What with all the foodie buzz that fogs the Denver restaurant scene, sometimes the first step in finding a great meal is clearing the air of all the smoke and mirrors.
There’s no better way to cut through the nonsense than by asking a kid.
A few weeks ago, a group of middle-school students from Cherry Creek Challenge School showed up at our offices as part of an end-of-the- school-year project on food culture. Our staff sat with them for an hour, listening to what they had to say about food and restaurants, about what they like and what they think is bunk.
Not surprisingly, they had clear points of view. And while some of the conversation was predictable (the favorite fries come from McDonald’s, the favorite bruschetta from Maggiano’s), there were unexpected twists.
One came when I asked the group to name their favorite restaurants. One student, Eli Pollet, threw out a name I hadn’t heard before: Los Carboncitos.
“The food there,” he said, “is … just … so …” He trailed off, eyes going distant with that unmistakable look of happy-reminiscence-mixed-with-eager-anticipation that so often accompanies fond food memories. “It’s just … really good,” he concluded, shaking his head in melancholic disbelief.
His comment was so honest and transparent and heartfelt that I knew I had to get over to Los Carboncitos, and soon. Anything non-fast-food that makes a middle-schooler’s eyes go starry is something worth trying.
I’m glad I followed my instinct: Eli was absolutely right. Much of the food at Los Carboncitos, a rough-edged, brightly lit, family-packed taco counter located in a rugged little strip mall on Sheridan Boulevard just north of West Sixth Avenue, is just … really good.
It’s a modest restaurant. Don’t expect white tablecloths or expensively upholstered furniture at Los Carboncitos. Don’t expect a hostess to show you to a table (just grab one). Don’t expect a spotless floor, or to be served water unless you ask for it. Don’t expect a fancy wine list. Los Carboncitos – run by siblings Luis, César, Roberto, Ignacio and Elena León – has none of those things.
Instead, expect quick, friendly delivery of full plates of hot food like they serve in central Mexico, the distrito federal around Mexico City. Expect the constant background sizzle of the griddle in the wide-open kitchen. Expect nonstop reggaetón videos on the flatscreen, except when there’s a telenovela to catch up on. Expect to speak (or in my case, attempt to speak) Spanish with your waitress.
And most of all, expect a happy, soul-satisfying, inexpensive meal that you’ll wish you had leftovers of tomorrow.
(Note before we continue: If you’re on a diet, Los Carboncitos is not the restaurant for you. Same goes for vegetarians – there’s next to nothing on the menu that didn’t recently roam the stockyard.)
The first thing on the table is a selection of four salsas and a plate of lime wedges. Two are pepper-based salsas, one is tomatillo- based, and one is a guacamole salsa – each is hot and spicy in a different way. No chips show up for dipping; these salsas are condiments for everything else that follows.
What follows first are carboncitos. It makes sense that the place and this dish share the same name – it’s the best thing on the menu. Crispy tostadas topped with beans, cheese, and your choice of charred meat – steak, chorizo, pork chop, chicken, or carne al pastor (marinated pork).
No-brainer: Choose the al pastor. The sweet, charred, crispy-fatty pork melted into the cheeses and soaked through the beans, infusing it all with spicy-meaty machismo. And over four visits, the fried tostadas stayed crispy every time.
Experiment with your salsas on the carboncitos, and don’t forget to squirt each one with lime, which adds a crucial tangy note. Eat with your fingers – they’ve already thought to deliver extra napkins to your table.
Also very good was the gordita de chicharron prensado, a sandwich composed of a thick, cakey corn tortilla split and stuffed with chicharrón prensado (bits of fried pork skin pressed together then shaved) and cheese.
Of the tortas (sandwiches), I’ve tried two: The cubana, which layers breaded steak with ham and sausage, and the Torta Los Carboncitos, a lily-gilding pile of carne al pastor, bacon, steak, chorizo and cheese.
Both were silly good, mostly because of the soft, yeasty bread, and both made for the kind of headache-taming meal most welcome around midday on Sunday.
Occupying prime real estate on the menu is one of Los Carboncitos’ signature dishes, huaraches. Shaped like (and named after) the south-of-the-border sandals we all know, these grilled flatbread-
like corn tortillas come topped with beans, cheese, and everything from chicken to chorizo to chicken-and-chorizo.
The Mar y Tierra version, which piled shrimp on top of steak strips on top of bacon, tasted even better than it looked in the picture on the menu, with meaty little shrimp and tender bits of charred bistec. The huarache champiñon (mushroom huarache) also delivered.
But beware: the huaraches, if the kitchen is off, can go soggy. Once, I had a huarache with an undercooked tortilla. Keep your eye out for this, and if yours isn’t fairly crispy, send it back.
Not the best choice on the menu: queso fundido (melted cheese served as a dip) and its offshoots, from nopalqueso (melted cheese with nopales, or prickly pear cactus) to champiqueso (melted cheese with mushrooms). Inevitably, they seized up much too quickly, becaming hard blocks of cheese instead of gooey pools of cheese. A hotter serving vessel would have helped.
A la carte tacos and burritos were as good as the meat that was in them: Yes to the carne al pastor, chorizo, and chuleta (pork chops), no to costilla (ribs) and pollo (chicken). Also available, cabeza (head/cheek) and lengua (tongue).
Not for nothing, there’s no beer at Los Carboncitos, so plan accordingly.
Also not for nothing, they serve Coca-Cola that’s bottled in Mexico, which means it’s made with cane sugar, not corn syrup. It tastes better than our U.S. version – sweeter, deeper, more old-school.
Prices at Los Carboncitos are plenty low, in keeping with the shorts-and-flip-flops vibe of the place. Even if you overorder with abandon, your bill will be easy to deal with.
Here’s a great piece of news for North Denverites: There’s a second Los Carboncitos location at West 38th Avenue and Pecos Street. This outpost is fairly new, and so far the food hasn’t quite measured up to the original location’s fare. But in time, it should match its mother.
Here’s another great piece of news: Both locations are open for breakfast. According to the menu you can arrive as early as 9 a.m., but when you call to ask what time they open, they’re just as likely to say 9:30 or 10. If I were you I’d plan to arrive at 10, and order the huevos con salchicha (eggs with sausage).
Los Carboncitos is proof positive that sometimes the buzz around Denver restaurants is just that: Buzz. And buzz isn’t just deafening. It can be blinding, too. It’s easy to lose sight of what’s good and what’s just hype.
Sometimes, it takes a really smart kid like Eli to help you see through it all.
Dining critic Tucker Shaw can be reached at 303-820-1958 or at dining@denverpost.com.
Los Carboncitos
Mexican/Central
722 Sheridan Blvd., 303-573-1617; 3757 Pecos St., 303-458-0880
* * | Very Good RATING
Atmosphere: Casual, brightly colored taco bar with a relaxed atmosphere, open kitchen and a few tables, mostly filled by families with kids.
Service: Speedy and laid back. If you speak Spanish, you’ll have an advantage.
Wine: No wine or beer, but plenty of Mexican sodas.
Plates: Plates, $4.50- $11.95.
Hours: According to the menu, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday; 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. Employees sometimes have a different story. Call ahead.
Details: Parking lot at Sheridan location, street parking to the north. No reservations. Great for kids or large groups.
Four visits.
Our star system:
****: Exceptional.
***: Great.
**: Very good.
*: Good.
No stars: Needs work.
