Sobe’s, El Centro. Rated ★★★★★
I’m a long time El Centro native, though I’ve been away for a while. In the meantime, one of my favorite Mexican places finally went out of business — if you’re from here you know which one I mean! I guess you can’t mention this place without reference to that one. To me, this compared favorably, which isn’t surprising since it was started by one of the same people. We came in on a weeknight — they’re closed on weekends. The waitress was really friendly. The salsa and chips were as I remembered — fair warning, the salsa has cilantro, so ask for it without if you aren’t a fan, but I am. I had the simple machaca burrito and a mini special quesadilla, both were great. I believe the food is Sonora-style northwestern Mexican. The burritos aren’t small but they aren’t the massive monstrosities you may be used to if you’re from elsewhere. The quesadilla is a local specialty, it’s nice to have a little one. And a Negro Modelo beer which I always like! My sister had machaca and eggs. Sobe’s is right down the street from my parents’ house, so I’ll be back to try other things! If I lived here I might be here every week, so it gets five stars from me!