quick bite: Adelita

January 21, 2023

For a long time there were no Mexican restaurants anywhere near Concord, unless you count the Chipotle in Bedford. This might be how I got to be so good at making Mexican food (and margaritas). Necessity is the mother of invention or something like that. About five years ago, Concord got its very own Mexican restaurant when Adelita opened.

Adelita is the sister restaurant with Woods Hill Table, located almost next door, and the acclaimed Woods Hill Pier 4 in the Seaport. It brings the philosophy of local, organic, and sustainable that is the hallmark of Woods Hill, to Mexican food. Today they focus on tacos with ten different varieties on the menu, but also a few other traditional Mexican dishes including enchiladas, chile relleno, and fajitas.

In a nod to suburban Mexican restaurants, the meal starts with chips and salsa. They are hot, fresh, and salty, getting you ready for one of their cocktails. If you like spicy, ask them for their homemade hot sauce to mix with the salsa. You have to know to ask, its their secret menu item. For cocktails, the Adelita margarita is always good and available as either a single or a pitcher. When it was on the menu I liked to drink the La Ultima Palabra with gin, chartreuse, maraschino, and lime, but that’s gone for now. Right now I like the Aguardiente Punch and last night I enjoyed their Painkiller.

I have tried almost all of their tacos at this point. I know I haven’t tried the vegetarian one, but I think I have had the rest. My wife likes the al pastor with pork and pineapple. I really like the pescado frito, fried fish with chipotle cream, and the camarones, tequila lime shrimp with Mexican slaw. We both agree that the newest tacos on the menu are hard to beat. Cordeiro Merguez (top left) are powerfully flavorful with house made lamb sausage and served with a spicy green sauce. We hope these stay on the menu.

If you aren’t in the mood for tacos, both the chicken enchiladas and the carne asada are delicious. The carne asada comes with guacamole, pico, and corn tortillas. Both come with refried beans and rice. They make excellent rice and beans, a necessary but often overlooked part of the menu.

If you want to eat the hottest trend in Mexican food they have you covered with the barria quesadilla. It’s stewed beef and melted cheese in a dipped tortilla with extra barria dipping sauce on the side. Barria tacos might have been the biggest fad of 2020 and if you haven’t gotten in on it yet, understandable because of the pandemic, you ought to give these a try.

For a long time, the only dessert they had was churros, and now that the dessert menu has expanded to include flan and ice cream, I still only get the churros. They come with both chocolate and guava dipping sauces. The guava is amazing.

Adelita is a modern Mexican restaurant with good food and cocktails. Over the years, service has been hit or miss, but last night we had a spectacular waiter. Big shoutout to Hud, if you can get in his section, make sure you do. We also learned that they are going to do some remodeling soon, maybe that will make taking pictures easier because the color change lighting is a food photographer’s worst nightmare.

I’ve probably been to Adelita a few dozen times and there’s no doubt I’ll be back again soon, after all there is one taco I still have to try.

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