Xecora

The most important foundation for a hospitality business is a staff that cares. You can’t pay people to care. The experiment wouldn’t work. No matter how much staff members are compensated, and I know that it is traditionally on the lower end of the pay scale in this industry, eventually we become accustomed to our situation and the attention to detail begins to wane. Unless you’re one of the special ones who cares.

A caring team can take an average locale and turn it into an exceptional one and that is the case with Xecora on Lankershim Blvd. I understand that Xecora is some kind of mini-chain with four locations stretching across the Southland from El Monte to Downey to the centrally located North Hollywood location. This specific site has had a torrid tenure, never quite sustaining any one business for a long period of time. I sincerely hope Xecora is the exception to that rule.

The food at Xecora tastes like someone made it with care. The tortillas are exceptional. The alambres plates piled high with meats and grilled peppers of several varieties with all the accompanying rice and bean sides you would expect. This is a unique establishment for me in that I gravitate towards the burritos. Usually I find burritos to be more than what I’m looking for on any one occasion. I look to tacos for their smaller size and convenience of eating. But at Xecora the burritos are smaller and more manageable for me. I believe this is more in line with the traditional burritos that came from the north of Mexico. Food for the workers in the fields that was easily packaged and transported. They didn’t want some Chipotle-sized behemoth weighing down their belongings during the morning work session and neither do I.

The tortillas. Flour. Opaque. Certainly made with some kind of fat that lends a sheen to the entire product. I’ve had fried fish burritos here. Al pastor. Asada. All of them excellent. The two salsas that are served alongside are tingling with sensation and flavor. They give you a scoop of tortilla chips in your bag to go. Anyone who knows me knows that this is the quickest way to get me to adore you.

I order the food to go but I usually end up sitting outside on the covered patio to enjoy it anyway. No point in taking this excellent cuisine further from the source to eat it. This is a meal best enjoyed right away. Street side, yet not on the street. The theater of North Hollywood passes by while you take alternating bites of burrito and tortillas chips. Both with the salsas. I think The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded Mother’s Milk in the building immediately next door. That studio has long since gone. But there is a reason to be grateful for this little corner in the valley once again. Whoever operates this establishment really cares about what they do and their efforts shine bright through the food.