01:00 AM EST on Thursday, March 16, 2006

BY GAIL CIAMPA
Journal Food Editor

PROVIDENCE -- Fast food is elevated to a tasty art at La Lupita Tacos Mexicanos in the heart of Olneyville Square.

But that's only part of the story.

Sure, you get a warm quesadilla with cool lettuce and perfectly tender chicken within a few minutes of ordering. But you can also shop for spices, pick up a package of Mexican snack foods such as sponge cakes with strawberry cream filling inside, or stock up on other kitchen staples.

Half market, half taqueria, La Lupita has a little bit of everything Mom and Pop. It even has Mom and Pop, owners Jaime and Amelia Blancas, the husband and wife who opened up shop three years ago.

They offer a limited variety of dishes, but they're all mighty fine and all homestyle. The tacos, quesadillas, huaraches and tostados are what you'd be served at home in Mexico, said Amelia Blancas after my visit. The mark for her is fresh ingredients and "not so many spices."

Indeed, I found the lettuce fresh and crisp, the meats tender, and the blend of spices just right. With sauces of varying heat, I like that can I can turn up the spice on a quesadilla while preferring to savor the flavor of chorizo sausage on a huarache, a sort of Mexican pizza.

The meat choices -- chicken, pork, beef, ground beef, chorizo -- can be had in a variety of preparations. You can order them in the corn tortilla of a taco, in a soft rolled taco, in the homemade and deep-fried flour tortilla of the quesadilla, or on the huarache, which is built on a slightly thicker style of tortilla, almost like a pita bread.

Did I mention the cost? The tacos cost $1.08. Two are satisfying. That's $2.16 for lunch or dinner or a snack. Quesadillas cost $1.62, a huarache $3.25.

In addition to the meat choices, there are also vegetarian dishes with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado and cilantro. Cheese quesadillas are made with Oaxaca, a Mexican string cheese.

They also serve tortas, Mexican sandwiches made with white Mexican rolls. Each is stuffed with beans, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, cheese, avocado (not guacamole but chunks of avocado), and your choice of steak, chicken, chorizo, marinated pork, fried pork, eggs with chorizo or any pairing of the two. That sandwich costs $3.24.

La Lupita also serves soups, including beef menudo, a tripe soup that is said to be a cure for a hangover. It's the priciest item on the menu at $6.48 and a big seller on the weekends, said Amelia.

A busy place

What you don't get is a lot of atmosphere. The place is long and cavernous, with an amazingly high ceiling. I didn't measure, but I'd wager it's more than 50 feet from the door to the counter, where I found Amelie waiting to take the order at the cash register.

One side of the space is lined with refrigerated cases holding drinks and food products, and racks of snack foods, sauces and mixes, including one for Mexican hot chocolate -- combine with hot milk and savor the drink in all its cinnamon goodness.

The other side has a long counter with stools for diners to sit and eat. During my visits, most customers seemed to grab their food to go.

The entire space in the middle is wide open and could fit many tables. That's on the drawing board, said Amelia.

She and her husband opened La Lupita three years ago and have seen it grow into a busy place. She said word of the homestyle food has apparently spread, as her customers include lots of Mexicans, not only from Rhode Island but from Connecticut and Massachusetts as well.

But still, the Blancases are cautious about making an investment in tables, or a liquor license, which is another possibility in the future.

For now, customers have to be happy with the wonderful Jarritos beverages ($1.25).

Jarritos became Mexico's first nationally distributed soft drink in 1950. It wasn't widely available in Mexican markets in the States until about 10 years ago.

This Mexican fruit-flavored soda is a sweet companion to the food and its best complement, at least until you can get a Corona beer. It comes in a variety of flavors that include pineapple (my favorite by a mile), guava, tamarind and lime. The colors, in their pop-art brightness, jump out of the bottle and invite you to drink.

Crunchy, tender

and cool

You won't have much time to enjoy the drink before the food is ready for pick-up at the counter. A grill sizzles in the back as one of several cooks prepares the meats.

When ordering, diners can see the quesadilla shells that have been folded and deep fried, looking like a large turnover. They await the grill's bounty. The same homemade shell is used to roll crispy taquitas (5 for $4.86) which look like logs and are stuffed with your choice of filling.

Once stuffed with meat -- I liked the chicken quesadilla best -- each is finished with a mild, soft Mexican melting cheese, fresh lettuce and cool sour cream. These quesadillas are a wonderful blend of crunchy (the shell), tender (the meat) and cool (the lettuce). I had to have two.

I could do this even while trying a wonderful chorizo huarache. This oval flour tortilla is first covered with a layer of bean paste, then layered with crumbled sausage, lettuce, onion, cilantro and cheese. It's open face and easily shared. But do you really want to, with such a nice blend of meat, spices and the savory bean paste?

Also tender and bursting with meaty flavor was the marinated pork of our open-face tostada ($1.35). Enjoy this one with tomato and avocado for 27 cents more and you have a satisfying dish.

The tacos start with small corn tortillas but you can ask for a soft taco which comes double layered with two tortillas. Either way, you get the same variety of meat choices, including steak, chicken, ground beef or pork, either marinated with lots of flavor or fried. You can also get beef tongue or tripe. With fresh cilantro and onion, the flavor is divine.

Still, I couldn't resist adding a pickled jalapeo sauce.

What's amazing is how light the food is. I kept eating but didn't feel stuffed. With onions, peppers and such a variety of meats, I might have needed a breath mint, but I didn't need Tums as I sometimes do after eating the things I ate.

I credit Mom and Pop with knowing how to do things just right.

gciampa@projo.com / (401) 277-7266

La Lupita Tacos Mexicanos, 1950 Westminster St., Olneyville Square, Providence, (401) 331-2444. Counter service. Handicapped accessible. No highchairs. No credit cards. Open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tacos cost $1.08, quesadillas $1.62, hauraches $3.25, Mexican tortas (sandwiches) $3.24, tostadas $1.35, sodas $1.25.

A check for two at La Lupita Tacos Mexicanos might look like this:

2 bottles soda .....$2.50

2 chicken quesadillas ........ $3.24

1 chorizo huarache....$3.25

1 marinated pork taco...$1.08

Total food and drink........ $10.07

Tax.......................... $.81

Total....................... $10.88

THE MENU

This restaurant's menu:

projo.com/food/menus/