Lake Taco is Back and Better Than Ever Thanks to Love, Perseverance, and Community Support
Customers gather at the counter while Maria Ortega (right) smiles as she serves her staff a shift meal at their table. The new Lake Taco location is almost four times larger than there last one! That means more space for the customers to enjoy and more space for making food! Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
By Cole Goodwin
Last November, Lake Taco, an authentic family Mexican restaurant run by Maria and Enrique Ortega of Hood River, OR was in danger of closing its doors forever.
A rallying cry went up to save Lake Taco! Locals were not about to allow this local family’s beloved restaurant to shutter its doors and lose their access to those made-fresh-every-day potato chips, salsas, and aguas frescas!
Lake Taco’s new location in downtown Hood River. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
Together Gorge locals raised over $48,000 to help the Ortega family cover the costs of renovation, new equipment, staffing and licensing, as they moved into their new location at 606 Oak Street in downtown Hood River in January of 2023.
Now that Lake Taco is open again, CCCNews paid them a visit to see how they are doing in their new location.
(Please keep in mind some of the following quotes have been translated and edited to allow for ease of reading as Maria Ortega and I communicated in a mix of English and Spanglish. So everything written here is not exactly word for word, but is as close as I could make it.)
“It’s very good,” said Maria, in her soft joyful voice.
“I’m honestly surprised because all my customers have come back. I’m so happy. Thank you for the support,” said Maria, gratefully placing her hand on her heart.
For a moment I wish I had my camera ready to capture her expression of genuine gratitude.
“The support from the community and the Kickstarter has been amazing, and,” she stumbles a little on her English, looking for the right words. “ Oh my God,” she says, hand still on her heart, “I don’t have the words. I just want to tell the people thank you very much for the support.”
It’s easy to see why the community has fallen in love with Maria, and her passion for food, God, family, and community. Her humble, genuine, perseverant, and loving nature are obvious in her every movement.
Not to mention she makes delicious high-quality food.
The secret ingredient?
“Love” of course.
Thanks to the community's support, Lake Taco can now service Margaritas, Cantalitos, and small batches of home-made flour tortillas for the kids quesadillas (they are still looking for the right equipment that will fit their new kitchen) and expand their seasonal specials.
Enrique carries on the family tradition of tortilla making using his mother’s recipe. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
I tell Maria that I’m really happy that her husband Enrique is getting to make homemade tortillas to serve, as I know that was one of his dreams for the new location.
All the talk of food is making me hungry, so I ask Maria what she recommends for a late lunch.
“The most popular lunch is the fish or shrimp tacos, or grananchas morena," says Maria.
This fish taco tastes even better than it looks! Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
A garnachas morena is a kind of deep fried quesadilla that instantly has me intrigued.
“There’s also Carne en su jugo, which is a very traditional Mexican soup from my city in Guadalajara, and aguas frescas,” says Maria.
Ever the novelty seeker, I ask about the specials.
“One special is called gringas. The gringas is a cheese quesadilla with pork adobada, al pastor, onion, cilantro, and flour tortilla. This is very traditional to Mexico City,” explains Maria.
She had me at cheese and adobada.
I’m about to order but I get distracted by a colorful cook book on the counter titled The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte.
Maria tells me that a friend and customer had brought her the book and that she’s thinking of ways to add more vegetarian dishes to her menu and specials.
“The real Mexican food is more vegetarian and always fresh. It’s beans, corn tortillas, veggies, nopales, tomatoes, chillies,” says Maria.
She fondly recalls a dish her Grandma would make called verdolagas, which is essentially purslane in a salsa verde that pairs beautifully with pork ribs and nopales.
“I love tamales nopales with a special mole too,” adds Maria.
I could talk to Maria about the rich history and heritage of Mexican cuisine for hours, but I figure we’d better try to wrap up our tangent and I call the Ortega family together to take a photo in their new location. Luckily almost the whole family is there.
The team! Left to Right: Enrique Ortega, Itza Ortega, Maria Ortega, Luis Ortega, and Carolina Ziranhua Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
After the photo, Maria insists on feeding me.
“Let me make it special for you, with homemade flour tortillas,” she says.
She asks what I want to drink and starts listing the aguas frescas, when she gets to cucumber and pineapple I stop her saying that’s the one.
Never one to turn down a good meal, I tell her thank you and sit down to wait while she heads into the kitchen.
A beautiful cucumber and pineapple agua fresca. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
Soon there is a gorgeous light green cucumber and pineapple agua fresca with a red sweet and mild red chili, line and sea salt rim sitting in front of me. I take a sip and am instantly transported back to my time spent wandering around Mexico City on a hot day.
The beverage is relaxing, hydrating, and a seamless mix of fruity, (but not too fruity), sweet (but not too sweet), and mild chili flavor thanks to the tajin chamoy, a unique blend of mild chili peppers, lime and sea salt that graces the rim of the tall glass.
