MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — A Mesa Mexican restaurant has been serving Jalisco-style food for over 20 years. It’s both a local hotspot and a place customers from across town seek out.
Taquitos Jalisco serves dine-in and to-go customers near Broadway and Alma School roads in Mesa.(Arizona’s Family)
Taquitos Jalisco serves flavor-packed, fresh food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but you’re not limited by the time. Breakfast is served all day long.
Owner, Martha Juaréz, says it was both her brother’s and husband’s dream to open a restaurant. It’s a legacy she’s learned to love.
Juaréz says, “Honestly, I would say that I wasn’t really a fan of cooking at first. But now that I do it, it’s something that I do with a lot of passion, with a lot of soul, and with a lot, lot of love” (translated from Spanish).
Birria beef soup garnished with onion and cilantro(Arizona’s Family)
That shared love of food and family is what’s kept much of the staff for as long as the restaurant has been open. Several cooks have been with the restaurant since the beginning, and many of the servers have joined them for eight to ten years.
They say the good people, both those who work there and those who come in to eat, make the work fun.
Staff of Taquitos Jalisco(Arizona’s Family)
The food is pretty good too. Taquitos Jalisco serves big plates for affordable prices.
Customers are split on which dish is the restaurant’s best. Some say it’s the make-your-own burrito plate that comes with a lengthy list of protein options, including green chile pork, pastor (marinated pork), chicken or surf and turf. Others are fans of the large lunch plates you can get for $16.
Manager Maria Saucedo’s favorite is the fried shrimp and fish tacos. The restaurant also serves all the classic taco proteins like carne asada, chicken and pork.
Taco plate with grilled steak, pastor (Marinated Pork), chicken, cow tongue and tripe tacos(Arizona’s Family)
However, there’s one item on the menu that has people lining up in the drive-through window and calling every morning to find out what the flavors are: aguas frescas.
The restaurant offers three different flavors every day. Juaréz makes them by scratch each morning, often experimenting with new flavors.
Hibiscus, cucumber-lemonade, and horchata agua frescas(Arizona’s Family)
“We have cucumber-lemonade, horchata, and hibiscus with strawberry, which is Jamaica con fresa. We have mango-lemonade, we have grapefruit with strawberry, strawberry-mango. The fresas con cremas, we have those two. But horchata is like the most popular,” Saucedo said.
The second most popular type: fresas con cremas, or strawberries and cream. You’ll definitely want a cool cup in the hot summer, but the jug doesn’t last long because it is that good!
Along with the aguas, Juaréz also makes the flan by hand every morning. It’s served with a drizzle of caramel.
The owner of Taquitos Jalisco makes flan fresh every day(Arizona’s Family)
If you aren’t a fan of flan but still have a sweet tooth, do yourself a favor and order the churros. They’re crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, like they should be, and are big!
Taquitos Jalisco also offers various pan dulce, or sweet breads from the bakery down the street every day.
Taquitos Jalisco serves pan dulce like Cortadillo (Mexican Pink Cake) from a bakery down the street(Arizona’s Family)
Juaréz says, “We’re grateful for the loyalty of our longtime customers and thrilled to welcome our new faces to the family. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us since day one and to those who’ve joined us more recently – we’re excited to have you along for the ride.”
The restaurant has both inside seating and a drive-through window. Catering is also available.
Taquitos JaliscoLocation: 1052 W Broadway Rd, Mesa, AZ 85210Hours:Monday-Sunday: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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