Eating Up Pacific Boulevard

Tacos for 80 cents, cookware from Tijuana, handmade corn tortillas, seafood cocktails of the kind made in Veracruz. . . . You can have them all in a one-block walk along Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park.

Along with eating places, you’ll notice frilly bridal shops, places where you can buy belt buckles emblazoned with the names of Mexican states, shops that sell boots crafted from exotic leathers, Latino music outlets and a botanica that sells religious goods and healing herbs.

This broad and well-kept street is the main shopping district of Huntington Park, a city that is more than 90% Latino. Pacific Boulevard is a comfortable place for families, heavily populated during the day by young mothers pushing strollers. They are part of a population of about 60,000 that has doubled since 1960.

Incorporated as a city 90 years ago, Huntington Park was named for Henry E. Huntington, who owned the streetcar line that in 1907 linked Los Angeles with the infant city. Buses have replaced the streetcars, which once charged five cents a ride. Crosswalks with signals break up the long blocks, and traffic for the most part is orderly, stopping obediently for pedestrians.

Our walk takes in both sides of the street between Florence Avenue and Saturn Street. This may seem like a short stretch, but there’s so much to see and eat, that you may have to return.

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1. The starting point is El Gallo Giro at Florence Avenue and Pacific Boulevard. This big complex offers a huge variety of cooked dishes to eat there or take out. (On a sunny day, you may want to carry your plate to the large seating area outside.)

There’s also a bakery that produces pan dulce, fancy cakes and such seasonal specialties as pan de muertos (bread of the dead); a tortilleria, butcher shop and traditional Mexican drink stand. Huge copper casseroles from deep in Mexico turn out batches of carnitas, crunchy fried chicharrones (pork cracklings) and even sweets. One day, camotes and calabazas (yams and squash) were beig glazed in thick syrup, soon to join other traditional candies for sale.

Meals are dispensed cafeteria-style. You line up at one station for tamales and atoles, the latter a thick, sweet corn-based drink. Or you can simply order cafe de olla. This hot, sweet cinnamon-spiked coffee is just right for a shopping break. Antojitos like tacos, gorditas, sopes and tortas (sandwiches) make for a quick lunch. Sample plates show what you get, so there’s no guesswork.

Next is the station for beans, rice and the guisado del dia (prepared dish of the day). Rather than a single guisado, there’s a choice of three. One day the selection was pork in red sauce with nopalitos (cactus); beef tongue in green sauce and chicharrones stewed in red sauce.

The drink stand exhibits colorful aguas frescas (juice drinks) in big jars, the way they’re displayed in Mexico. The attendant will ladle out the red drink, jamaica; the rice drink, horchata; or fruit drinks in pineapple, banana, melon and other flavors. Or you can ask for a licuado (blender drink) made to order.

El Gallo Giro, 7148 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 585-4492. Open 24 hours daily.

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2. A few doors north is a seafood stand, El Camaron Mariscos. Here you can order seafood cocktails, either plain or in combinations like the campechana, along with ceviche and tostadas. A super tostada is just $3. There’s no seating. You eat standing on the sidewalk or take your order home or to the office.

El Camaron Mariscos, 7130 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 581-2204. Closed on Wednesdays, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. other days.

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3. There’s lots more seafood at Costa Brava Mexican Family Restaurant, a friendly place done up in hanging plants and shades of blue and white that convey seaside freshness. At lunchtime, you can watch a TV novela while tucking into a huge mixed seafood cocktail like vuelve a la vida (return to life) or sampling that interesting Mexican specialty, camarones Costa Azul. Here, it’s a crisp bundle of shrimp and cheese wrapped in ham and bacon. And talk about carbo loading. The plate comes with a basket of chips, choice of corn or flour tortillas, rice, beans and French fries. There are non-seafood dishes too, like chicken fajitas and enchiladas, and Salvadoran foods including pupusas and panes con pavo (turkey sandwiches).

Costa Brava Mexican Family Restaurant, 7028 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 588-0289. Open daily 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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4. The last stop on this side of the street is Fine Discount, a general merchandise shop. Go to the housewares section in the back and look at the big tamale steamers and pots for menudo. The store also has a few pieces of San Ignacio enamelware, which is manufactured outside Tijuana. I bought a small San Ignacio Dutch oven in Ensenada, and it quickly became one of my favorite pans, as nonstick as if it were Teflon-lined.

Fine Discount, 7004 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 585-4000. Open daily 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

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5. Cross the street and head back toward Florence. The first stop will be Ricos Tacos Don Chuy, one of many taco shops along Pacific Boulevard. Prices range from 80 cents for carnitas or carne asada tacos up to 99 cents for lengua (tongue) or tripitas (beef intestines). You pay as you order, help yourself to salsas and take your tacos to a seating area at the back.

Ricos Tacos Don Chuy, 6913 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 589-6434. Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

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6. Rosita Bakery, a cheerful shop colorfully decorated with pin~atas, sells sandwiches for lunch on the run or a wide selection of pan dulce and cakes, including the tres leches cake, a powerfully sweet, rich dessert also sold at El Gallo Giro and most bakeries in the area.

Rosita Bakery, 7007 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 583-2927. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

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7. There are only six hours of the day when El Chamizal Mexican restaurant, the last stop on our walk, is closed. Don’t drop in after 2 a.m. or before 8 in the morning. After 8, you can breakfast on huevos rancheros (fried eggs with beans and salsa) or eggs scrambled a la Mexicana (with green chiles and tomatoes) or with chorizo. At the end of the day, there’s live music, including three shows of mariachis on Sundays and Mondays.

El Chamizal bills itself as La Casa de las Parrilladas (house of grilled plates), and the parrillada combinations are spectacular. A charcoal-heated brasero (footed metal brazier) comes to the table sizzling with food. If you choose the parrillada Monterrey, you get a bowl of queso fundido (melted Jack cheese), well-done thin steaks, thin-cut lamb chops, grilled whole jalapen~os and green onions, grilled banana chunks, soup or salad, charro beans (soupy boiled beans), excellent thin crisp chips, three salsas and meaty handmade corn tortillas (or flour tortillas if you prefer). After you’ve demolished all that, there’s still more, a bowl of rice pudding with raisins.

The atmosphere is old-fashioned California Mexican, which means tiles, serape-striped draperies and a big wall painting of a Mexican village scene, with couples about to dance the Mexican hat dance.

El Chamizal, 7111 Pacific Blvd., Huntington Park. (213) 583-3251. Open daily 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.

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Worth a Drive

Pacific Boulevard has a lot more to offer, if you want to continue walking or take a short drive. As you head north, there are additional taco shops, restaurants and an ice cream shop. There’s also a book and music shop, Libreria y Discoteca Latina (6316 Pacific Blvd., [213] 589-6237 that sells cookbooks and magazines from Mexico and Spain. The publications are in Spanish only.

Keep going and you’ll come to Diana’s Mexican Restaurant (6035 Pacific Blvd., [213] 582-9222) which, in addition to a large menu, sells quantity batches of food to go, including a gallon of menudo for a morning-after party at home.