Restaurant • El
Gallo Giro serves fresh Mexican food
for a good price in Long Beach. Bradley
Zint/Online Forty-Niner
Beverage • El Gallo
does not serve alcohol, but provides the freshest Mexican fruit drinks. Bradley
Zint/Online Forty-Niner
New Mexican restaurant El Gallo Giro a LB hit
By Katie Plourd
and Bradley Zint
Online Forty Niner
El Gallo Giro has been open since Feb. 6, but the grand opening Tuesday drew
a large crowd to enjoy the authentic Mexican cuisine, fresh pastries, live music
and free giveaways from local radio stations. It was all in celebration of the
first installment of the Southern California chain deemed, “El Corazun
de la Cocina Mexicana (The Heart of the Mexican Kitchen).”
The taqueria and bakery located on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Long
Beach Boulevard is decorated inside with as many colors as a Crayola box. El
Gallo Giro has a lively atmosphere where waitresses in traditional Mexican dresses
greet you at the front door. Vintage posters of Mexican movies and framed paintings
representing each Mexican province line the walls.
The “pasteleria and panderia (pastry shop and bakery)” offer an array
of pastries, desserts and cakes made fresh right in front of your eyes. Flan,
gelatina (jello), fresas con crema (strawberries and cream) and the traditional
Mexican pastry concha are among the sweets available.
The bakery also has an express bread line so patrons can avoid the normal line
to pick up their fresh baked goods, which include homemade corn tortillas sold
in packaged bags of three-dozen. Bakers are also able to make cakes for birthdays,
parties and weddings, each made to order in various
shapes and sizes.
Watching the chef prepare the food was a feature not often found at taco shops
and sit-and-go Mexican restaurants. In such places, most of us will never know
what happens behind closed doors and the hole in the wall the food usually comes
through.
Not so with Gallo. The cleanliness and openness of the kitchen and the excitement
of watching the employees prepare the means in front of our faces was an impressive
and welcome change.
As far as beverages are concerned, Coronas and Pacificos were not on the menu,
but a number of delicious “ Aguas frescas de frutas naturales (fresh drinks from natural fruits)” served
with ladles right from the barrel quenched our thirst. The ice-cold horchata
was the best we had ever tasted and the fresh mango juice gives Jamba Juice a
run for its money.
The menu is incredibly versatile and offers genuine selections of Mexican breakfast,
lunch and dinner in single portions, family meal deals and party platters, each
reasonably priced for the amount and quality of food you receive.
Among the offers of tacos, burritos, tortas, tamales, soups, salads and carnitas,
we opted to try the fish tacos and chicken taquitos.
These fish tacos give Rubio’s Baja Grill the run for its money, but though
they lacked the traditional white sauce found on most fish tacos, the fish portions
certainty weren’t dinky and filled us up.
The chicken taquitos were equally impressive, especially drenched in El Gallo’s
refreshingly spicy red salsa. Both platters included beans and rice.
According to Victor Diaz, the marketing and advertising supervisor for El Gallo
Giro, business was slow during the first few weeks but has since picked up.
El Gallo Giro has prime location right next to the Metro Train stop, and is sure
to gain popularity as its 11 other locations throughout California have shown.
Other locations are spread through the Greater Los Angeles in places like Huntington
Park, San Fernando, South Gate, Fontana and Santa Ana.
From a pair of tough Mexican food critics, raised on classic San Diegan Mexican
food, El Gallo Giro’s menu definitely offers legitimately authentic Mexican
cuisine for a reasonable price. It may be a bit more expensive than your average
Taco Bell or El Pollo Loco, but we recommend taking a trip up PCH to get a fast,
versatile Mexican food fix.
Watch them make the food in front of your eyes. We don’t think you’ll
be disappointed.
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