El Original Chavas Tacos — Restaurant in Wanatah

This small town east of Valparaiso, Indiana, known as Wanatah after early settlers misunderstood the natives' mimicked repetition of their question "Wanna talk?", was already on my radar for the half dozen or so trips I take each year between Fort Wayne and Chicago. Just down the road from the tsundoku goldmine that is The Bookworm, El Original stands out in this tiny town with its vibrant signage and waving cactus as a Mexican eatery. Although technically not "The Original", that ultimately works to its favor since this location is able to bring to Northwest Indiana the flavorful dishes that have helped make the Chicago location famous.

Being on my own for this trip, and hungry as all get out after a day of driving, riding a train, walking, sitting in court, walking, riding a train, and now driving again, I couldn't wait to stop in for dinner on my long commute back to F-Dub. Alas, they close at 6! Was I too late? Huzzah! upon pulling into the cozy parking lot I see lights on and a small sign saying new hours extend until 7:00.

The place was even smaller than I imagined, but one would not get that impression from the menu. Spoiled for choice, I finally settled on two beef tongue tacos--it's not truly a Mexican restaurant if it doesn't serve lengua--a chicken torta, chips and a small guacamole, and a homemade lemonade. Holy guacamole, Batman! The pictures on the menu did not prepare me for how much food I'd be getting! I specifically ordered from the a la carte menu to try a couple different items, but this was enough to feed three people.

The bread of the torta was soft and warm. The chicken was shredded and tender. I drizzled some of the provided red sauce on the sandwich and it carried the flavors to greater heights than Charlie and Willy Wonka fly in that magic elevator at the end of the movie (whoops! SPOILER ALERT).

The chips and guacamole were both exceedingly fresh. The warm chips gave the impression of a sit down cantina even though the restaurant is a small road-side carry-out with a few hightop chairs inside and some tables outside. The guacamole did not overpower with any one ingredient; rather, the avocado, cilantro, onion, tomato and spices all danced together like a conga line, one right on the heels of another.

The lengua tacos I kept simple: corn tortilla (which they doubled up muy authentico), onion and cilantro. I used a bit of the verde sauce but I wasn't necessary. The meat was perfectly cooked. And my wife would have been hard pressed to even tell it was cow's tongue because it was cooked and chopped so perfectly. (The origin of the cut of meat is always her reason for not trying it when I want to make it at home.)

So now, after this incredible meal, where do I go from here? I mean, does life even get any better? But seriously, I have a two hour drive home on an incredibly full stomach after a very long day, so if God calls me away to glory I think I could be quite pleased that this was my last meal. Thank you, El Original (Dos).

(Narrator: He did, in fact, make it home safely...

We grabbed this for take out and got a variety of different things to try- I had 1 steak and 1 chicken quesadilla and rice and beans. My wife had steak tacos with corn and flour tortillas. We also got guacamole and salsa.

The quesadillas were very good. They're more like long tacos (2 tortillas long under the ingredients), but I can't complain at all. The steak wasnt greasy and had great flavor. The chicken is AMAZING. Rice and beans were really really good.

Guacamole is fresh and tastes great. It's got bits of avocado chunks and not just completely blended.

Salsa was a bit spicy for me, but had very good flavor. For a scale, I consider this about as spicy as your average Buffalo sauce. Depends on the person's tastes.

My wife loved her tacos and said that she normally does not like corn tortillas, but was really liking these. She said corn tortillas are usually dry, but these held their moisture and, "I think corn tortillas might be growing on me."

My wife said staff was very nice and allowed her to try lots of things with our order (lots of mix and match). She said the building was very clean, to the point that she said the floors were shining and she wondered if they were wet at first (they weren't, just very clean).

We will be coming back here...

I love the food here. What I don't like is what I witnessed on my last visit. People, food service gloves are intended to prevent food contamination, not protection for your delicate skin. If you are wearing your cool little black gloves and collecting money, touching your face, running the grill, chopping onions, making guacamole, pushing the door, rummaging through fridges and cabinets and keeping notes with a pen and paper and pretty much touching everything behind the counter while wearing the same pair of gloves, you are failing at preventing cross-contamination. I'm so grossed out that I have totally lost my appetite.  And please get rid of the bird nest in the sign six inches over the door because the birds are shitting all down the front of your door and on the decking of the entry. I have been going here since they opened and always spread a good word, but I honestly hope this business pays heed to this review. Properly trained food service personnel know better than to do what I...