Menudo... The mere mention of it congures up many things to many people.  Visions like, "breakfast of champions," discust, "blood and guts," and in my case, pure gastronomic joy.  If menudo is your choice for breakfast, you'll fine never find a more delicious brew of menudo, that is concocted and served at Tacos La Puravida, in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico.

L

Left:  The facade of Tacos La Puravida, on Ave. Juarez in Rosarito.  Note that they proudly display the fact that they sell birria de res and the all-famous Rico Menudo.  Right:  The kitchen faces the street as one of the cooks grills some steak, for carne asada tacos.  Note the large pot and the radishes in the foreground.

It was around 0900 on Sunday morning, April 17, 2005 when I pulled off Mexico Highway 1 toll road and exited into the small seaside resort town of Rosarito to continue my journey south on the free highway, as I have a problem with paying to drive on a road and besides, you see more stuff "up close and personal" on the free road.  I decided to take a tour of Rosarito, since I hadn't visited the city for nearly five months.  There was another reason:  I hadn't eaten breakfast, and something, anything, sounded good.  So when I passed the Pemex station on Av. Benito Juarez and saw Tacos La Puravida on my right, I knew that I had hit the menudo jackpot.

Left:  A closer look will reveal that our cook is cooking steak for carne asada tacos, as a large pot of beans simmers on the griddle, to the left of the photo.  Right:  Smoke rises from the propane-fired griddel that faces the street.

If nothing else, a visit to Tacos La Puravida will indoctronate the average gringo into what a Mexican taqueria is all about.  The restaurant is clean, modern and quite tourist-friendly, yet it is very typical of a small, family-operated Mexican taqueria.  If you're a fan of Mexican street food and taquerias, than this place has your name on it.

Tacos La Puravida, located at the intersection of Av. Benito Juarez and Calle del Alamo, across from Brisas del Mar hotel, is in many ways a very typical Mexican taqueria, and in many ways, not to typical.  In the not-so-typical category, this restaurant has a huge staff and is really large, by taqueria standards and has a cash register.  Of course, in protocol observed in small Mexican restaurants and taquerias, you pay for your meal when you're finished eating.  In the typical category, La Puravida faces the street, is mostly open, and the food is displayed and cooked outside.  

Left:  This is a huge piece of pork, cooked in the carne al pastor style, complete with an onion on top of the vertical spit to add additional flavor, not to mention appearance.  Right:  One of the cooks is slicing up freshly grilled steak in order to make tacos, carne asada.

The kitchen is fascinating, as it is completely open to the street and you can watch everything that goes on.  For tacos al pastor, there is huge tropa of meat roasting over a vertical spit, complete with an onion at the top for flavor and the looks-to-die-for.  In case you're not aware of what al pastor is, it's spiced pork taco filling, which is cut from a large piece of meat standing on a vertical spit in front of an open flame, similar to the method used to prepare gyros in Mediterranean cusine.  The cooking and food preparation area consists of a brick island, where preparation stations, the propane-fired grill is located, and numerous griddles and burners to facilitate cooking their fine food.  This is done mostly in the open, semi-outdoor, facing the street.  Not to mention the colorful rows of fruits and vegetables, all in plain display.  It is a collage of color.

Photos:  Tacos La Puravida has an emphasis on fresh fruit for the food and drinks.  Check out the oranges and bananas in these photos; they add up to fresh fruit!

They have a big sign that advertises "Rico Menudo," so I knew that I'd hit the jackpot.  You walk into the place, on a aisle that separates the cooking/display front of the store, to a small dining room that has room for, perhaps, 20 diners, to place your order.  The friendly owner, Pablo, greeted me in perfect English, and as I placed my order of menudo, told me to make myself at home.  I decided to take him up on his offer, so I headed to the rear of the small dining room and grabbed a cold Tecate beer.  Yes, I know it was only around 0900 on a Sunday morning, but the Tecate sounded like a good idea, and in retrospect, tasted like a good idea also.

As I was waiting for my order to arrive, Pablo sat down at a table next to me and started a pleasant conversation that turned toward the personal side, like where I was from and what was I doing.  I was amazed that he was familiar with my very familiar city of Fresno, California, as he has relatives in the area and had visited there many times.  So he and I chit-chatted about Fresno, mostly in English, but I had to throw in a bit of Spanish to let him know that I wasn't just this dumb, stupid gringo, typical of the sort of norteamericanos that seem to visit Rosarito.  All of this was conducted over a very cold Tecate beer, shortly after 0900 on a Sunday morning.  Quite bizarre, to say the least!

Left:  Owner Pablo, mans the cash register, which is an oddity in most Mexican taquerias.  Right:  Pablo and daughter Rosita, my waitress, allow me to take their photo, at Tacos La Puravida.

After around 10 minutes of pleasant conversation with Pablo, my breakfast arrived.  My breakfast consisted of a large bowl of the best menudo on the planet, a tortilla warmer of warm, freshly-made corn tortillas, garnishes including white onions, cilantro, oregano, peppers and the ever-present salsa.  They set all of this in front of you and you just have to wonder if you've really died and gone to Heaven.

Heaven?  After I'd garnished my menudo and ladled a tablespoon of the stew into my mouth, I was convinced that I had, most probably died, and gone to Heaven.  Tacos La Puravida makes menudo that you just can't pass up, as it is, simply stated, just that good.

Left:  Heeeeeres breakfast!!  Home made corn tortillas, menudo, sliced onions, diced cilantro, peppers, Mexican oregano, key limes and fresh salsa.  Sigh!  Such a breakfast!  Right:  I'm in business as I garnish my fantastic bowl of menudo, the breakfast of champions.

The bill was a little high, breakfast, beer and tip approached $80.00 (pesos,) which was around $7.56 in U.S. dollars, not cheap, but considering the fact that the menudo was outstanding, the service was excellent and these are nice and friendly people, I ponied up the money with nary a complaint.

When you're in Rosarito, I would highly recommend a visit to Tacos La Puravida for an outstanding breakfast of menudo.  Good food, good place and nice people which adds up to a winning formula.