It used to bother me, mi amigos. I used to agree with some Scandinavians who recently challenged this Chicano food critic’s bona fides after I dissed their beloved lye-cured cod.

I used to think I didn’t need any stinking opinions about Mexican food unless the opinion-givers’ ancestors ate beans and tortillas because that was all they had.

Then I shared meals with people of different ethnic stripes who told me Vuelve a la Vida serves “the best” Mexican food. Though none of them ordered menudo – beef-tripe soup with hoof, a dish even some Mexicans wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot spoon full of lutefisk – I wouldn’t say they don’t know what they’re talking about.

I don’t care if the tip came from a German oyster farmer from California or the Irish-American wife of my half-Japanese, half-Mexican cousin-in-law from Spanaway; Vuelve a la Vida, whose name means to come back to life, is as authentic as it gets.

It’s no-frills, rustic cooking from Mexico’s northern and western regions. Perhaps some of the seafood took a siesta between the ocean and your plate. Maybe the décor’s bumpier than the road to Oaxaca.

But get a load of that carnitas combo ($9.75) – a plate-load of lard-stewed pork, crusty at the edges, just like that memorable meal in Mexicali. Savor a steaming stack of hand-made corn tortillas that don’t get much better north of Nogales. And marvel at the happy, well-fed faces of all ethnic, social and age groups.

It’s bit like home – so much so that just when you think you’re getting enough food, there’s more.

At most restaurants, three enchiladas, rice and beans is a decent deal at $8.50. Here, you’re not done ordering until you’ve told the waitress if you want grilled chicken or steak on the side.

And, like home, there are some peculiar house traditions that take getting used to. Vuelve a la Vida breaks Mexican restaurant tradition by not serving chips and salsa. Not for all the treasure in the Sierra Madre. At first, it’s a novelty – a Zapatista uprising against the deep-fried appetizer establishment. Later – like, after a half-dozen corn tortillas so supple you want to wrap yourself in them – are you warmed with Gabriel García-Márquez enlightenment: These discs of magical maize are too good to be wedged and fried.

Mojarra ($10.95) is one dish that makes you thankful Vuelve a la Vida doesn’t fry chips. Otherwise, the deep-fried whole perch might taste of well-used grease. Instead, the mild flavor of white flesh and crispy skin, scored in an attractive diamond design, declares itself simply. I was midway into my second Bohemia before I realized the waitress forgot the jalapeño butter that should accompany the fish. Deep-frying made the fish slightly dry; a smoky, melting mix of fire-roasted jalapeños and butter – sampled separately on tortillas a few nights earlier – would have made this dish perfect.

My German-Californian oyster farmer friend said prawns sautéed with butter and garlic (carmarones al mojo de ajo, $9.95) sounded better than two prawns-in-red-sauce offerings. His reward came in a heap of tails-on prawns tossed with lightly caramelized onions. He passed high praise on oysters on the half shell (six for $6.50) that were so fresh they needed neither a splash of lime nor a shot of hot sauce so addictive you’ll want to smuggle a bottle home.

Vuelve a la Vida is also the name of the restaurant’s signature seafood cocktail ($8.95). I enjoyed its refreshing, salsa-like broth of lime juice, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado and cilantro. Octopus, oysters and shrimp were plentiful, but the scallops were dry and cracked.

Mexican bouillabaisse ($9.75) was likewise disappointing. True, this dish was born of make-do ingredients. The seafood in this soup, I hope, had seen better days. The shrimp were tough. The white fish was nondiscernable and dry. Crab legs were so small they were hardly worth cracking. Bits and pieces of octopus might as well have been confetti. The broth, however, had a light, tasty tomato base and swam with flavor-giving celery, carrots and onions.

This soup base tasted remarkably similar to Vuelve a la Vida’s menudo ($7.50) but gets high marks for being chock-full of honeycomb tripe – the section of cow’s stomach that’s less chewy and less squishy than other cuts of tripe. A big beef foot – gelatinously delicious on the outside, marrow-raffia inside – anchored the bowl.

Tamales ($2.25 each) arrived plump and hot, filled with promise. I thought the steamed corn dough was a little spongy. My cousin Bob thought the meat lacked flavor. But they weren’t ruined with any sauce.

Mole poblano ($9.75) featured chicken in a deliciously light and smoky chocolate-chile sauce. It wasn’t pretty – chunky bits here, stringy bits there – but it was all white meat and all good.

Horchata ($1.25) was smooth, not all grainy like this sweetened rice drink is often served elsewhere.

Huevos con chorizo (scrambled eggs with Mexican sausage, $4.75) makes an ample breakfast any time of day. Tortas ($5.25) – Mexican sandwiches, a legacy of French colonialism – were a treat you don’t find in many Mexican restaurants. A soft, toasted roll spread with refritos and layered with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado made a nice package for meat (I chose barbacoa, or beef cheeks) and was a great alternative to burritos.

Speaking of burritos, Vuelve a la Vida doesn’t use aluminum foil to wrap its fat bundles of meat and beans.

Normally this would endear the restaurant a fifth star without question, but over the course of a week recently, the state of the bathrooms – not disgusting, just in need of a good cleaning – flushed it away.

* * * *

Vuelve a la Vida (4 stars)

5310 Pacific Ave., Tacoma 253-473-7068
CUISINE: Mexican
HOURS: 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays
PRICES: $-$$
ATMOSPHERE: Casual, family-friendly
NOISE LEVEL: Moderate
SERVICE: One waitress can handle a large room, but expect delays
BATHROOMS: Below bueno
PARKING: Yes
SMOKING: No

Ed Murrieta: 253-597-8678

ed.murrieta@thenewstribune.com