Los Molcajetes Bar & Grill draws flavors from Jalisco and Michoacán

I truly hope at the time you read this, the air isn’t full of choking smoke, the skies are blue and the sun is shining. Because for the real molcajete experience, you need to dine on-site, and Santa Rosa’s new Los Molcajetes Bar & Grill has a nice wood trellis-lined and umbrella-shaded patio.

A molcajete is a Mexican-Spanish bowl made from volcanic stone. It’s often partnered with a tejolote, a stone stick, used as a pestle to mash and grind food. In restaurants, the molcajete is used for presentation as well and is heated to keep its contents bubbling hot. Those contents are also called molcajete, a stew of meats, seafood, vegetables and cheese in bold, zesty salsas.

Molcajete recipes are nearly endless, but the results are usually the same: a hearty feast with so many flavors and spice levels that you literally salivate. You really do need to eat it straight out of the molcajete bowl to appreciate the beauty of the arrangement, as all the ingredients are artfully layered, mounded, splayed and even draped over the steaming vessel’s edges.

At Los Molcajetes on Montecito Boulevard and Middle Rincon Road, owners Zacarias Martin and his nephew, Juan Martin, craft six different kinds of molcajetes. If you want to fashion your own, say, by adding shrimp to the vegetarian version, this friendly team probably would accommodate. (I’ve never asked for changes though, because the models served are perfect on their own.)

Both Zacarias and Juan were born in Santa Rosa and then moved to their family’s homeland of Jalisco, Mexico, for a stretch before returning to Sonoma County. With his first restaurant, Taqueria Molcajetes on College Avenue in Santa Rosa, Zacarias hit it out of the park on day one. Shortly after opening the doors, he got a visit from local chef and cable host Guy Fieri. Fieri filmed an episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” at Taqueria Molcajetes and proclaimed the casual place “without question, one of the best Mexican food experiences I have ever had.”

Naturally, Zacarias was inspired to open his second store this past spring. It’s fancier than Taqueria Molcajetes, boasts a full bar and still showcases the ultra-fresh, vibrant flavors that got Fieri so fired up.

I’ve enjoyed molcajete in dozens of regions across Mexico, and I’ve yet to land on a favorite style. I love them all. The Martins lean on Jalisco and Michoacán influences, with lots of chiles and earthy spices and salsas that are thicker, almost pastes.

Unfortunately for me, on my last visit to Los Molcajetes, Sonoma County was blanketed in smoke and ash. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t face the patio, even though I found a half-dozen braver souls dining there when I arrived. A molcajete to-go? Absurd.

But the masked hostess reassured me and handed me a sanitized, laminated menu. The team had strategized and found the perfect take-out containers. Ten minutes later, I lugged out my feast: one heavy-duty, lidded plastic tray for the molcajete; a plastic compartment tray for sides of rice, beans and salad; foil-wrapped tortillas; plastic cups of pico de gallo and red and green salsas and a large bag of chips.

How do the Martins make money? At home, I weighed my molcajete mixto order and it came to just above 6 pounds. At the center was a massive portion of sliced carne asada, grilled chicken slabs, a dozen large shrimp, an entire chorizo link, a whole roasted jalapeño, grilled nopal cactus, whole Cambray onions and a hunk of grilled panela. It was all melded together in a sumptuous red salsa that was a bit gritty with spices and had tongue-burning fire.

On the side: my choice of black, pinto or refried beans; choice of green, mango or cactus salad; choice of flour or corn tortillas and rice. All for $29.99. It took me three days of dedicated eating to finish the beast (tip: reheat the stew leftovers very gently, in small portions for just a minute in the microwave or at a low simmer on the stove, so meats don’t get tough).

It’s true that takeout changes the flavors somewhat, even after the short drive home. The sauce settles into an even thicker paste. The meats are a bit chewier, and the panela gets a bit rubbery, giving an audible squeak against the teeth. Yet my meal was still so satisfying, as I wrapped bits in warm flour tortillas (you want to get a small piece of as many different ingredients as you can in one bundle).

To cool the heat, alternate bites of firm, fresh mango or cactus chunks and the excellent al dente black beans dotted with bits of crunchy onion and queso fresco. A blackberry margarita made with Cazadores silver tequila, homemade fruit syrup, fresh lime juice, triple sec and agave nectar is a sweet refreshment, too ($11.99).

On an earlier visit, with clear skies, I had relaxed on the patio with a friend and we shared the molcajete poblano ($29.99), a more rational way to tackle these giant portions. This recipe is milder, with silky slabs of roasted poblano chile, plenty of grilled chicken, panela and large, thin cactus paddles draping the side of the bowl. The green salsa coats everything with gentle poblano flavor. For this dish, I like the deeper taste and texture of corn tortillas.

As terrific as the molcajete are, don’t overlook the rest of the extensive menu. The eatery boasts lots of other first-rate, generously plated dishes, including a trio of enchiladas de mole stuffed with any combo of meats you like (try the melt-in-your-mouth cabeza, the stellar carnitas and the pollo al pastor), then draped in velvety mole, fresh cheeses and avocado ($15.99).

On a warm summer day, the whole fried mojarra fish makes for a tropical meal where you can use your fingers to pick the delicate white meat from the bones, slather it with beans and wrap it in tortillas ($19.99).

For dessert, try churrodonas. Why don’t more places offer them? The cruller doughnuts made with Mexican churro dough are fun, fluffier twists on the classic wand shape ($4.99).

So bring it on, gods of 2020. You can take away our indoor dining. You can take away, temporarily at least, our outdoor dining. But as Los Molcajetes proves, you can’t take away our takeout, even for our favorite, most complicated Mexican dishes.

Carey Sweet is a Sebastopol-based food and restaurant writer. Read her restaurant reviews every other week in Sonoma Life. Contact her at carey@careysweet.com.