El Jose: Gas Station Gastronomy

Photo credit: El Jose

Sometimes appearances are deceiving.

We’d heard about this, but didn’t think it could be true:  great Mexican at a gas station? Sounds kinda creepy.  But being the crazy-obsessed foodies that we are (and we live for little hidden surprises like this), we had to check it out. With our daughter in tow (Dear DYFS: we packed her a lunch ahead of time, just in case), we headed over there to put this rumor to the test.

When we arrived, the station was no longer the buzzed-about  Getty but a Gulf, and we saw almost nothing to indicate it was anything otherwise. Did we miss out or was it all just a cruel joke? Then John spotted a small sign over by the pumps and I noted a small car parked on the side with the logo for “El Jose: Authentic Mexican Take-Out and Catering”. This must be the place…walking in, there was still little to indicate anything. Then we noticed the grill behind the counter,  a small table with two stools, and a greaseboard sign advertising the day’s specials. Okay, then.

But the woman behind the counter was friendly, smiling, admiring Lizzie, and making us feel at home; she answered all of our questions and indicated the photocopied regular menu in addition to the specials.  The menu was short and listed dishes like menudo, quesadillas, enchiladas, sopes, marinated half chicken, spicy baby back ribs, and flan, but we knew what we wanted:  a plate of soft tacos, filled with a variety of  little delicacies, like barbacoa (shredded, marinated beef, pierna adobada (marinated, shredded pork leg), chorizo (Spanish sausage), and ground, spiced beef (we considered being adventurous and ordering the tongue, but we chickened out this time-but we promised, next time, to expand our horizons!). Hmm- and maybe throw in a chicken tamale while you’re at it.

As we heard (and smelled) the grill behind the counter gearing up for our order, we just hung out, handing  Lizzie her lunch of peas and cheese chunks (her favorite) and taking in our surroundings. In place of much of the traditional quickie-mart fare (Red Bull,   Doritos, and Slim Jims), there were Mexican groceries of all kinds:  masa and tortillas, Mexican cookies and cereals,  and a wall dedicated to dried chiles and spices. Our eyes landed on the refrigerator case with the soft drinks; John grabbed a Mexican Coca-Cola (sugar only, no corn syrup!) and I opened a bottle of  “sangria soda” (non-alcoholic). Strangely enough, it did resemble sangria, and it was refreshing in that it wasn’t too sweet. Before we knew it, our order was ready.

The first thing we had to do was dig into the tacos. I noticed that the tortillas had been lightly grilled before being filled- a gesture of loving attention to detail, being that soft tortillas themselves usually don’t carry much flavor, and most  places don’t bother. The rest was just love expressed through food…the marinated pork leg tasted of lime, garlic, and gentle spices, and was incredibly  tender and juicy…the chorizo was removed from its casing and grilled to spicy rich perfection (this is not your supermarket “chorizo”, that more closely resembles pepperoni)…the marinated beef was similar to the pork and almost as good, with a true “beefy” flavor…and the ground beef was simply spiced and delicious. The tamale was wrapped in the traditional banana leaf, and had a firm, very tasty masa enveloping a hot and spicy, marinated chicken interior. Wow. Our plate of tacos unexpectedly came with a side of rice and beans: creamy beans and  Spanish rice, simple and delicious.

If you go, keep in mind the hours can be a bit loose: although their Facebook page lists their hours as 7:30Am to 7:30 PM, the woman I spoke with mentioned that now that it’s getting darker they might close around 6, 6:30, “depending on how busy it is.” And they are closed on Sunday. All in all, it’s a great place for a quick nosh involving real food -and maybe to blow a friend’s mind when you take them there on the way to or from Long Beach Island. “Hey I gotta stop for gas…you mind going in and grabbing me a burrito?”