The city is expensive, but your next meal doesn’t have to be. The $25 Diner hunts down the best restaurants where you can eat like royalty for a song.
There’s a lot of congratulations to be had at El Mil Amores, the loveliest Mexican breakfast and lunch spot in the Mission District. In the spring of this year, owner Andrea Becerra celebrated the restaurant’s one-year anniversary, solidifying it as a premier spot for huevos rancheros and gargantuan mugs of café de olla with a side of hangover.
In the midst of debuting her restaurant, she somehow had the energy to bring her first baby into this world. On the day I’m there for lunch, her one-month-old daughter Romina is being passed around at a table of Becerra’s family members visiting from Mexico, as well as among oohing and aahing regulars.
El Mil Amores is that kind of place. Beneath the ceiling strung with colorful fluttering papel picado, it’s all hugs and kisses, family and food. Becerra’s mother is there to greet and seat. Her stepfather doubles as the chef. But it’s her grandmother, who lives in Mexico City, where she grew up, who is Becerra’s culinary inspiration: “I’m always calling my grandma and saying, How do you do this again?”
The restaurant’s signature is the costillitas en chile quemado ($20) — tender pork ribs in a witchy black sauce accompanied by rice and beans. We should all be grateful that Becerra pressed her grandma for the secret to this recipe. A mix of dried chiles, including smoky-sweet moritas and chipotles, are toasted deeply and then pureed with garlic and tomatillos. The result is an adobo that is tangy with a gentle throat-warming heat that makes you want to scrape your bowl clean. The pork is simply a vehicle.
Of course, there are huevos in all incarnations, including enfrijoladas ($18), scrambled eggs rolled in corn tortillas and drowned in a luscious black bean sauce. It’s one of my all-time favorite Mexican brunch dishes and a new addition to El Mil Amores menu. The portion is hearty and huge, topped with pickled onions and crema and served with a side of rice. There’s also a breakfast sandwich ($18) with home fries and chilaquiles ($18) made with thick-cut tortilla chips and coated til soggy-crispy in your choice of salsa verde or salsa roja. (No matter your feelings on the institution of marriage, order it “divorciados,” which gets you half and half).
But the hottest tip might be the gorditas ($16 for three) that are only served as a special every other Friday, which is as hard to remember as a street-cleaning day. Those who do set the date will reap the rewards of piping hot disks of fried masa stuffed with chewy-crispy chicharron. The next batch will be served up this Friday.
Becerra, who first started her business during the pandemic by cooking food out of her house to sell to construction workers, somehow makes this whole scene seem effortless. She exhibits zero harried new-mom vibes; her cheeks glowing, she has the calm of a woman running a spa more than a restaurant.
If all this wasn’t enough, she happily reveals her family’s other big secret: With the help of her mother, she will soon open a second El Mil Amores location on 18th Street near Valencia, in the space that has long been Regalito, a Mexican rotisserie owned by her uncle since 2006.
She’s hoping to serve up the dishes she equates with Mexico City, like “pambazos, sopes, tlayudas with queso fresco and huitlacoche.” When is it set to open? “My mom wants to open it next month,” she says hesitantly, unsure if this is doable. But, like everything here, it is up to the family.
The Standard recommends:
Enfrijoladas with scrambled eggs and a side of rice ($18)
Cafe de olla ($4.50)
Total: $22.50
- @elmilamoresrestaurant21