La Casita Mexicana

🇲🇽 MÉXICO / HISTORICAL: How happy can one restaurant make its community? This Gage Avenue gem is a case study.

🇲🇽 MÉXICO
📍 4030 E. Gage Avenue, Bell,
Southeast Los Angeles.
🅿️ Street parking
🥤 Beer, wine, limited cocktails

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📆 Original Article 21 December 2018

Gage Avenue in Bell seems like a street for royalty. Famous La Casita chefs Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu have set up shop many years back just two blocks away from the Azteca Boxing Club, training home to champions like Julio Cesar Chavez and Hector "Macho" Camacho. If all of these names are not enough to impress, you can still be prepared for a very memorable meal.

The colorful walls also serve as the backdrop for an art gallery. These themes of color and eclecticism are constant from the front door to every nook in the space and on every surface, but in a way that is friendly instead of over the top.

Even the pre-meal tortilla chips are special, covered in mole.

Any first visit to La Casita Mexicana must be for the chiles en nogada ($21.45, below), the famous stuffed poblano pepper traditionally eaten in and around September during the celebration of Mexican Independence. The green color of the chile, the white from the walnut-based cream sauce, and the red from pomegranate seeds make the three colors of the Mexican flag.

Inside of this beautiful presentation is picadillo, a sweet and savory mixture of ground beef, fruit, raisins, and spices. The version here inspired trying many chiles en nogada on the next trip to Mexico City, but none of them or any in other places have ever come close to the perfection of the one at La Casita.

The menu is full of pan-regional Mexican cooking, all of which is done elegantly and deliciously. Judging by the constant waves of families coming here to dine, it is suspected that everything is just as delicious, and many follow-up visits are necessary.

Before or after your meal, poke through the aisles next door at the attached La Tiendita [UPDATE: The store has been replaced with more tables] and maybe pick up some sweets to take home or some reading materials by the chefs.

Ceviche de pescado estilo Nayarit ($17.95).

Enchiladas de pollo en crema chipotle ($18.45).

Cecina de res tradicional ($21.95).

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