El Grullense Jal 5 (Post 2021.17)

Posted on 10 July 2021 by Ed's Eats

Place: El Grullense Jal 5

Category: Road Food, Mexican, Tacos

Website: https://www.instagram.com/elgrullensejal5/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-grullense-jal-santa-nella-2

Location: 12185 S. Hwy 33, Santa Nella, Ca 95322

Date of visit: 2021 April 10

When I finally got about an hour and half from home on my cross-country road trip, I was getting really hungry. Santa Nella Village (at least the part by I-5) is a bunch of truck stops, gas stations, fast food places, and a Pea Soup Andersen’s. I would have gone to Andersen’s as it is on my hit list, but I was getting tired and it was almost closing time for the restaurant. Instead of a fast-food chain, I decided to check out a taco truck. It seems every gas station in this oasis off of exit 407, if not connected to a fast-food place, has a taco truck in the parking lot. I mostly randomly choose this one but the Arco gas was the cheapest in the area so that was the deciding factor. I have since been to another taco truck off this exit so there will be a post for that one. Spoiler alert: both were delicious!

I noticed this truck has a #5 on it. I am not sure if that means there are more trucks by the same owners or if this is the fifth version of this owner’s truck. An internet search finds other places (both trucks and buildings) with the same name so I think there might be a relationship but what the relationship is, is unclear to me. Regardless, El Grullense Jal is definitely not a huge multi-national corporation so good enough to make it to Ed’s Eats!

I decide to purchase one taco and one burrito. Both were amazing. Like most of these taco trucks they offer various meats and the two I had, carne asada and al pastor, were both perfectly cooked and seasoned. The toppings and condiments that came with the food were also tasty and the prices were good.

One thing I liked about this taco truck is that they had some picnic tables under a tent. Since I stopped by at night the tent wasn’t important this time but during the day Santa Nella can get hot. The last time I drove through there during the day it was about 105 degrees! A lot of taco trucks have no seating so this is definitely a plus and I will be stopping at El Grullense Jal 5 again! You should too if you want tasty Mexican food and you are in the area.

Hunter’s Drive Thru (Post 2021.16)

Posted on 9 July 20217 July 2021 by Ed's Eats

Place: Hunter’s Drive Thru

Category: Road Food, American, Burgers

Website: http://huntersdrivethru.com/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hunters-drive-thru-ely

Location: 1455 Aultman St Ely, NV 89301

Date of visit: 2021 April 10

Cheesesteak and fries from Hunter's — *Cheesesteak and fries from Hunter’s Drive Thru in Ely, Nevada.*

Hunter’s Drive Thru is located in Ely, Nevada. When driving into Ely I wasn’t very hungry but since Highway 50 is “The Loneliest Road in America” so if you are starting to get hungry or are getting low on fuel, you better stop while you got the chance. Besides, I really do like old-school drive thru’s and driver in’s.

Hunter’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was driving through mid-day so I ended up getting lunch. More specifically, I got a cheesesteak and fries. The cheesesteak exceeded expectations and the fries were really good as well. The cheesesteak wasn’t Philadelphia good but the roll, meat, cheese, and everything else was tasty. I went at a busy time so the service was not as quick as it otherwise would have been but I still received my meal within a reasonable amount of time. The service was also friendly so no complaints there.

Instead of eating the food in my car or at one of their tables, I drove down the road a s minute or two and ate in Courthouse Park in the center of town which turned out to be a good choice as it was nice and shady. I recommend considering doing that, especially if Hunter’s is crowded and there are no tables available.

If you find yourself in Ely, skip the fast food chains chains on the edge of town and head here or to one of the other local places in town.

Tita’s Pupuseria Lonchera (Post 2021.8)

Posted on 22 February 202121 February 2021 by Ed's Eats

Place: Tita’s Pupuseria

Category: Mexican, Salvadoran

Website: http://places.singleplatform.com/titas-pupuseria/menu

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/titas-pupuseria-buttonwillow

Location: 20645 Tracy Ave Buttonwillow, CA 93206

Date of visit: 2021 February 20

On the evening of Saturday, February 20 I was driving home from Bakersfield and wanted to grab a bite to eat. I took exit 257 off of I-5 to find something. This exit, besides having a few gas stations with cheap gas, has a TA truck stop, various fast food restaurants, a Starbucks, and some local restaurants. One of them is Willow Ranch which has great breakfasts and other food. However, instead of going there or one the fast food places (despite the temptation of a Shamrock shake), I decided to pull over where there were two food trucks. Only one of the two was open and that turned out to be Tita’s Pupuseria.

On Yelp Tita’s is listed as having Mexican and Salvadoran food. I was originally going to get tacos but I saw a gentleman with a huge burrito sitting at a picnic table so I changed my mind and ordered an asada (beef) burrito. The burrito included meat, rice, cilantro, and lettuce. I went with beef because carnitas (pork) was two dollars more for some reason. The asada burrito one was quite good and I’d get it again but next time I might try the carnitas (or perhaps some other option).

Since I recently wrote about another burrito I got in King City one might ask which was better. I’ d say they were different. I can see some people liking Tita’s better but for me, I liked Tacos La Potranca De Jalisco. That said Tita’s was really good and better than your run of the mill burrito. If I want a quick meal while driving past Buttonwillow I would definitely stop there before the Taco Bell down the street and I recommend you do the same.