What we ate in Guadalajara: La Chata Centro

Guadalajara and Jalisco are known for some traditional foods. There is pozole, birria and the torta ahogada representing the main food specialties. There is also jericalla, a baked cup custard, but a minor player. During our four night stay, we covered all of those nicely, although perhaps not optimally. In addition, we dined at two restaurants that broke far away from tradition, one which assiduously follows the farm-to-table credo, the other, unrestrained and serving often wacky Asian-Mexican fusion cuisine.

When we arrived at the Hotel Morales on Friday afternoon, we knew that we wanted a simple yet satisfying meal. We found exactly that at La Chata, just 4 or five blocks north of the hotel, on Avenida Ramón Corona.

La Chata: No Line!

La Chata, despite the similarity of names, will never be confused with Chet's Chat 'n Chew, formerly of Topeka, KS.

The popularity of La Chata is attested to by the waiting line that forms at the entrance at peak hours. To while away the wait, we people watched, especially the cooks up front, dressed like the Sisters of the Clean Room. Our wait was perhaps 20 minutes, after which we were escorted to a table in the well lighted, somewhat crowded dining room.

Las Cocineras "Monjas"

We already knew that would eschew the many temptations on the menu, and so, we both ordered Pozole Blanco. Sra. Cuevas had Pozole Blanco con Pollo and I Pozole Blanco con carnes mixtos.

Both were exactly what we had been wanting. The caldo was well made, nearly grease free, and both bowls were chock full of meat. The nuggets of maíz pozolero were cooked perfectly al dente. All in all, they we some of the best pozoles we'd had anywhere. But the accompanying tostadas were industrial origin and flat out tasteless.

The trio of table salsas were fair, but when I requested una salsa más picosa, our waiter quickly brought me a vibrant salsa de chile de árbol.

Pozole Blanco de carnes mixtos

For dessert, I had a o.k. jericalla and a so-so café de olla.

Jericalla

Sunday morning, we returned to La Chata for breakfast. There was no waiting.
 La Señora ordered a Big Truck Driver's breakfast of eggs, bacon, frijoles and chilaquiles. It was good, but too much to finish.

I erred in asking for Huevos Al Patron. This was a multi layer melange of bistec encebollado, huevos estrellados, sauce and some creepy pink edged and rubbery chunks of pancita. Overall, it was pretty gross. Had I thought more before ordering, there were many more than satisfactory foods awaiting a more discerning decision.

Huevos al patron

Bottom line: we like La Chata.

RATINGS

Food: 7

Service: 8 Service is swift.

Cost: $ 1/2 Our supper bill.

Cleanliness (restrooms included): 10

Location and Hours:
Av. Corona No. 126
Tel. 3613.1315 / 3613.0588
Horario: L-D: 7:30 am a 12:00 am