Cazuelas Grill

Outstanding posole and handmade corn tortillas. The Jamaica and salsas are great too. Ignore the fact this is located in a mall in an old fast food restaurant.

The pozole has a deep red broth flecked with chile and herbs. There were huge tender pieces of pork with just a touch of fat. The hominy was perfect.

Generous accompaniments - crisp cabbage, stellar fresh radishes, perfect chopped white onions, juicy limes, a shaker of dried oregano and a house-made red hot sauce.

The thick, golden house-made corn tortillas have nice brown grill marks. They are $1.25 extra with the soup and worth the price. Three tortillas are served hot off the grill and extras are offered.

The carnitas was great, not crispy but very juicy and full of porky goodness. Order it as a plate rather than in a taco or burrito to take advantage of the full flavor.

The flan is excellent, but very different than most versions. It almost has the taste and texture of a dense cinnamon cheesecake. It is topped with aerosol whipped cream which can be skipped.

The chili relleno is average at best. The sauce has a nice homemade chuncky thick texture but it doesn’t help pick up the flavor in this dish.

The queso fundido is a layer of mild, saucy chorizo topped with a thick covering of cheese that is browned on top. While the chorizo is house-made it is only average. It is served with flour tortillas unless corn tortillas are requested.

The tortilla soup has a choice of pollo or chicarrones. Chicken might be the better option. The ingrediants, tortilla strips, cheese, avocado come already mixed in the soup. This was not as good as the pozole.

The tangy ruby-red Jamaica was very good.

Chips and two excellent salsas are served with the meal. One was a thick, saucy red salsa that was assertively spicy and the other a green fresh tomatillo salsa where the heat kicked in after a bit.

There is a salsa bar up front with additional salsas, some in mocajetes. There are also pickled carrots, onions and jalepenos which are very good. The salsa fresca is a good version.

Though there are a few misses, even those are better than the food in most Bay Area Mexican restaurants.