Follow the Truckers

La Cabanita is the urban equivalent of a certain type of truck stop you can find on any dusty highway in the Southwest: the house converted into a cafe that claims to make the best wet burrito for 500 miles around.

And truckers do patronize La Cabanita. They just happen to be UPS drivers based in Cerritos rather than long-haul big-riggers. When a colleague told me this cute little green-and-white cafe was a favorite with these drivers, I thought she was putting me on. Sure enough, though, just as the waitress was bringing my order, two brown-jerseyed men from UPS showed up at the front entrance, right on cue.

Sometimes the folk belief that truckers know the good restaurants is true. La Cabanita specializes in the home cooking of Michoacan in central Mexico, and its food is so appetizing I wonder why anyone bothers eating in bland chain restaurants like La Salsa and Rubio’s.

At the counter where you order, there are three huge glass jars--vats, almost--of aguas frescas made in the traditional Mexican way: just fresh fruit juice, water and ice. They come in flavors such as pineapple, cantaloupe and watermelon and are wickedly refreshing. If you take these classy drinks as a sign that someone behind the counter is serious about food, you are correct.

After ordering, sit down on one of the stone benches in the patio and prepare yourself for a treat. The first thing to arrive will be a basket of what they call tostadas in southern Mexico: not the salad we’re familiar with but big round corn tortillas deep-fried until golden brown and crackling. They’re exactly like what you get on the Mexican Riviera. With them comes a pale olive-green salsa in a stone molcajete. With the salsa, these giant corn chips make an irresistible snack.

Everything is cooked to order, so be patient. It’s also made entirely from scratch (except for the pickled jalapen~os, which the chef apologetically tells his customers come from a can). The meats, which include lengua (tongue), al pastor (spicy minced barbecued pork), sauteed chicken, grilled beef and carnitas, are all lean and of high quality.

The tostada grande is definitely grande. You could stick your whole head in this bowl-shaped fried flour tortilla, and it’s filled to the brim with lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, refried beans (made with oil, not lard) and a choice of meats. I had it with spicy stewed chicken. Two of us worked on it and, try as we might, we could barely finish half.

My favorite item on the menu has to be an out-sized sandwich called torta Milanesa. It’s steak, pounded thin, lightly breaded and grilled, and this serving feels like a good 6 ounces worth. Put the meat on two huge slabs of grilled Mexican bread and combine with beans, tomatoes, onions, guacamole and sour cream and, well, you’ve got yourself a meal there. La Cabanita also makes similar tortas with ham, chicken and all the other meats it serves.

If you’re not aiming to bust your britches, order some of the familiar Mexican snack foods: soft tacos, sopes, tamales or chile rellenos. Sopes are fat little grilled corn masa cakes with various toppings. They’re properly chewy, and particularly great topped with delicately seasoned cubes of tongue.

The soft tacos (in the usual taco-stand style: two small corn tortillas topped with meat and a liberal sprinkling of onions and cilantro) are delicious with the piquant al pastor or the richer, meatier carnitas as a topping. The chile relleno is a long, skinny chilaca pepper (here called pasilla, though that’s usually the name for the dried form of this chile) enrobed with a cornmeal crust and filled with white Mexican cheese.

The menu lists seafood as well, such as crunchy fried perch (mojarra) and a terrific take on shrimp ranchero, which is like wet shrimp fajitas: shrimp sauteed with tomatoes, onions, peppers and an appetizingly spicy green sauce that binds it all together. Occasionally, La Cabanita has specials such as a torpedo-sized wet burrito blanketed with a subtle chile verde sauce, or well-seasoned baked chicken, served with beans and rice.

La Cabanita also makes top-notch American-style pancakes and huevos rancheros at breakfast, catering to those hungry drivers who want to start their day off right. Most of them come back for lunch too, I’m told.

BE THERE

La Cabanita, 700 Pine Ave., Long Beach. (310) 436-2017. Open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. Takeout. Lunch for two, $8-$15. What to Get: sopes, tortas, soft tacos, shrimp ranchero, tostada grande, aguas frescas.