Guadalajaran specialty lonches, homemade tortillas on menu at new Tacoma restaurant

Several restaurants have come and gone from 1126 Commerce St., but its newest tenant is determined to do things differently. It begins with homemade tortillas and salsas from a family with generations of experience.

Oreb and Angie Apodaca opened Indita Mia in early December with a menu of Mexican specialties developed by her mother and head chef Betty Villaseñor.

Their arrival in that stretch of downtown — where the Link runs on both sides of the street between 9th and 13th — has a bit of a familial backstory.

For less than a year, Villaseñor’s brother (and Angie’s uncle) operated Birrieria Gourmet here, the menu dedicated to the birria y consomé craze. Another family briefly tried their hand with a restaurant called Estrada’s Gourmet before the Apodacas took over this fall.

It’s the second Tacoma restaurant for Villaseñor, who with her husband and son David Orozco own Cuerno Bravo, the Mexican steakhouse on St. Helens Ave. known for its selection of wagyu steaks served on blistering-hot stones. Six years ago, they introduced a similar concept in Kent and then Ballard, Asadero Prime.

That connection translates to an essential element of Indita Mia: high-quality meat.

“I couldn’t buy it from anywhere else!” laughed Apodaca, who sources wagyu through these family channels.

Try it chopped, lending lightly crisped edges, in the nuanced carne con chile, surrounded by a deep-red, smoky salsa that you scoop into homemade corn tortillas. Served with refried beans, it’s one of two mains, the other a pound of carne asada.

Apodaca recommends Grandma’s quesadilla, an enchanting dish of thick, hand-pressed masa folded over cheese and generous wagyu barbacoa. The entirety of it is pan-fried in beef tallow and served in a traditional clay dish in a bath of tart green salsa, pickled red onions to garnish.

Most everything is homemade, from the salsa to the gorditas, tostadas and flour tortillas for the burrito. Custom wood boards are engraved with the restaurant name, which signifies the indigenous people of Mexico and a term of endearment meaning “mine.”

“It means a lot to us,” said Apodaca, “because it is them who represent Mexico, our culture, our gastronomy traditions and our beliefs.”

In a nod to their relatives’ quesabirria, on the menu here are “quesatacos de arrachera,” a cut of beef akin to skirt steak. Instead of the more typical torta, Indita Mia serves lonche, a torta-esque sandwich popular in Guadalajara that swaps a soft telera roll for a crustier baguette. Choose among wagyu beef in tomato sauce, pierna (barbacoa) and asada with the family’s smoky, textural refried beans.

Restaurants are in Apodaca’s blood: Her family has made a living in the business for at least five generations. She and her husband, who live in Bonney Lake, have long wanted a restaurant of their own.

They hope to acquire a liquor license and expand hours to dinner service, which feels fitting for the food and ambiance. The low-slung ceilings of this oddly shaped, long and narrow space have been painted black, one full wall magenta lined with wooden tables and hammered-copper pendant lights.

Think of it not as a taqueria; I sense it’s much more than that.

INDITA MIA TACOMA

▪ 1126 Commerce St., Tacoma, 253-625-7362, inditamia.restaurant

▪ Tuesday-Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. (dinner service expected)

▪ Details: homemade tortillas, salsas and more; most plates $12.99-$19.99

This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.