Those who love Mexican food know there’s a wide range of Mexican restaurants in the East Valley.
On one end of the scale, you’ve got the so-called “gringo” places, where the Mexican cuisine is about as authentic as the chimichanga.
On the other end of the scale are places like Taqueria Cajeme, which shares a well-worn block building with a dulceria (candy store) on the northwest corner of University and Mesa drives in Mesa.
Taking its name from the owners’ hometown in south-central Sonora, near the Gulf of California, Taqueria Cajeme offers the type of genuine dishes you’d find in a Mexican coastal town.
Seafood — including shrimp, tilapia, stingray, octupus, snails and oysters — dominate the menu, but there’s also such fare as goat soup, pork rinds and beef head.
I’d been tipped off by a couple people that the food is delicious, so I decide to check it out for myself. I’d also been told that the staff doesn’t speak any English, so I bring along a couple friends who speak Spanish.
We get off to a inauspicious start. As we enter the restaurant, we’re struck by unpleasant odor emanating from either the restrooms or kitchen — we can’t tell which.
We almost decide to bail, but once we take a padded booth in the mural-decorated dining area, the odor is gone (or at least out of range). And in this case, it proves to be worth sticking it out.
One of my friends orders the shrimp culichi ($10.99), a bowl of meaty shrimp swimming in a delicious tomatillo-cheese sauce that generates a little heat. It comes with beans, fried potatoes and several corn tortillas that are used to sop up every last drop of the savory sauce.
My other friend tries the shredded beef and potato tostadas ($5.99), a pair of flour tortillas topped with well-seasoned beef, vegetables and grated Cotija cheese that have us raving. Rice and beans come on the side.
I opt for the marinated pork burro ($4.50), a large tortilla stuffed with meat, rice, beans, onions and a just a little cheese. The small pieces of pork are a bit chewy, but tasty.
Taqueria Cajeme’s beverages are just as authentic as the food. One of my friends enjoys a bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola (made with corn syrup instead of cane sugar), while the other has a tamarind-flavored soda. I go with a refreshing Jamaica agua fresca.
Our dessert selections are limited to house flan and strawberries with crème. We decide to share the former ($3.50), which is adequate.
Some people undoubtedly will be put off by the language barrier and Taqueria Cajeme’s unpolished ambiance. For the adventurous, though, it’s well worth the trip.
Taqueria Cajeme
Where: 356 E. University Drive, Mesa (northwest corner of University and Mesa drives)
Hours: 8 a.m. to midnight daily; closed Wednesdays
Prices: Seafood combinations $9.95-$12.99, seafood cocktails $8.99-$13.99, combination plates $4.50-$8.99, tacos $1.25-$2.50, burros $2.75-$5.99.
Info: (480) 464-1470
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