In film or just about any medium, there are always a few cases in which a sequel is better known or regarded than the original work that preceded it. For example, everyone knows “Silence of the Lambs,” but far fewer have seen “Manhunter.” In the Star Trek franchise, “The Wrath of Khan” is widely preferred to the original motion picture. With restaurants too, sometimes a second location can persist long after the first is gone. That’s the case with Adrian’s, still sometimes known as Adrian’s #2, a small Mexican restaurant in west Mesa.
Adrian’s #1, which was on McDowell Road in Phoenix, closed many years ago, leaving its successor, Adrian’s #2, to continue its tradition of hearty Mexican-American fare for breakfast and lunch on Main Street in Mesa, just a block east of Alma School / Main station on the A Line. The modest building that houses Adrian’s is at the front of a mobile home park, one of a slowly vanishing breed of housing that has long dominated this corridor in east Tempe and west Mesa. There is no bike rack nearby, so a signpost in the small parking lot will have to suffice.
At first glance, Adrian’s doesn’t look all that lively from the street. While big signs with red lettering advertise some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, the windows are covered with paper. Unless customers are waiting outside during peak weekend times, it might not even be obvious that the restaurant is open. The restaurant is generally busy, however, from 7 AM until 3 PM, seven days a week. The dining room has only five tables and a few posters and photos on the wall. What the space lacks in decor, the staff makes up for with friendly and fast service.
Chips are available for a few dollars with medium-hot red salsa and a green one that is mild and tangy. The laminated menu, augmented with a few signs on the wall to indicate added options, is more expansive than the restaurant’s small size would suggest. It’s a fairly comprehensive array of Sonoran and some interior Mexican dishes, most of them instantly familiar to most local diners, but prepared with superior quality. A simple place to start is with carne asada tacos. The meat is smoky with a bit of char and pairs perfectly with onions, cilantro, and lemon juice.
Burritos can be filled not only with carne asada, but also with carnitas, chicken, beans and cheese, and red or green chili. If undecided on the last option, choose “Christmas,” a 50-50 mix of both colors that allows an appreciation of the subtle differences between the two. Neither is particularly spicy, but the red chili has a slightly smoky note while the green is a bit more acidic. Burritos can be upgraded to chimichangas with a little time in the fryer and to enchilada style with sauce on top. Since the choices are red and green, this is another occasion for Christmas.
Among the enchiladas, the chicken ones prepared in a classic Suizas style, are full of tender, dark meat tinga and topped with a mild, creamy sauce. Some of the most interesting dishes are plates with a distinctive meat preparation with rice, beans, and corn tortillas on the side. Barbacoa features tender, slow cooked beef in a mild, dark gravy while carne entomatada is shredded meat in a tangy, tomato broth with cubes of potato and sliced onions. Chicken mole is three pieces of bone-in poultry coated in a complex, slightly spicy, and satisfying sauce.
For those who want a balanced mix of meat and vegetable goodness, nopalitos with carnitas blends both the animal and plant kingdoms via a marriage of tender pork with a little bark and tangy cactus paddles in a distinctive combination. Seafood is given a little attention with dishes like camarones rancheros with shrimp in sauce with pepper and onions. Fish and shrimp are also available in hearty bowls of soup, and both can be combined in traditional caldo siete mares. Other caldo choices include hearty beef or chicken in big bowls of broth with vegetables.
Given its early hours, it should be no surprise that Adrian’s offers an entire side of its two-faced menu devoted to desayunos, or breakfast foods. It is here that Adrian’s finds a niche that might be seen as Mexican-American diner food. A simple breakfast special involves two eggs, potatoes, sausage or bacon, and toast or tortillas. Dishes like pancakes, as well as steak and eggs, reinforce this theme. At the same time, machaca, chorizo, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and chilaquiles add a bit of Mexican flavor to the classic American approach to breakfast.
There is only one dessert at Adrian’s: a simple flan. It’s available only intermittently, but when offered, it is a worthwhile indulgence in a classic Mexican sweet custard. Adrian’s version is straightforward and traditional in terms of texture and taste, but it does have a somewhat unique shape that could best be described as a leaning truncated cone. Whatever mold formed the flan, it’s still a good choice if served on any given day. Other sweets take more liquid form in terms of big glasses of icy horchata or chocomil, a Mexican approach to chocolate milk.
Other beverages include iced tea, coffee, and soda. Given the restaurant’s small size and daytime hours, it should not be surprising that there is no liquor license here. It is also not unexpected that much of the restaurant’s business is takeout. Nevertheless, the warm atmosphere and staff make Adrian’s suitable for on-site dining. With movie franchises and book series having seemingly infinite iterations today, sometimes a successful sequel can outlive its originator. Adrian’s #1 in Phoenix may be long gone, but long live Adrian’s #2 in Mesa.
PHX Rail Food 