Huaraches for dinner? It’s not what you think

Really good Mexican food can turn up in unpretentious places like El Huarache Azteca 1, one of the string of small Mexican restaurants and taco trucks along York Boulevard in Highland Park.

Its main attraction is the huarache, a long oval of masa shaped vaguely like the sole of a sandal. Served hot off the grill, the huaraches are dressed up like tostadas, with meat, onions, cilantro, crema and finely powdered cheese on top. The tastiest meat is pork in a terrific tangy marinade (carne adobada). Thin-cut grilled steak (carne asada) and chicken are other choices, and you can pump up the flavor of any of the meats with three fiery salsas.

Like any signature dish, the huarache gets a lot of attention. There’s one painted on the front window, and a flier boasts of huaraches sabrosisimos (super-delicious huaraches). There are even little huarachitos for children.

But something else draws me back to El Huarache Azteca 1 time after time, something you wouldn’t know about unless you asked. This is the especial del dia, a daily surprise concealed in a big pot simmering in the tiny open kitchen.

These specials are as close as you can come to the simple cooking found in homes, market fondas and small restaurants deep in Mexico. One day there was pollo con tomate -- chicken in a simple sauce of tomatoes and broth that tasted of jalapenos, without the heat. Plump whole chiles, no doubt boiled with the chicken, were piled on top.

Another day, thin-cut beef, the type used for the carne asada, appeared with strips of nopal cactus in carne en salsa verde. The dark green sauce may have included tomatillos; it definitely included hot chiles.

Tortitas de carne en salsa verde had a lighter green sauce. The tortitas were fat, rustic cakes of coarsely shredded beef, held together with egg and topped with soft slices of cooked onion.

Albondigas are much the same wherever you go, but the albondigas soup that turned up as a special was not like any I have had elsewhere. Rather than a clear broth with vegetables, the broth for these albondigas was opaque, very spicy and tasted as if it had been seasoned with chorizo. The meatballs were pork and beef seasoned with mint, each molded around a tiny piece of hard-boiled egg.

Once there was no special, so I ordered costillas de puerco -- short, chunky pieces of meat on the bone, swimming in very spicy tomato sauce. Like other main dishes on the menu -- including carne asada and milanesa plates, tacos, quesadillas, sopes, tortas, and burritos -- it came with rice, boiled beans and tortillas.

Service is fast-food style, with disposable plates, cutlery and drink containers. The menu is written on a board over the counter between the kitchen and the dining area.

The view of the kitchen is blocked by big jars of aguas frescas, more than I have seen in any other restaurant, and all freshly made.

Once there were six flavors, and that’s not the extent of the repertoire because one of my favorites, agua de pepino (cucumber), wasn’t there that day. Aside from the usual horchata, Jamaica and tamarindo, there might be agua de melon (cantaloupe), sandia (watermelon), pina (pineapple) and tepache, which is made from fermented pineapple rinds.

To show that they are naturally made, aguas such as pina and pepino contain slices of their main ingredient. Once when I was there, a woman came in the door with a bucket of tamarind pods and a container of dried Jamaica flowers -- evidence that the aguas are made on the premises.

El Huarache Azteca 1 has just seven tables and is sometimes so crowded you have to wait for a table or share one. I’ve met some interesting people that way. Although the name is El Huarache Azteca 1, there is no other branch.

The restaurant is easy to spot because it’s painted a dazzling orange inside and out, including the ceiling and doors. Even the trash receptacle on the sidewalk is a matching orange.

Old photos of Mexico, a wanted poster, a Diego Rivera print and artificial flowers hang on the walls. The staff is busy but friendly, even when besieged with takeout orders. And the food, which includes lamb barbacoa on weekends, is well worth the trip -- even if you live as far away as Palmdale, like a customer who shared my table one evening.

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El Huarache Azteca 1

Location: 5225 York Blvd., Highland Park; (323) 478-9572.

Price: Snacks, 50 cents (taquitos) to $2 (huaraches); huarachito plate, $2.99; daily specials, $4.

Best dishes: Daily specials, huaraches, carne adobada, aguas frescas.

Details: Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Parking behind the restaurant or on the street. No alcohol. Cash only.