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View the Little Joe's Menu
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Little Joe’s is located at 4171 Live Oak Ave,
Arcadia |
Nachos |
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The
Works Tostada |
Fish
taco. I forgot to mention this in the review, it was good, I just
forgot I had it, See what happens when you eat more than you should? |
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Enchilada, Taco Combo |
Beef
Enchilada ala carte |
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DOT COM DINING A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
Once Again, Family Tradition is Served – This Time at
Little Joe’s
By Bill Coburn
John F. Kennedy was president; towards the end of
the year he was assassinated and replaced by Lyndon Johnson. Pope John XXIII
died, and was replaced by Pope Paul VI. There was a big scandal in Britain,
involving Secretary of War Profumo and a teenager connected to the Soviet
Union. There was a new phone line between the US and the USSR, called “The Hot
Line.” There were 15,000 US military advisors in a distant land called
Vietnam. The Beatles were taking England by storm, and the Dick Van Dyke show
won three Emmy awards. It was 1963, and Rose Vasquez opened a little Mexican
restaurant in Baldwin Park, called Super Mex. Fast forward 37 years, to the
year 2000, and Super Mex is a Baldwin Park institution. But Rose is ready to
retire. As much as she’s enjoyed running Super Mex all these years, it’s time.
But Rose’s son Felix Padilla, and his son Johnny,
decide they want to carry on the family tradition. When Super Mex closes, Felix
and Johnny find a location in lower Arcadia, and open a shop called Little Joe’s
Fresh Mex Takeout. Pretty soon, word spreads that Rose’s recipes are still
available, and people from Baldwin Park start making the short jaunt over to
continue the feeding of a multi-generational hunger. Members of the Baldwin
Park City staff start having lunch in Arcadia, instead of Baldwin Park. And
a family tradition continues into the 21st century. In fact, Rose
even works in Little Joe’s two days a week, helping to keep the tradition alive
in whatever way she can help.
Each week, Felix visits local meat distributors and
produce markets, to pick out the finest quality food to serve at Little Joe’s.
This eliminates the “middle man”, and allows Little Joe’s to continue serving
highest quality meals at lower prices than they could if they were just ordering
through distributors.
Little Joe’s is located at 4171 Live Oak Ave in
Arcadia, not far west of Myrtle Ave./Peck Road. Their phone number is (626)
446-5643, and you can find their menu online at
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/littlejoes. You’ll also find coupons there,
good for half off on a combination with purchase of a combination, or if you’re
going in by yourself (or with someone who won’t be ordering a combo), you can
get a coupon good for a buck off the price of a combo. Since the eligible
combos are $5.25 and $6.25, that’s a pretty good savings. That’s right, $5.25
and $6.25. A taco and enchilada combo (pretty much my standard order), with
rice and beans, for just $5.25, and with the coupon, just $4.25. Or if there
are two of you, $7.90 for two combos. That’s hard to beat. And the food is
delicious. This is the kind of place where the people working there put there
heart and soul into making sure everything is up to standard, not the kind of
place that hires every kid that comes in off the street that can cover the
shift.
Katie had a carnitas “Works Tostada”, I had the
taco/enchilada combo, and Keelan had the nachos. Nachos for dinner? That’s
what I said. Until he said “Well usually I have a bean and cheese burrito,
which is exactly what I’m ordering, only with fried tortilla chips instead of a
flour tortilla.” I couldn’t really argue with that kind of logic, and frankly,
it kind of bugs me that he’s starting to prevail in our discussions, that’s not
supposed to happen until he gets into his teens, right?
Katie and I both had similar reactions when we saw
her tostada. We both thought it seemed a little small. Of course, at just
$4.25, you’re not expecting a mega meal, but we were both used to seeing larger
tostadas. About halfway through the meal, though, Katie pointed out something
interesting. There was a lot more meat on the tostada then it had appeared, and
as she put it “on every bite, I get exactly as much as I want of everything on
the tostada, it’s not like most places that put this huge tortilla on the plate,
and then pile it up with tons of lettuce to make it look big, and leave you with
a tostada where you have to dig to get a bite the way you want it.” I tried a
bite of the carnitas in her tostada, and it was delicious, fresh, tender and
juicy. And Katie no longer felt her tostada was too small.
The beans at Little Joe’s are homemade. I asked
Katie, is it my imagination, or are the beans really good here? A lot of places
open a can of the top selling refried beans, and a lot of times, there’s not a
lot to say about the beans. They're refried beans, what’s the difference? Well I
definitely noticed the difference in these beans, and the rice was light, fluffy
and delicious as well. And Katie assured me, it wasn’t just me, these beans
were better than most.
On my combo, the taco was made with seasoned ground
beef, lettuce and cheese (I requested no tomatoes), and one of the things I
noticed was the freshly cooked tortilla. The taco was piping hot and definitely
enjoyable. The enchilada sauce (red sauce) was quite good, too, homemade and I
enjoyed it. But I forgot to request the upgrade to a meat enchilada, and had
the first cheese enchilada I’ve had in a long time. Now I’m sure lots of you
like your enchiladas made of cheese, but I’m just one of those guys that wants
meat in his meal. So I ordered a shredded beef enchilada after I realized my
mistake, and it came out full of tender, delicious beef and covered with the
same delicious red sauce, and I was a happy camper.
Keelan enjoyed his nachos, and there was more there
than he was able to finish, which allowed me to finish up his meal. Not that I
hadn’t had enough food, I had, but I hated to see it go to waste, and as
delicious as everything was, it just seemed like the thing to do.
Thursday nights at Little Joe’s are burrito nights,
and you can get thee chile verde carnitas burritos for the low price of just
$2.95. And Fridays during the summer (they’ve started a little early, it’s been
going on for several weeks), they have a barbecue night that has people lined up
out the door and down the street. For $7.50, you get your choice of barbecued
steak, chicken or spare ribs, plus your choice of side orders. Little Joe’s
also serves breakfast, with breakfast burritos at just $3.25 and breakfast
plates for just $4.25.
I’ll be stopping in on a BBQ Friday night before too
long, and I’ll let you know what I find, but I expect it to be delicious, based
on my experiences the several times I’ve eaten there. But I do know this, if
you stop by and say hi to Joe and Felix, you’re going to enjoy some good,
quality, homemade, low-priced Mexican food. Just like it was when Kennedy was
president, Paul VI was pope, and Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Mary Tyler
Moore ruled the airwaves.
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a
restaurant website featuring dozens of restaurant’s menus, as well as
downloadable coupons. He has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant
business, and has been eating for much longer than that. |
