But you can also buy a key lime pie made at the store, if squeezing 25 key limes is not your thing.
Kurz, a charming, helpful woman, has also expanded her sit-down and take-out menu to the point where she now offers several soups, burritos, salsas and chips, empanadas, tostadas, an Aztec casserole and, if you're really lucky (call ahead), chicken mole where the mole is many-layered, deep and delicious -- usually on Fridays.
Ellen and I dropped in one lunchtime -- the small store offers three tables and three seats at a counter against one window -- and ate just about everything in sight. This is extraordinarily good food.
In September, there will be four small tables, plus the counter seats. But that doesn't mean you can go all at once. The eat-in facilities are wee.
We started off with salsa, guacamole and chips ($5.50) that you can also have topped with cheese ($5.95). Choose from pico de gallo, mango and pineapple tomatillo, all house made, all with a gentle kick, and all fresh as fresh gets, the guacamole creamy and rich. A creamy poblano and corn soup (soups are $3.95 for a generous small) is made with zesty fresh poblanos, and a mushroom, epazote (a mild, oregano-like herb) and zucchini soup was mild and delicate.
Tamales (in my mind, representative of some of the best of Mexican cooking) are dense and flavourful, stuffed with spinach, roasted corn and cheese or chicken and chipotle ($4.25 each); chicken tostadas ($6.95) hold together on crisp corn tortillas -- "a salad on a cracker," Ellen said -- and a spectacular Aztec casserole features layers of corn tortillas, chicken, mexican rice, salsa verde and cheese that's baked and served with sour cream, salsa and queso fresco ($6.25).
The flavours are robust, but so well-balanced they don't require the addition of any of an array of hot sauces. This is seriously good food.
