. We liked the carne asada with grilled steak and the al pastor with marinated pork and pineapple. Both are served with Maiz cabbage, a sweet-ish slaw. And there’s a salsa bar with tomatillo, pico de gallo and other salsas, fresh cilantro, onions, and other fixings. Maiz also offers wet burritos with red or green sauce and enchilada plates with rice and beans. You can build your own enchilada by choosing red or green chili sauce and other ingredients. There are salads, nachos and delicious borracho beans made with Mexican beer. Café Maiz is a great little outpost of El Cholo, so you can also order their famous margaritas and the green corn tamale with sweet masa, cheddar cheese and roasted green chilis. But don’t ask for the pralines. No esta aqui.

Worth a try: Green corn tamale ($3.75), tacos del camino al pastor ($2.65), chicken enchilada plate ($8.95), borracho beans ($1.50)