Nothing Fancy, Just Good Food at Moreno’s

You’re stuck in traffic with a carload of hungry little soccer players. And then you see it, an unlikely oasis amid lube joints and minimarts. A family restaurant serving homey Mexican food at astonishingly low prices.

That’s how we stumbled onto what has become for us a reliable kitchen away from home. It’s nothing fancy, mind you. No towering entrees or edible flowers on these plates. Just plain old traditional standards that for decades have attracted crowds to the Spanish colonial charm of Moreno’s Mexican Restaurant in Orange.

Sunday brunch is served amid the giant pepper trees on the patio, the most festive scene this side of the Fiesta Marketplace in Santa Ana. On weekend nights, tiny white lights are draped through the trees and the place is filled with families and thirsty regulars in search of the famous--at least in this neighborhood--margaritas grandes.

On weekend mornings mariachis play for tips.

Fresh tortillas? Si! A tortillera slaps dough onto a hot griddle to produce the best corn tortillas I’ve ever eaten.

There is nothing nouveau about Moreno’s. The menu is the same as it was when the restaurant opened a quarter of a century ago. In fact, many of the cooks are the same and the recipes have been handed down through generations of the Moreno family, perfected years before they migrated north from Guadalajara.

Food snobs beware: You won’t find goat cheese in the chili relleno or arugula in the tacos. The beans are made with lard, the tostadas come with chopped iceberg lettuce and the usual burrito and enchilada combos prevail. But the tortillas come to the table hot and chewy, the guacamole is freshly mashed with cilantro. Even the margaritas are made with fresh strawberries.

The restaurant is still a family affair. Daughter Linda and sons Paul and Steve help their parents run the business; their aunt owns a dry goods store behind the building, and everyone helps out in the bakery adjacent to the cafe.

Brunch begins with champagne or fruit juice and anything on the daily lunch menu. Carne asada comes with fresh cilantro and onion on soft tortillas, carnitas--deep-fried pork--can be ordered in enchiladas, tacos or tostadas.

Chile verde--pork in mild green chili sauce--is tender and tasty, if slightly bland. All the tacos and taquitos passed muster with the soccer players, as did the chips and salsa.

Hearty Soups, Handmade Tamales

The egg dishes are Mexican favorites. Huge portions of huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, omelets with chorizo or avocado are all well made.

Soups are popular during colder months. The Morenos make the albondigas from meat ground daily mixed with egg, fresh vegetables and spices. The rich stock is tangy and the ration of meatballs to broth is just right.

The menudo, made of tripe and beef stock, is offered only on weekends and, according to owner Javier Moreno, is fading in popularity with his increasingly Americanized clientele.

The beef stew is a hearty meal in itself, a spicy mix of short ribs and large chunky vegetables. It may be hard to fault the reliable but unoriginal entrees. After all, Moreno’s prides itself on tradition and time-honored preparation.

Still, I’d like to see the chile relleno under its blanket of orange cheese, for example. And it would be nice to have the rice, beans and meat divided into separate items instead of melding together in a soupy mess. And although squash blossoms might be a bit much, a few fresh herbs sprinkled judiciously wouldn’t hurt. But who am I to quibble with decades of success?

In 1976, Javier and Eleanor Moreno bought the property--which included an old Quaker meeting house--and turned it into a bakery and a small cafe. The colonial-style buildings that housed a small church and school were the attraction then and still are, Javier says.

They painted Mexican murals on the walls and added Spanish arches. They landscaped the patio and installed hand-painted tiles in an effort, says Javier, to re-create a “Little Olvera Street” in Orange.

Eventually business took off. It became a favorite with locals. When they first opened, the whole family met weekly to make tamales for picnickers heading to Irvine Regional Park.

“We’d all get together on Thursdays and make a thousand tamales. By Saturday we were sold out,” says Javier. “They cost $1.75 a dozen the year we opened.” Today’s Moreno tamales are $14 a dozen.

Friends and neighbors have met at the restaurant for years. To thank them, the Moreno family holds a reunion every two years, inviting regulars and newcomers alike. Nearly 500 attended this year’s wingding in September.

*

Moreno’s Mexican Restaurant, 4328 E. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 639-2181. Sunday hours: 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Mariachis play from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. each Sunday.