El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant in Fairfield, CA

Carne Asada (7/9/18): very flavorful beef cut and cooked so perfectly tender, thick sauteed pieces of onion and chile with crunch & flavor. House made tortillas, frijoles, rice, pico all made from scratch.

Another perfect Chile Relleno like last time.

Guacamole, salsas, salad.

We supped at El Pitayo once again last night (6/19/18), & it was even better than the first time which is hard to believe. Above and below is the spot-on Chile Relleno.

Enchiladas Suizas. Rare to have enchiladas using freshly made tortillas. This is the definitive version of the dish, and probably the best enchiladas I've ever had, because everything was made from scratch, with love.

Carne Asada Taco. Never had a taco like this before, which was a combination, really, quesadilla (melted cheese on tortilla, with meat, lettuce, tomato and sour cream on top). Sweet luscious perfection.

And finally the otherworldly pork tamale, which had a very soft and loose mouth-feel, the masa didn't taste very pressed, which allowed the masa and meat inside to equally soak in the red sauce with melted cheese.

Guacamole, Salsa Verde and Salad at El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant in Fairfield, CA.

Earlier today, we're heading down some back roads towards Suisun Valley Road, and we passed this place. Online reviews look good, so we head back over there after running our errands. Turns out this is one of the best Mexican restaurants in the entire Bay Area.

What a find! Salsa Verde and Rojo the way they're supposed to be made: fresh & from scratch!

So we order our entrees, and munch on some more tostadas with guacamole, salsa verde, while Robin eats her salad with chunks of avocado in it.

Instead of salad, I ordered chicken soup, and guess what? Completely made from scratch (& with love). No Knorrs or other MSG powder BS in here. Delicious and straightforward. This isn't some soup made from a mix delivered from a Sysco Truck like you'd have a big chain, this is more like something made by a sweet Aunt or Nana or Mama.

Here's what Robin got: Pollo en Crema de Chipotle. The corn tasted fresh off the cob. Perfect frijoles and rice, the former made with manteca and the latter with stock (probably chicken). Probably not a good idea to come here if you're a committed vegan. Chipotle notes were just right, not too intense. The chicken in all the dishes was moist and delicious.

I got Mole Poblano with chicken. Note that this style uses chopped chicken, from the breast, that's the style we usually see around Northern California, but some place do serve it with the Mole sauce poured over a leg & thigh. This version is filling and delicious, redolent of chiles, my guess would be anchos, pasillas and maybe cascabels. Definitely made with chicken stock.

And the much overlooked part: freshly made tortillas (corn). Used to be de rigeur, but now less and less common. But El Pitayo is the kind of place that makes everything from scratch. In my mind, it's not a proper Mexican restaurant without tortillas made from scratch.

For what it's worth, we got a whole lot of food for our money, even though it was pretty cheap. We have a lot of leftovers which we'll have for breakfast in the morning. Also the service was fantastic--very friendly people made us feel at home. The place was empty when we arrived, but filled up fast. We could tell these seasoned folks could handle anything.

El Pitayo Mexican Restaurant

http://el-pitayo-mexican-restaurant.cafe-inspector.com