El Sabor

Taqueria El Sabor opened a few years ago at one of those classic old Taco Bell buildings. The location had gone through a few incarnations (I particularly recall the slightly odd U-Grill Vegetarian), until finally hitting a home run with El Sabor. Opening day featured a mariachi band, jumpy houses for the kids, and half-price food all day long. The place had been transformed into an oasis of mexicana, complete with palm trees in the front and Univision on the TV screens inside. The food was really good, and a great time was had for all.

We return every once in a while for burritos, tacos, tortas, chili verde, and many other classic mexican dishes. Usually, you'll find as many as ten meat choices offered, grilled in the standard authentic way (like you would find in San Diego or Los Angeles, and of course, the streets of Mexico). The excellent salsa bar is stocked with lots of choices and the free refills on the sodas and horchata is an added bonus. Then I discovered Mojarra, the fried fish plate. This is the kind of meal that makes me happy. Served with made-on-site flour or corn tortillas, a choice of veggies or rice and beans, this Caribbean fish (apparently it could be a tilapia) is served up hot for the plucking. I usually eat most of it straight from the plate, although making little fish tacos or mini burritos, depending on the tortilla you get, is another great way to enjoy it. This little taste of baja along Aurora always brightens any day.

15221 Aurora Ave N

Grinders

One of the most popular and original places in Shoreline has to be Grinders. Serving up sandwiches which are well described on their website:

The term "Grinder" can be traced back to the east coast, where, during WWII, Italian Immigrants set up sandwich shops close to the shipyards. These supersized sandwiches were a favorite of the hard working men who ground rivets off the warships. The friendly shop owners referred to these men as grinders and the ever-popular sandwiches also came to be known as Grinders. In addition to the tradition, true grinders must utilize fresh and bold ingredients like olive oil, garlic, marinated peppers and onions, basil, the finest salumi, made fresh on the spot.

Featuring much more than specialty sub sandwiches, Grinders hosts live music, mostly blues bands, on Saturday nights as well as cooking classes every once in a while. Leslie and I stepped in one rainy early afternoon for a bite and some nice husband and wife time together - a rare occurrence these days with our business and eight-year-old keeping us swamped. When we walked in, the place looked really swanky for a sandwich joint, and was hopping from the lunch crowd, some tables set up community style. We weren't quite sure whether to be seated or go up at the counter, but quickly figured it out as regulars walked right up and ordered at the front which overlooks the prep area so you can see the master sandwich makers at work. We felt like a salad instead of two heavy sandwiches, so we ordered the Whack Whack Salad along with a Chicken Parmesan Grinder.

The salad came to us first and although filled with crisp lettuce, peppers, olives, croutons, cucumbers, cheese, tomatoes, and salami all chopped up into a mesh of Italian style salad goodness, there wasn't quite enough dressing on it to make it all work. The sandwich arrived halfway through the salad and although tasty and totally acceptable for Chicken Parmesan, it wasn't something we could really pick up and eat. The result was a nice Italian meal on toasted bread rather than a Grinder. We felt that maybe we ordered the wrong sandwich. With names like the Goomba, SauBall, Po'Boy and Dipper, on a fun to read menu with some nice sounding ingredients, there are many reasons to return to really appreciate what all the buzz is about.