Best of Barbecue and Mexican

We have a proliferation of barbecue pits and Mexican restaurants in this county, but only a few truly seem to get it right. Here is a shining example in each category.

“Did you see the smoker out in the parking lot?” asked our waiter at Johnny D’s Open Pit Grill. “That’s where we smoke most of our meats.” I confess I missed it.

But they’ve convinced me anyway, even if this new Huntington Beach barbecue stop never intended to do its cooking in the parking lot. The owners planned an actual wood pit for the kitchen only to be told that air quality regulations would not allow it. They’ve solved the problem with a portable cylindrical smoker, some old-fashioned ingenuity and the best barbecue baste yet seen in these parts. Johnny D’s rich, thick baste has no tomato, molasses or liquid smoke, yet it manages to be spicy, grainy and mysterious, all at once.

The restaurant itself is one of those movie-set Western-style rooms you find in strip malls throughout the Southland, all pale wooden paneling, wall-mounted wagon wheels and enthusiasm. The one eccentricity about Johnny D’s that you’ll remember is the electric train that runs overhead along the perimeter of the dining room. I counted 10 tours of the ceiling, about 15 minutes of rail time, for my combo plate to come up.

It was more than worth the wait. I had a wonderfully smoky beef vegetable soup to start with, a clear broth stocked with chunks of soft beef, celery and carrot. I’m sure I tasted curry powder in the three amigo beans, an unctuous side dish composed of butter, white and kidney beans. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were also infusions of ginger, coriander and other aromatic spices--as well as vinegar aplenty--later on in the meal, in the barbecue marinade.

This is heavy-hitter barbecue. The meats may remind barbecue devotees of the tomato-less Santa Maria style, but they are more complex and more heavily smoked than those at, say, Buckboard Brands or Papa’s Western Barbecue, to name two local proponents of the Santa Maria style.

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The huge, meaty beef ribs have a crusty outside glaze you almost want to lick off, the chicken is shot through with smoke all the way into the bone. Tri-tip sirloin comes cut into thick, tender slices and makes a great sandwich. Only the slightly tough, though delicious, rack of baby back pork ribs fails to live up to expectations--the meat is flavorful but stringy and doesn’t fall off the bone easily, as you’d expect of great baby backs.

In any case, Johnny D’s soars, thanks to top-quality meats and an original take on barbecue, one of the first really distinctive styles I’ve encountered in quite a while.

Johnny D’s Open Pit Grill is moderately priced. Appetizers are $2.45 to $4.95. House specials are $6.25 to $13.95. Steaks are $12.95 to $22.95.

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La Zorrita belongs on the very top rung of Orange County Mexican restaurants, thanks to the good cooking of chef-owner Froylan Barrera.

It’s a charming little place with glass-topped tables, tropical-themed paintings and lots of rusty farm implements mounted on the wall behind the kitchen counter. Some of you may remember Barrera from his 13-year tenure as executive chef at the Towers in Laguna’s Surf and Sand Hotel. He also cooked in France for a spell. La Zorrita’s traditional Mexican menu doesn’t hint at such a varied background, but the chef’s food has a refined delicacy, a smoothness that this cuisine often lacks.

One giveaway is his sopa de cebolla , a thinly disguised French onion soup made with a light clear broth and a crouton topped with Cotija cheese. Crema de frijol is like the world’s best bean soup, a rich puree of Mexican beans with thin tortilla strips and the same Cotija cheese shredded atop them. Try Barrera’s delicious tamale topped with chili verde. This is a rustic plateful of steamed cornmeal with wondrous stewed pork, alongside beans a la olla (cooked whole) and fine, piquant Mexican rice.

Camarones al mojo de ajo , one of several shrimp preparations on Barrera’s menu, is plump shrimps in a buttery garlic sauce--wonderful when mixed with the chef’s orange-tinted rice. It’s served with a giant scoop of the chunky house guacamole.

The chef doesn’t do too much in the way of regional Mexican cooking, but he does prepare a classic mole poblano , arguably the world’s most sophisticated chocolate sauce. This is a slightly bitter, ultra-dark mole-- thick as mud, mysteriously complex--and it turns ordinary hunks of steamed chicken into an exotic masterpiece.

Even La Zorrita’s accompaniments are exceptional--everything from the cumin-spiked pickled carrots and onions to the densely packed pico de gallo salad to a strange red sauce available on request made from pureed smoked chilies and vinegar, the perfect thing to liven up a humble burrito. There are good chilies rellenos (oozing cheese and dripping spicy red sauce) and charbroiled chicken that puts El Pollo Loco to shame.

On weekends, come for brunch and run into the interesting omelets and side dishes such as nopales : fried bits of cactus with a cornmeal breading. And save room for Barrera’s surprisingly light desserts, a sweet tamale served with a light pineapple sauce ( pastel de queso ), a frothy cheesecake and crepa de queso , a French-style crepe with a light cheese filling that you eat with raspberry jam. (Hey, watch it with that French stuff, chef Barrera.)

La Zorrita is moderately priced. Appetizers are $2.50 to $4.50. Entrees are $4.40 to $11.95. Desserts are $1.25 to $2.75.

* JOHNNY D’S OPEN PIT GRILL

* 7320 Center Ave., Huntington Beach.

* (714) 373-4372.

* Open Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday till 10 p.m.

* American Express, MasterCard and Visa accepted.

* LA ZORRITA

* 24412 Rockfield Blvd., El Toro.

* (714) 855-4651.

* Lunch Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner daily, 5 to 9 p.m.

* Cash only.