Zia Taqueria - Penny pincher's antidote to recessionary times

Timing is everything and in these tumultuous financial times, chef/owner Kevin Grant had perfect timing for the opening of Zia Taqueria.

A taqueria is a casual taco shop that has evolved from the food stalls and street vendors of Mexico and New Mexico.

It is a simple operation at Zia Taqueria, which is in the former space of the Moroccan restaurant Fez on James Island. You come to a service register, place your order, receive your beverage and a plastic number to place on your table and wait. The staff is well-trained on the content of the menu and can help you negotiate between pastor and carnitas, grilled fish or Baja fish, salsa verde or New Mexico red.

The chips are crisp and fresh and the salsa bright-tasting and fresh. An assortment of hot sauces accommodates your preference for chiles' heat.

Guacamole is served as an appetizer (market price) and also as a side ($1.50). We found it a bland pabulum of crushed avocado. It was lacking in lime, cilantro, garlic, onions and tomatoes. It was, however, a great balm for the sting of habaneros in a hot sauce.

The bebidas ($1.95-$2.75) are worth a trip just to be able to purchase Mexican Coca-Cola, the "real" Real Thing made with cane sugar rather than the U.S. version made with corn syrup. The Jarritos Sodas also are sweetened with cane versus corn. Zia serves a fresh mint lemonade and a Palapa Mas ($6) that blends that same lemonade with Creme de Cassis and tequila blanco for a drink that refreshes and quenches your thirst.

The appetizers are generous portions designed for sharing. Taquitos ($7.95-$8.95) are filled with your choice of chicken, pork or beef served with guacamole, jalapeno relish and Mexican crema. Nachos ($7.95-$8.95) are layered with nicely seasoned black beans, your meat choice (or not), and a Mexican-Monterey Jack cheese blend. Quesadillas get the nice touch of caramelized onions.

Kudos to Grant and his creative ensalada de casa ($7.95-$10.95). Start with a base of mixed greens, toss with pickled red onions, roasted corn, avocado chunks, queso fresco, tortilla strips and drizzled with piquant black pepper-lemon oil. Then select the vegetable or protein topping and dress with a cilantro-jalapeno buttermilk ranch dressing or a fire-roasted poblano balsamic vinaigrette with crumbled Cojita cheese.

The default tortilla is corn; flour is available upon request. The tradition of overlapped tortillas is followed here and you won't have the mess in your hands before your taco reaches your mouth!

The cheese enchilada ($3.50) is quite tasty and the salsa verde packs some heat. Any taco or enchilada (available a la carte) can become a platter with the choice of two sides for $6 more.

Tortas ($8.95-$10.95) (untried) are Mexican sandwiches served on telera rolls and are accompanied by roasted corn on the cob. These street-food staples take their name from a carpenter's pin and were introduced to Mexico by way of Andalusia.

Tacos ($3.25-$3.75) range from pineapple-flavored pastor to succulent carnitas (Mexico's answer to confit), American farm-raised catfish to portobello mushrooms, local shrimp or barbecue beef. Order a la carte and eat as many as you care to. And try them Christmas-style: half red sauce, half green.

The Mexican slaw was as bland as the guacamole, with hardly a whisper of the roasted poblano, cilantro or tangy dressing listed in its description.

The frijoles negros ($1.75), however, were tender, fragrant with garlic, sweet with onion and auspiciously seasoned with a Mexican herb blend.

In these current economic times you cannot ask for a better dining-out option than Zia Taqueria. There is an earnest, homemade quality to the cooking, the price is right and the worthy combinations on the menu will satisfy Tex-Mex fans and Mexican regional purists alike.

Like its Zia sun symbol (also found on New Mexico's license plates), there is a harmony at Zia that bodes well for its future, one made bright by its pricing strategy and commitment to quality.