Las Morenas

I'm so addicted to the food in this dive! It is amazing!

Here's the one thing I don't want to think about when entering an authentic Mexican taqueria: toilets.  And yet, I do.  Yes, there's a line of deep shag bath and toilet mat sets hanging over head as you approach the counter.  It's a restaurant and a mercado.

The food is good, probably the most authentic I've had in Eugene.  Each plate is less expensive than usual at about $6, smaller than you'd get at restaurants aimed at whiteys and comes with radishes and pickled carrots & peppers on the side.  It tastes good.

Take a stroll around and drink in the market:

Mexican cupboard items, produce (guavas, cactus), herbs, tons of hats, gaudi plastic purses, a spice rack with little ceramic spice jars that look like fat Italian chefs, a baby stroller for your dolly, a clock lamp that looks like a pirate ship, gigantic piñatas you keep banging head against.

As we were eating, I thought, "Who would buy this cheap shit?"  We were joined in the room by a family that snatched up a plastic man's belt, a giant and glossy black vinyl purse with a giant and glossy black vinyl flower on the side and, yes, some rugs to throw around the toilet.  So there ya go.

This is not one of those fastidiously clean, carefully decorated, sit-down, menus-in-laminate kind of Mexican restaurants. Las Morenas doesn't even seem to have a sign with their name on it outside. But what they do have is authentic Mexican food and a ton of charm.

The menu is up on the wall in Spanish with the eight or ten basic plate choices, including pictures. The TV is on and tuned to Spanish television, and the clerk totally sings along when he's not helping anyone. The voices in the kitchen call out in Spanish, and there's a little shop adjoining the restaurant area with Mexican food, spices, clothes, and cookware for sale.

My husband and I tried the enchiladas plate with rice and beans and the burrito with cheese and sour cream. The enchiladas were divine! The sauce was incredibly flavorful without being overly tomato-y and the chicken pulled apart easily. The burrito was so huge that we could barely finish it with the other plate on hand, filled with beef and all the fixings. Both plates came with peppers, carrots, radishes, and limes on the side. The horchata was a little grainy, but still sweet and yummy.