Los Altos-San Bernardino

Los Altos
245 N. Waterman Ave. Suite B
San Bernardino
(909) 888-8487
Open everyday 8am-7:30pm

    I pull into the parking lot of a strip mall in a seedy area of downtown San Bernardino. A brightly colored suite glows against the plain white buildings nearby. I walk carefully looking behind after each step. As I enter Los Altos I breathe a sigh of relief as I am instantly greeted with what I love most about Mexico. Beautiful hand painted chairs and tabletops adorn this unique place. The tile is beautiful and clean, while vibrant orange walls showcase the wonderful things Los Altos has to offer. 
     To my left is a juice bar with a huge selection of agua frescas, freshly made juice, smoothies and some serious fruit cocktails. To my right is a glass display case with an array of delicious cooked meats including a smaller case with some larger chicharones. As I walk forward towards the counter to order I notice that behind the counter are bottled sodas and by bottled I mean glass, there's everything from classic Coke and Pepsi to delicious Mexican sodas like Senorial and traditional flavored Jarritos. They also have Arizona iced teas, Red Bull and Gatorade for the less adventurous. The menu is above the counter and is mostly in Spanish but I'm pretty sure burrito, taco and quesadilla are now considered English words.


       A very nice girl named Liliana was nothing short of helpful with a very sincere smile always on her face. We told her we wanted to order 10 tacos and started listing off some meats; carne asada, buches, cueritos. Now I'm sure most people don't know what cueritos are, myself included. However this place is so awesome that I asked her to explain it to me and she started by saying it was pig's skin then cut herself off and offered me a taste, to which i obviously accepted (maybe a little too excitedly), she walked around over to the meat counter and brought me back a little cup of the cueritos but I'll get back to those little morsels in a minute. 
     So we ordered tacos of asada, cueritos (pig skin), buches(pig esophagus/throat), fish, lengua (cow tongue), tripas (pork intestines), al pastor (pork in a red sauce with pineapple flavor), chorizo, chile verde and carnitas. We also ordered a taquitos plate that came with beans and rice and an asada sope. When buying drinks you can either choose the cold sodas behind the counter or order drinks from the juice bar. We ordered medium drinks from the juice bar. You pay at the counter then just bring your receipt over and choose your flavors. We decided on melon, tamarindo, jamaica and horchata. Now for those of you who don't speak Spanish or don't understand what the menu says don't hesitate to ask the staff for help. Every one of them speaks English and Spanish and were very patient while explaining things to me. I don't speak Spanish but I do speak food, which is apparently a universal language.
       Your receipt has a number which is then called out by cooks in the open kitchen behind the meat case. They call out the number in English and Spanish. Your food is served on Styrofoam plates and with plastic utensils, except for the Mexican shrimp cocktail which is served in a traditional cocktail glass. The tacos are served on two full sized corn tortillas not tiny taco stand tortillas and we ordered them with everything, which is red salsa, white onion and cilantro. The fish taco was served with a creamy coleslaw on top and the chile verde and lengua served with the green salsa. The sope was topped with refried beans, carne asada, lettuce, Mexican cream, and queso fresco. The taquitos were filled with shredded beef and topped with lettuce, sour cream and guacamole. They plated the tacos in order of the receipt and numbered the plates so that we knew exactly what was what.

Lengua, Al Pastor, Fish

 Asada, Cueritos, Buches and Asada sope

Chorizo, Chile Verde, Carnitas, Tripas

Shredded beef taquito plate

     Everything was amazing! Now that may seem vague, however, everything from the full size corn tortillas, the beans and rice, and the array of meats were delicious. All of the meat was cooked authentically and to perfection. The fish taco was a standout with a delicious light batter around fresh fish. The chile verde my personal favorite was fork tender and done without a single misstep. The carne asada tasted exactly how it should and was great. The chorizo bold and spicy had me wishing for more. Now I realize that tongues, throats and the like are not the most appealing at first, but the minute you taste it, you forget which animal part it came from and could really care less. The cueritos, what can I say,  I've only seen them pickled in a jar at the supermarket but the way they were prepared here was incredible. Soft and melt in your mouth, a flavor of fried pig skins mixed with salty bacon. I could have bought a pound of that stuff and eaten it on the drive home or maybe a snack for the movie theater. The taquitos were some of the best ever... crunchy shell that didn't lose all the meat with each bite. The beans were perfect and so was the rice, which is impressive because I hate almost all rice from any Mexican restaurant. I did wish that their al pastor was prepared on a spit and shaved off to order, which is how I prefer and I wish the carnitas were fried in smaller pieces so that I could fully enjoy their crunch. The red salsa was very, very, spicy but had a really great flavor and the green was less spicy but was just as tasty. The horchata was the best I have ever had. I order it whenever I see it on a menu. But this was beyond what I was hoping for, it had a velvety texture with cinnamon that was clearly grated fresh.
      I was so lucky to enjoy a meal fit for a king. Not only was this place clean, filled with friendly faces and downright delicious, it was also cheap. The tacos were $1.80, sopes $2.90 and drinks under $2. They also have a great selection of shrimp and fish dishes. An entire fried fish with rice and beans for only $6.90. Burritos the size of small children for less than $5. They have tacos, quesadillas, tortas, tostadas, burritos, sopes and combination plates. I would have paid 3 times what their prices are and still be a happy camper. This place is a hidden gem I almost want to keep to myself. It is comparable to some of the best taquerias and carnicerias in Tijuana but minus the fear of dirty water and inevitable kidnapping. Please visit this amazing place and remind people San Bernardino hides some pretty awesome things in its little neighborhoods.