Is It Over Already?

Casa Latina MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER!
















That's 1805 San Pablo Avenue, in the Berk.

I first spotted Casa Latina sometime last fall. A friend and I were returning from a kitten-acquisition expedition to Chico, where we had consumed some rather disappointing burritos, when I spotted a burreatery that I had somehow not noticed before. Under the pretenses of going to Everett & Jones' while she bought kitten food, I dashed a block up San Pablo to satisfy a hunger only the second burrito of the day could fill. The Casa was the first and only place I've found that asadas the carne after you order it : they toss the raw (perhaps marinated, I didn't look or ask) meat onto a retired-boxeresque grill with some olive oil. Check it out :


















I decided to make the best find of my last quest the first stop on this one. I should have guessed that the creative expertise of these burrito ninjas wouldn't be limited to one item on the menu. Look at that carnitas burrito. Look at it, I suggested before I got the photos and realized, a day too late, that I had covered up the tantalizing chunk of pork in the center with salsa. You still get an eyeful,

















thanks to my lovely dining companion, photographer, and mangled-burrito rearranger, but you'll have to imagine the part where your tongue encounters tender meat while your teeth meet actual resistance. Is that . . . texture? In a carnitas burrito? Why yes it is. The salsa was reasonably hot and tangy, the rice and beans worth scooping up after they fell out of the burrito, the tortilla and/or the folding thereof more than up to the task of withstanding the liquid onslaught that is a carnitas filling and the chips, well, I don't remember the chips because oh my God, these carnitas, these carnitas, burritoheads, oh my God, these carnitas, oh my God!

















I liked the carnitas.

The place is delightful, probably flung entirely intact from Solano or College to San Pablo via some freakish east bay tornado. Tasteful decor, outdoor seating, latin rhythms at sub-blaring levels and all sorts of pastries for people with room left over after a burrito. Are you reading, Takeru Kobayashi? Sonya Thomas? Badlands Booker?