Best reason to celebrate NAFTA
To say J&C Restaurant is informal is to grossly understate the matter. Tucked away in Somerville, J&C is no
bigger than your average living room. Walk in, and you'll see racks of international phone cards and rows
of unfamiliar soft drinks behind the counter. Invariably, a few Mexican guys will be lounging at its
scattering of small tables. You might even feel a little out of place at first. But this feeling vanishes
when the middle-aged female server greets your arrival with a smile so broad and eager, you could be a
long-lost family member. And how fitting, because J&C serves up the kind of food your mother might make
if she were from South of the Border - no-nonsense tacos, unassuming burritos, low-key enchiladas. This
is the kind of Mexican food the Mexicans eat - and at prices that would give Taco Bell a run for its money.
For a buck you can get a pupusas (a corn turnover) stuffed with cheese, served with "cabbaged" salad and
salsa. Three dollars will buy you a generous burrito. And if you're feeling extravagant, you can spring
for the "Typical Country Platter": a grilled steak with pork rind, sausage, rice, beans, plantain, egg,
and avocado - all for $10. That giant sucking sound? That'll be a swig of Manzana washing down the tamale
appetizer.
J&C Restaurant, 215 Highland Avenue, Somerville, (617) 591-9885.
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