La Caseta

Try some of La Caseta’s great food during the Avocado Festival on Sunday, April 20! Every year since 2002, the “Big Del Burrito Challenge” has been a tradition for the restaurant during the festivities. They started with a three-pound burrito, but bumped it up to four because people found that eating the three-pounder was just too easy.

Participants need to be eighteen years old to try it, and during 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the day of the festival they can buy one and give it a try. Eat it within an hour and it’s free. Eat it faster than anyone else all day and you get your name on a plaque, a dinner for two and your photo in the paper. The Big Del (named after Delos Eyers, the restaurant’s owner) is a tortilla filled with ground beef, beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, taco sauce and of course, guacamole. “It’s a lot of fun and people come with their entourage to cheer them on,” said Eyers.

The restaurant has been hosting the Burrito Challenge since 2002 when they initiated it to commemorate 1992, the year they built the world’s largest burrito and were honored as the “Guinness Book of World Records” holder for four years. The record-breaker weighed 2,237 pounds and was 36 feet long and three feet wide.

Eyers, a 1980 Fallbrook High School graduate, has owned the restaurant since 1991. After attending culinary school and working in the culinary business for several years he saw that the restaurant was for sale and “seized the opportunity.”

Culinary consistency is one of his success secrets and is what has made La Caseta a favorite of many.

The restaurant has employed the same production chef for twenty years and several of the other staff members have been with them for twenty years as well. Because of his own high standards and a staff he can trust, the food and the service have been consistent since Eyers has owned the establishment. “I love the place and have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it over the years,” Eyers commented.

The dining room has been recently remodeled to accommodate larger groups. Inside it is limited to parties of twenty, but the bougainvillea-lined patio area allows for more.

La Caseta means “little cottage” in Spanish. The original cottage was built in 1914. The enormous tree that welcomes patrons is a Eugenia Bush that experts say is one of the largest and oldest in California.

The luncheon menu is a full menu with appetizers and desserts such as frozen margarita pie and orange caramel flan. They also offer a senior menu that people fifty-five and “better” can peruse.

I enjoyed the “Chimi de la Casa,” which was a luncheon choice. This chimichanga is a deep fried burrito that you can order with steak de la carbon, beef or chicken. Lettuce, cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream completed the filling; and the dish was served with a side of rice. The steak de la carbon had a wonderful outdoor grilled flavor and was a delicious choice as an anchor meat for the chimichanga.

La Caseta’s delicious chips and salsa are homemade. The salsa is fairly mild – it’s a salsa that just about anyone can eat.

The restaurant’s wait staff is solicitous, the food is great, and the prices are reasonable – what’s not to like!

La Caseta

111 N. Vine

Fallbrook

(760) 728-9737

http://www.lacasetafinemexicanfood.com