The historic Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino, California, plays a vital role in the “Tacos” episode of the Netflix-produced “Ugly Delicious” documentary food series.
The show stars chef David Chang and co-host Peter Meehan “on a mouth-watering, cross-cultural hunt for the world’s most satisfying grub.”
The “Tacos” episode embarks on usual destinations such as Mexico and Los Angeles, but also places such as Denmark, Korea, Philadelphia and the Middle East play a part.
One of the episode’s co-hosts is Gustavo Arellano, author of “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.” The book not only mentions Mitla Cafe prominently, but El Rancho Grande restaurant in Tulsa as playing crucial roles in the spread of the cuisine.
The Mitla Cafe, which started in 1937 along old Route 66, remains best-known as the restaurant that inspired Glen Bell to launch the now-ubiquitous Taco Bell restaurant chain.
“Ugly Delicious” co-hosts, after an uninspiring meal at Taco Bell, eventually go to the Mitla, where its taco recipe of hard-shell corn tortillas, diced tomato, shredded lettuce, shredded hard cheddar cheese and seasoned beef have changed little in 80 years.
Third-generation Mitla Cafe owner Michael Montano could hold hard feelings about Glen Bell stealing the restaurant’s ideas, but he says he’s pleased his family played a role in how Mexican cuisine assimilated across the U.S. and the globe.
That particular episode of “Ugly Delicious” is a good one. Though I’ve ventured into the Southwest many times and now live there, I learned a lot about the “how” and “why” of the spread of Mexican food.
Here’s more about the Mitla Cafe in clip created by a local video-production company:
Having eaten Mitla Cafe’s tacos, I understand why Gus Bell was so enamored with them.
(Excerpted image of the Mitla Cafe in San Bernardino, California, via Google Street View)