Maria tells me that the drink is made from fresh ripe pineapples, cucumbers, and because of the high quality of the fruit and their made-fresh today methods, there is no need for added sugar, artificial coloring or preservatives found in many grocery store juices.
Maria’s mantra seems to be “fresh is best” and it shows in the dishes she creates. As anyone who’s ever tried to buy an avocado out of season will tell you- there’s nothing quite like having high-quality fresh ripe ingredients to cook with.
Not long after I am absolutely indulging in freshy made papitas, potato chips that have just the right amount of crunchiness and chewiness to them with homemade salsa.
These made-fresh papitas are rico. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
The green salsa is a perfect balance of tomatillo, jalapeño and serrano flavors, and the red salsa-whoa. It has a smokiness and medium heat to it that immediately captures the attention of my tastebuds.
Before I have time to identify the source of the smokiness Maria is back with my gringas especial along with a shrimp and fish taco.
I take a look at the food in front of me and suddenly remember I’m supposed to be working.
I quickly take pictures of everything but it takes a minute or two and eventually Maria even comes over looking concerned that I haven’t eaten anything yet.
What a delicious looking lunch! I love the way the way the new locations windows allow in so much natural light and really make the colors of the food and the walls pop. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
I promise her I am going to eat for real in just a second.
As she walks away, I think to myself, It’s that kind of open hearted service that makes you feel like you are a part of the family. It’s just such a beautiful small town moment that it kind of makes me want to cry. I feel a swell of pride in the community and in the Ortega family for pursuing their dream. Sometimes karma really does get it right, I think.
The first bite into the gringas tells me instantly that this is a filling comfort food that can satisfy the hungriest of gringas.
The homemade flour tortillas are cut in half and stuffed with delicious savory pork adobada, mozzarella, monterey jack, onion, and cilantro. The bits of fried cheese on the edges are my favorite.
The gringas is comfort food for sure. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
“I can definitely taste the love, it feels like something my mom would make for me after a hard day,” I write in my notes.
Maria tells me the history of how the special came to be.
“Two American girls were visiting Mexico City to study, and they visited my taqueria and they asked whether they had flour tortillas, and I said no, but next time I will have flour tortillas for you,” says Maria.
And the next time they came in the American girls ordered the white flour tortillas and so the shorthand name for the quesadilla like dish made with the white flour tortillas became gringas.
When I am done eating I take a look around at the spacious brightly painted interior, and outdoor seating areas, perfect for dining out with family and friends and think about all the people in my life that I’m looking forward to bringing here to enjoy a meal together.
Look at that smile! Let’s be real for a second, food reviews are absolutely my favorite part of this job.
Maria comes back and I ask her how much I owe her. She shakes her head.
“No worries, it’s okay,” she says, waving me off.
I start to insist, but she’s not having it and I feel that teary-eyed feeling rising up in me again so I drop it so I don’t embarrass us both.
I tell her thank you and share that one of my favorite things about eating at Lake Taco besides the food is just getting to experience Maria and her family being who they are, in all their open-heartedness.
She smiles and tells me “The most important ingredient is the love. When you make something with love the people feel the love. I love when people enjoy the food. I love it. For me that’s priceless.”
Love is what makes Lake Taco tick.
Still, as any restaurateur will tell you, no matter how good your food is, not everyone has the same tastes. She shares that one customer once told her that he liked Taco Bell’s tacos better.
“Sometimes that is hard but he still liked it and he said he respects it,” she says.
I tell her that I for one love her food and jump on the chance to finally ask what is in the red salsa (besides love) which makes it so distinctive and delicious.
“It’s made with six different kinds of chillies,” says Maria “The smoke flavor is from the chile morita. Most people think it is chipotle because that is more traditional to North America, but it is chile morita.”
“A lot of people ask if we can sell just the salsa,” says Maria, “But we don’t have the materials for that right now.”
So, for now anyway, you can only get the Ortega families special homemade salsa in house at Lake Taco.
Maria and I chat for another half hour or so about this kind of food and that, special ingredients, dishes, and ways of cooking. Her knowledge of the diverse range of Mexican cuisine from every region of Mexico has been passed down through generations and it shows through in the loving way she speaks about her favorite torta (sandwich) bread recipe.
I ask her how she decides the specials when there is clearly so many to choose from.
She tells me she just follows her gastronomical intuition. Noting that menudo is perfect for a cold day and ceviche is perfect for summer.
Eventually it’s time to leave, so I say my goodbyes, knowing full well that I’ll be back the first chance I get.
Looking for a menu? Here it is!
Looking for a menu? Here it is!
I returned to Lake Taco on April 4th , 2023 to find the place absolutely packed with customers! I was told there may even be a 30 minute wait to be seated.
It’s a welcome change for the Ortega family who has now gone from serving three tables at once to over a dozen in their new space. They hope the community will bare with them as they get used to serving a larger clientele.
I, for one, am not to worried though, the restaurant was well staffed, friendly and the food was as fast and delicious as ever even on this super busy evening!
Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
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