Dining Out

The mariachi music is calling you for Sunday brunch at Baja Willie’s

Mexican Restaurant and Cantina. The small cafe on Warner Avenue has grown

from a front patio and bar to a restaurant with a side patio and three

other dining areas.

On Sundays it’s alive with the music of Mariachi Jalisco and owner

Willie Calabro greets diners as friends and in general orchestrates the

rhythm of a busy restaurant.

Like a big party held in an apartment, every space seems occupied.

Chef Soloman has cooks taking omelet orders to fill frying pans with your

selections of six choices -- ham, onion, peppers, mushrooms, cheese -- to

add to creamy eggs.

Then you take a plate for the small salad bar of fresh greens and

fruit beside a row of steam tables with Mexican specialties --

enchiladas, refried beans, Spanish rice, chile rellenos, corn on the cob

-- ending with big trays of crisp bacon pieces and plump little sausages.

A small table nearby is filled with jewel-like jello for the kids,

chocolate pudding, squares of flan and thick rice pudding powdered with

cinnamon. This crowded area opens to an awning-covered patio with

umbrella tables warm on this sunny day.

A waiter appears with champagne glasses to take the drink orders.

Quick and agile, he returns as you settle at a table. Baja Willie’s is

all movement and friendliness with diners talking from table to table,

children escaping to peer at desserts or line up for balloons. It’s as

busy as a family kitchen.

Wandering through Baja Willie’s during Sunday brunch is the mariachi

brass quintet with a trumpet that can drown out conversation -- best to

enjoy it at a distance by selecting a table on the front patio.

It truly deserves the name “brunch” a combination of breakfast and

lunch -- a lively family oriented choice that has just celebrated 15

years at this location.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have comments

or suggestions, call (562) 493-5062 or e-mail o7 [email protected]

FYI

Baja Willie’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina

WHERE: 7891 Warner Ave. near Beach Boulevard

HOURS: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday; until 11 p.m.

Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday brunch

PHONE: (714) 842-8955