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CHRIS ARCHIVES

BACK TO THE FUTURE--WITH TEQUILA
By Chris Barnett
October 17, 2013 -- On a nondescript neighborhood corner ten minutes from downtown San Francisco, behind two carved wooden doors with leaded glass windows, is a cantina that looks like it belongs on a dusty backstreet in Cabo San Lucas circa 1975.

I first walked into Tortilla Heights two days after it opened seven years ago and, for some unexplainable reason, hadn't been back since. But when I returned recently, nothing had changed. Well, almost nothing. The concrete floor has been replaced and the ceiling has been opened up to reveal a maze of ducts, piping and girders.

Otherwise, the bar and some of its prime booths still have overhang fashioned out of dried leaves from seaside palapas. The hostess stand is still a vintage Don Julio tequila barrel. Guest seating remains a mishmash of scarred tables and big banquette booths. And the proprietor is still a personable, chatty gringo named Paul Owens.

Owens refuses to sell his soul to the masses. "We're still a Cabo cantina from the '70s and always will be," he claims.

Although apparently frozen in time, Tortilla Heights had an interesting crowd during a recent afternoon happy hour. Owens claims that the joint is a favorite place for birthdays among 25- to 35-year-old businesswomen and, sure enough, there were eight women in their early 30s at the bar and they were celebrating one of their pal's Big Day.

"This place is very cute," explained Jodi Blasquez, a high-tech project manager. "It's a little like a tiki bar, like a Mexican surfer bar. The bartender is friendly and he makes good drinks."

Cathy Siler, another IT project manager, said she chose Tortilla Heights because "It's a fun bar and a good restaurant and we can move from the stools to the booth. You don't want to spend a birthday party sitting in one spot for three hours."

The bartender on duty was a friendly 20-something named Ryan McClelland. He has a warm greeting for regulars and first-timers alike plus a bowl of chips and a smoky-tasting salsa for all customers.

McClelland presides over a barroom full of bargains during the daily two-hour happy hour. A pint of the six beers on draught fetches just three bucks. The house margarita drops from $8 to $6 per glass and from $28 to $19 for a pitcher.

Too many bars skimp on their margaritas. Not Tortilla Heights. Owens makes his with Agavales 100 percent blue agave tequila, 100 percent agave nectar instead of triple sec and freshly squeezed lime juice. Despite heavy traffic--and high demand in the evening when the action builds--Tortilla Heights margaritas are made by hand, not pumped out of a gun.

If you can handle it, Tortilla Heights shooters are $5. The bar stocks 30 tequilas, including Cazadores blanco (aged less than two months for $7), Herradura Reposado (aged in oak barrels for $11) and the super-smooth Tequila Ocho Anejo (aged up to three years in small oak barrels for $20).

Tortilla Heights, no surprise, is not a great place for wine lovers. The selection is a grand total of two varietals from the same Santa Barbara County winery. The Sea Glass pinot noir and sauvignon blanc are comparatively expensive at $8 a glass or $30 a bottle. Neither wine is discounted during happy hour. I had a sip of the house-made sangria ($8 for the glass and $30 for the pitcher), not enough to recommend it.

Owens is something of a purist in that he doesn't have a laundry list of cocktails, either. Still, there are several imaginative tequila cocktails that deserve their spot on the menu. And speaking of purists, did I mention that Tortilla Heights will trot out the obligatory South of the border-style six cervezas in the tin pail for $24? That's a helluva deal in San Francisco. You can choose from eight bottled brands--and feel free to mix and match.

While it's easy to think that food plays second fiddle in a cantina like Tortilla Heights, Owens begs to differ. He recently hired a new chef named Julio Gonzales direct from Cabo San Lucas. Gonzales is said to be adding more flavors and fresh ingredients to every plate that comes out of the kitchen. His specialties: Crispy tacos wrapped inside a soft corn tortilla. There are two per $10 order and they are filled with carnitas, carne asade, chicken, Baja fish or vegetables. Another specialty is sizzling fajitas--either carne asada or chicken--served with fire-roasted red and yellow peppers, guacamole, sweet onions, sour cream and pico de gallo. The price is $16, but, for an extra $3, you can have sizzling shrimp straight off the grill.

The new menu also features fish and veggie soft tacos for $10, too. The "beer battered avocado" caught my eye, but deep frying that delicious fruit scared me from ordering it.

"This place feels like a Mexican bar," says Jay McAndrews, a Wall Streeter from New Jersey who was sipping a Corona while waiting to have dinner with a San Francisco co-worker. "It's lively, not uptight and is very welcoming."

ABOUT CHRIS BARNETT Chris Barnett writes about business-travel tactics and strategies that save time and money and help minimize hassles. He is based in San Francisco and has written for a wide variety of major newspapers and national magazines.

THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Chris Barnett in the spirit of free speech and to help encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Barnett. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Chris Barnett.

This column is Copyright © 2013 by Chris Barnett. JoeSentMe is Copyright © 2013 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.