El Goloso and Alfonso’s : Popular Mexican Restaurants Branch Out

A pair of popular Mexican restaurants have opened branches in recent months, and while they may as yet pose no threat to the giant chain eateries that encircle the city, they are spreading the word about quality Mexican fare outside their own neighborhoods.

El Goloso has the distinction of being one of the few local specialists in Mexican-style seafood dishes, and judging on the basis of two recent visits, this minuscule chain may dish up the best mariscos this side of Ensenada. With two locations in National City, El Goloso recently opened a third restaurant on University Avenue.

Alfonso’s long has reigned as one of the premiere Mexican eateries in La Jolla, a position it seems unlikely to relinquish any time soon, since the place often is jammed and waits are the rule on weekends and pleasant evenings. Several months ago, Alfonso’s transferred its menu intact (the great specialty is the carne asada, offered in several guises) to Broadway, where it occupies premises in the Spreckels Building.

At El Goloso, the eye is arrested by exactly two items: An oil painting of two flying saucers fighting it out over storm-tossed waves, and a sign that reads “No Credit--Please Don’t Ask.” In other words, this is strictly a casual, neighborhood place, with no pretentions to grandeur in anything except what is served upon the plates.

The food is decor enough. The menu runs to surprising length for so tiny a place, and commences with a ravishing selection of seafood cocktails priced in a gentle manner that would give many a local seafood restaurant owner a bad case of the bends. It continues on with a goodly number of fine shrimp and fish preparations, and concludes with a few commonplace meat dishes (beef tacos, chicken tostadas). Most entrees include soup or salad, rice and beans, and baskets of warm tortillas.

The seafood cocktails are vastly different from the modest servings of shellfish doused in ketchup-based sauce that many restaurants dish up. One entrancing feature is the opportunity to order any of them in 6-, 9- or 12-ounce sizes, or for those with little self-control, in what the menu calls the “back-to-life” size, a 16-ounce portion served in a malted milk glass. The general range in price is from $2.80 to $6.25.

These cocktails--the choice includes shrimp, octopus, oyster, ceviche, and occasionally abalone--all swim in a delicious cold soup made of lemon juice, El Goloso’s special seafood salsa (quite different from the all-purpose variety), cucumber, onion and cilantro. It is remarkably refreshing. The shrimp are larger than would be expected, and quite flavorful, and the octopus remarkably tender and likeable--this preparation offers those who always felt squeamish about octopus a convenient and not-too-committing chance at sampling it. The fish ceviche features a lovely freshness, and can also be ordered as a small tostada, in which case it arrives spread generously over a flat, crisply fried corn tortilla.

Should the chosen entree include the choice of soup or salad, by all means order the fish soup, which has the heady flavor of a Nicoise soupe de poissons and the tomatoey richness of a West Coast cioppino. One suspects that the rich stock is based on the peelings provided by all those shrimp cocktails, and it is a handsome soup, right down to the morsels of fish that lurk at the bottom of the cup.

The entree list offers large shrimp in guises ranging from the simple deep fried to a diabolic saute that includes equal parts of shrimp and chiles. In between are shrimp ranchero (tomato sauce); or grilled with butter or garlic, or sauteed in white wine or tequila sauces. A good way to try the finely scented garlic shrimp is in combination with a half-lobster, pan-fried and highly seasoned in the Mexican style. One of the most expensive entrees, this dish costs $9.95.

A waitress warned that the shrimp with chiles would be muy picante (very spicy-hot), and then brought along a squeeze-bottle of ultra-fiery chile salsa just in case. She needn’t have bothered; this was a four-alarm dish on its own, not at all needful of outside pyrotechnics. It was also exquisite, something quite apart from any of the more typical preparations.

On a final shrimp note (yes, there are other dishes), the shrimp burrito has an unexpected and quite beguiling French elegance to it. The chopped crustaceans are sauteed in butter with bits of fresh tomato, onion, bell pepper and the merest hint of fresh chile, and then wrapped in a big, billowing flour tortilla. It could pass as a crepe de crevettes Provencale at a good French restaurant.

The fish are prepared with equal style, and the most dramatic probably would be the whole, deep fried fish served with a Veracuz garnish. Served with the head on, a fish prepared in this manner had been lightly floured and plunged into deep fat for a length of time that guaranteed cooked, but still moist, flesh. The flavor was fresh and good, but what made the preparation special was the Veracruz garnish, a saute of onions, tomatoes, bell pepper and black olives that obviously had been cooked to order. Every restaurant could do this, of course, but very few seem to think that their customers are worth the bother.

The eternal flan serves as dessert, and El Goloso’s version of this caramel custard is respectably eggy. The maraschino cherry and whipped topping that surmount it should be discontinued; they were in fact the only evidence of canned or pre-prepared food found here.

The downtown Alfonso’s has quite a different character from its La Jolla parent. The place is all bustle and dash at lunch, when it is jammed with office workers and the service is unbelievably speedy. It not only is possible to order, eat and pay the check in half an hour, but is almost unavoidable. The nighttime mood is much more relaxed, and the generally casual clientele is a mix of shoppers, lawyers, sailors and other downtown habitues.

The same menu prevails at noon and night, with the exception of a trio of lunch-only specials priced at $5.95. In this category, the choice includes an acceptable combination plate composed of a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada; a beef taco-beef enchilada combo, and “Mexican steak,” a saute of tough, unloveable beef cubes and crumbled chorizo sausage. All plates include rice and beans.

Alfonso’s best known and best-loved dish undoubtedly is carne asada, or thin strips of grilled, marinated steak. This is available as a lavishly garnished entree, but probably is most popular as an overstuffed burrito, a role it performs very well. The carne asada also turns in a nice performance as a quesadilla, in which case melted cheese joins the meat inside a large flour tortilla.

Alfonso’s menu is typical of this region, and offers many familiar dishes but no surprises. Tacos, enchiladas, tostadas and burritos appear in profusion and can often be had in combination.

All meals commence with good, crisp chips from El Indio, accompanied by a nice, hearty salsa.

EL GOLOSO

3695 University Ave., San Diego

280-3912

Lunch and dinner daily.

A meal for two, including tax and tip, $10 to $25.

ALFONSO’S

135 Broadway, San Diego

234-7300

Lunch and dinner daily.

Credit cards accepted.

A meal for two, including a glass of house wine each, tax and tip, $18 to $40.