Tamales and tires
Step up to the counter inside Victor's Tires, 1406 S. 700 West, Salt Lake City, and talk to owner Victor Galindo about alignments, brakes, shocks and tires. Or, if you prefer, order a dozen homemade tamales and some creamy horchata to go.
There's likely no other place in Utah where tamales and tires are such a perfect pair.
Nine years ago, Galindo, a young entrepreneur, opened his tire and custom wheels shop. His wife Elvia thought it would be nice to have something for the customers to eat while they waited. At first it was just free chips and salsa, said Victor. But soon Elvia began making and selling homemade tamales.
Soon the food took over. When the couple built an addition for their growing tire business four years ago, they also remodeled the original structure and Victor's Restaurant was born.
"It used to be that people would stop by for the tires," said the 35-year-old Galindo, who emigrated from Mexico as a teenager. "But now it's the other way around. Most of our customers come for the food."
Today the menu is filled with Mexican specialties, from traditional sandwiches or tortas, to deep-fried flautas and shrimp ceviche tostadas. On cold days, customers sip atole champurrado, a less sugary version of hot chocolate. When it's hot, they order melon mango agua fresca or horchata, a creamy rice drink.
But tamales are the restaurant's mainstay, as Elvia makes 12 different varieties from pork in green salsa to chicken mole. There are even three fruit-filled tamales - strawberry, coconut and pineapple - for dessert. The tamales are $1.25 each or $12 for a dozen.
Elvia's sincronizada, a quesadilla stuffed with ham, avocado, Mexican cheese and jalapeño peppers for $5.50, has quickly become the restaurant's signature offering. Galindo said the restaurant is especially busy at lunchtime and does a brisk to-go business.
In recent years, Galindo has expanded his tire business - opening up a second Salt Lake City location as well as stores in Sandy, Lehi, West Valley and two in Ogden. But only the original store has the restaurant.
Melissa Helquist, who works nearby, was initially skeptical about eating at Victor's. Once she and some adventurous co-workers tried the food, though, they became regulars.
"It sounds quirky, but they have great tamales and horchata. And I tell all my friends, and pretty much anyone who will listen, about them."
Ceviche, not cars
The Rivera siblings initially wanted to open a car dealership on the property they had purchased at 1500 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City.
But when city officials nixed the idea, the family opened Utah's first Peruvian restaurant instead.
Over the past nine years, El Chalan Peruvian Cuisine has become a gathering place for Utah's growing Peruvian community as well as for those who have traveled to the South American country - some via Mormon missions - to reminisce.
"Many of our customers are people who have been to Peru and are looking for some of the same foods they enjoyed," explained co-owner Angel Rivera, through an interpreter.
Initially, it was their mother, Justina, who cooked the restaurant's Peruvian food, but slowly her five children - and now her grandchildren - have learned to prepare the traditional dishes, making the business a truly family-owned operation.
For those unfamiliar with Peruvian cuisine, it is nothing like Mexican fare. "No yellow cheese or tortillas," explains Orlando Criado, a native of Peru who eats at El Chalan nearly every day. "Rice is to Peru what tortillas are to Mexico. We eat rice every single day."
Potatoes are another staple. Nearly 30 different varieties varying from purple to creamy white are cultivated in this unique country with miles of coastline as well as mountainous terrain.
At El Chalan, the papa a la huancaina, boiled potatoes in creamy chile-spiced cheese sauce, is one of the most popular dishes, explains Sara Rivera, the oldest of the owner-siblings. So is the ceviche de pescado, snapper marinated in key lime juice and served with yams and cancha (corn kernels). The dish, which costs $10.50, is only available Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to ensure the freshest fish possible.
Surprisingly, many of Peru's sauces are soy-based, a culinary contribution that came during the 19th century with an influx of Chinese and Japanese immigrants. The flavors are found in the traditional lomo saltado, beef, onions, tomatoes and spices sautéed in soy sauce and served with steamed white rice and french fries.
Peruvians also use spices, marinades and slow-cooking methods when preparing meats that make them moist and flavorful, explained Criado.
El Chalan follows that ancient Inca tradition with its special pollo a la brasa. Whole chickens are marinated in a blend of spices overnight and then slow-cooked in a rotisserie oven the next day. The dish is available as a whole chicken, half or quarter, along with side dishes.
"Those little details make Peruvian food so flavorful," Criado said. "That's why it's one of the most popular foods in the world."
No Tex-Mex
Inside a gray building just south of Salt Lake City's bustling North Temple, Maria "Julia" Araujo, owner of Julia's Mexican Food has created one of the heartiest, most uniquely flavored chile relleno platters in Utah.
Two large pasilla peppers, filled with soft, white Mexican panela cheese, are lightly battered, fried and served with a brick-colored sauce, rich with chilies, garlic, onions and spices. Rice and creamy beans, topped with crumbles of cotija cheese, round out the massive $8 plate.
The dish is one of the many reasons Reuben Morales is a regular at the tiny, 5-year-old restaurant at 51 S. 1000 West.
"Unlike many Mexican restaurants, the food hasn't been altered to fit American palates," said Morales. "It's not Tex-Mex."
The restaurant, where customers place their order and pay in cash at the kitchen window, does serve enchiladas, burritos and tacos. But those dishes play minor roles on the menu next to the house specialties.
Entrees such as the chile rellenos, the costilla de puerco - pork ribs with strips of prickly pear cactus in a red chile sauce - and the mojarra frita, a deep-fried whole fish - a delicacy in Mexico- separate Julia's from her peers.
Seafood was Araujo's culinary specialty before following her children to the United States more than two decades ago. In Mexico, Araujo said she owned her own seafood restaurant for six years. It was located near the ocean in the state of Sinaloa, and the menu featured whatever was the daily catch of the local fisherman.
"It was a dream of mine to have another restaurant in America," she said as Morales interpreted. For years she worked for others, cooking in various restaurants around the Salt Lake Valley, even taking on second jobs to save money.
Now, after five years in business, she has become a favorite dining choice for Utah's growing Hispanic community.
"But regular groups of Americans have discovered us, too," she explained. "And we are happy when they come."
---
* KATHY STEPHENSON can be contacted at kathys@sltrib .com or 801-257-8612. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.
Check these out
* JULIA'S MEXICAN FOOD, 51 S. 1000 West, Salt Lake City; 801-521-4096. Open daily 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Don't miss the chile rellenos (pasilla peppers, filled with soft, white panela cheese); costilla de puerco, pork ribs with strips of prickly pear cactus in a red chile sauce; and mojarra frita, a deep-fried whole fish.
* VICTOR'S RESTAURANT, 1406 S. 700 West, Salt Lake City; 801-978-9595. Open Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The sincronizada, a quesadilla stuffed with ham, avocado, Mexican cheese and jalapeño peppers, is the signature dish. But don't leave without tamales. There are 12 different varieties, from pork in green salsa to chicken mole.
* EL CHALAN PERUVIAN CUISINE, 1500 S. 309 West, Salt Lake City; 801-832-0250. Open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Start off with a cheesy potato appetizer called papa a la huancaina followed by parrillada de pollo, a thin fillet of spiced and grilled chicken. Don't miss the ceviche de pescado, snapper marinated in key lime juice available Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.
