El Indio Mexican Restaurant and Catering

This narrative was created by martinkes as part of a historypin tour:

It moved to this location in 1947. There are many other restaurants in the area, as well as bars and cafes. El Indio still produces tortillas and one of their neon signs says "tortilleria." Notice to the right of the mini refrigerators and on the counter are the homemade tortilla chips which El Indio makes and serves. Also, high on the wall of the arch is an image which say "El Indio, God of Mexican Food," along with various Aztec gods and goddesses. On a nice day (there are many in San Diego) it's [El Indio's outdoor patio] a very pleasant place to enjoy a meal. In 2007 Guy Fieri of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives ate at El Indio in the episode entitled "Family Owned." Here is the stencil he leaves at all of the restaurants he eats at.

Ralph Pesqueira Sr. founded El Indio in 1940. The Pesqueira family had moved from Nogales in the Mexican state of Sonora, to Los Angeles and then to the Southern California Inland Empire. After Pearl Harbor, San Diego offered many factory jobs for people during the War, and the Pesqueira family relocated again. El Indio was originally founded as a tortilla factory, but then began serving food to factory workers in the neighborhood. According to Ralph Pesqueira Jr. three women used to make the tortillas by hand, about 20 to 30 dozen a day. Now a machine can produce about 30 dozen an hour.

Here are the taquitos that the restaurant is famous for. Ralph Pesqueira Jr. told me that his father coined the term "taquito," meaning "little taco." He said that his great-grandmother used to make flautas, which are fried and rolled flour tortillas with stuffing inside. However, rather than using flour tortillas, she would use corn tortillas. These cheese enchiladas were my favorite dish from the restaurant. My girlfriend and I ate at the restaurant twice the day I interviewed the owner, once at breakfast and again at lunch. This was what I ordered for lunch and they were delicious. Also, there was a lot of food on the plate! These are the pork tamales my girlfriend ordered for lunch. They are the prepared pork (as opposed to in the husk) tamales with salsa verde on top. Very tasty!