Truesouthern-styleMexicanfood.

"The little boat" that carried a family recipe north.

Our story begins years ago, when owner Jose Garcia was just a small boy in La Barca, Jalisco — up before dawn to help his grandfather run a birria stand at the local market, learning the dish from start to finish.

In 1984 he moved to Los Angeles with several uncles, who opened a restaurant in Huntington Park. There he learned the family recipes and the restaurant trade. One scorching visit to Phoenix made him vow he'd never return — but Phoenicians who ate in the family's LA kitchens kept asking for one back home, and in 2005 he finally obliged.

He found a small spot for sale on East McDowell Road and called it La Barquita — "the little boat," a term of endearment for his hometown. Nearly two decades on, it's a beloved neighborhood hangout whose regulars come for affordable, authentic southern-Mexican food. First time? The menu runs all six pages — but the servers will gladly walk you through it.

"There is nothing more important to me than family," says Jose. Much of the kitchen is family too — his younger brothers, and his youngest daughter, Ashley.