Although it’s located on the southwestern corner of the Jefferson-Pueblo intersection, Garcia’s Restaurant is easy to overlook. The small eatery is tucked away into the corner lot of Napa strip mall, which is the home of many Hispanic-related shops and stores. I sought out Garcia’s on the advice of a former co-worker at Auberge du Soleil, who mentioned it was one of his favorite spots for tacos. Since my favorite spot, Tacos La Playita (see May 30), was mysteriously closed for the time being, I decided it was time to finally follow up on this recommendation.
Garcia’s is everything you might expect from a strip mall Mexican joint, plus a little bit more. The walls are canary yellow with mirrored aquatic motifs, although bright red Budweiser paraphenalia dominates the decor more than anything. A television, which is set to ESPN Deportes (and probably novellas in the daytime), shows the recent soccer highlights in the evening. A jukebox provides the real ambiance, however, belching out tuba- and accordian-driven songs of love and heartbreak (en español, naturally).
The menu features all of the requisite Mexican fare, with a few interesting additions that you might not find at many other places in town. For instance, Garcia’s lists chicharrones (deep fried pork rinds) as one of their taco and burrito fillings, and if that sounds blissfully unhealthy, believe me, it is. Fortunately, I never let my conscience be my guide when it comes to ordering Mexican food. I just had to try one chicharrone taco, along with two carne asada tacos, to see if the actual item was anything close to what I imagined. As it turns out, it was.
The chicharrone taco — dressed with onions, cilantro and salsa verde — was replete with crunchy morsels of pork skin. Although decadent and flavorful, I’m not sure how well chicharrones work as a taco filling. Their crispy texture is unyielding, and small corn tortillas cannot really contain them very easily. The filling constantly threatens to poke through the soft tortillas, or else tumble out the opposite end of the taco. The carne asada tacos, served with salsa roja, were far more manageable, and a pretty decent version of the dish. I’m not sure if they rate as well as the ones served over at Tacos La Playita, but they were far superior to the tacos at Tanya’s Taqueria (see June 22).
I also ordered the chile verde jumbo burrito, which is one of the largest burritos I have ever seen (almost to the point of absurdity). The idea of ordering this sized burrito, but stuffed full of chicharrones, was mind-boggling (although an al pastor burrito laced with just a few chicharrones might be delicious). Garcia’s serves their burritos mojado, smothered with a red enchilada-type sauce, which makes them a strict knife-and-fork affair. Even so, the burritos are honestly made, with the addition of very little rice. I particularly enjoyed the use of queso fresco in the burrito, which provided an occasional tangy burst of creaminess throughout. Most other places in Napa rely on shredded monterrey jack, which is a far less interesting ingredient.
Garcia’s probably has the best chips and salsa (served free, while you wait) that I have had in the Napa Valley. The chips were absolutely fresh, delicately crispy, and just barely shiny with grease. The salsa, a pureed smokey roja with small bits of onion, had a wonderful hint of spiciness, but was never overpowering. Unfortunately, I devoured the entire basket of chips upon its arrival at my table. Had I known the jumbo burrito was going to be so formidable, I would’ve definitely shown more restraint.
