La Carreta serves taco truck fare — minus the truck

So you need some food fast, but just can’t do the “do you want fries with that?” combo one more time.

If you journey out of the swarm of both fast food and sit-down restaurants on the west side of the Smokey Point exit from I-5, you’ll have another choice.

La Carreta offers a fairly extensive menu for what essentially is a quick-food restaurant.

First a few words about getting there. It looks so easy. Just follow Highway 531/172nd Street west past the Costco shopping center and through the roundabout.

But with three of us in the car, our cellphone GPS electronic direction givers were all chirping slightly different — and mostly wrong — directions.

Pay no heed. Just follow your nose. Heading west, go through the roundabout, and all you have to do is look for the Shell station on the right.

A lot of the noonday traffic of cars, campers and choppers come there to fill up and to pick up beverages inside the quick-shop store.

Then there were those who pull up for one thing, and one thing only. La Carreta’s Mexican food. Park, grab and go.

The restaurant is tucked into the right-hand corner of the building. There are a few tables inside and a couple outside.

Owner Cesar Medina opened the restaurant about nine years ago. Before that, he operated a taco truck, and you see that experience in the food offered in his restaurant. Think of it as a fixed taco truck rather than the usual accoutrements of a sit-down restaurant, and you’ll likely leave happy and full.

“They never ask for a box to go,” Medina said. “They say, ‘I have to try a little bit’ and never stop.”

Medina does all the cooking, arriving at the restaurant about 7:30 a.m. for prep, then cooking ’till closing at 8 p.m. If you go, do remember the restaurant is open just five days a week — Tuesday through Saturday.

Everything is made from scratch. “We don’t buy anything,” he said. “Everything is prepared here.”

Fish tacos are one of its most popular offerings, cooked with a little bit of oil, special sauce and garlic. The beef tacos remain the all-time favorite, he said.

On my recent trip there, I ordered a cheese enchilada, rice and beans ($5.95). Yes, I ordered off the children’s menu at the suggestion of the person taking my order. I wanted a moderate lunch, not wanting to leave stuffed to the brim.

The enchilada was made with mole sauce, composed of Mexican cooking chocolate, peanut butter and spices.

Each cook has their own twist on mole sauce. Medina’s was a lighter brown sauce than the one a family member of mine makes. Be flexible to these variations, and you’ll likely enjoy it.

Features reporter Evan Thompson ordered the taquitos rancheros ($10.70), which he called the perfect thing to get on a nice summer day.

“It reminded me of the food I’d get from a taco truck,” he said. “The tortilla wasn’t overly deep-fried, while the shredded chicken was just right.”

The guacamole, sour cream and lettuce were nice touches to the overly plain taquitos he said he’s had in the past.

Features editor Sara Bruestle ordered three tacos for $2 each: chicken, beef and pork topped with onion, cilantro and lime. She felt they were a little bland and would have benefitted from a sauce.

“They looked beautiful,” she said.

I mentioned the variety of food for a relatively small restaurant. There are soft burritos, ($8.45 to $11.25) different types of the aforementioned tacos, ($2 to $2.50 each) and a quesadilla ($10.50).

House specialties include carna asada ($15.50) with grilled beef steak served with rice, beans, guacamole and tortillas.

Seafood options with prawns (all $13.50) include onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, rice and a special sauce.

Medina’s career includes prior experience as a restaurant cook before opening his own taco truck. That business ended with a propane explosion and fire, he said. He then opened La Carreta at its current location.

He said he takes pleasure in seeing different people come in every day. “I hear them say, ‘This place has the best tacos in town,’ ” he said.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

La Carreta

Where: 1401 172nd St. NE, Marysville

When: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

More: 360-652-0984 or lacarreta1.business.site