June 20, 2025—Have you ever had a best buddy, and then you meet her brother or sister and you like the sibling more?
Such was my experience with Culturas Oaxaca y Hidalgo, and El Barrio Urban food truck.
And I blame little brother Barrio’s birria grilled cheese.
Here’s how it went down.
In this scenario, Culturas would be the big hermana.
Sworn testimonial: In no way have I stopped loving Culturas.
The central Salinas spot, a few blocks from Oldtown, merits a visit for a variety of reasons, including vibrant murals inside and color schemes out, kind and enthusiastic staffers, and knockout Mexican from both regions honored in its name.
The spot first came into my flavorscape when I asked Genevieve LeBlanc, senior food policy lead for the Blue Zones Project – Monterey County, for tips on great Salinas spots to hit before jumping on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight.
The tlacoyos, tlayudas and tamales Oaxaqueños all honor her rec. (She doesn’t send eaters astray, especially if healthier eating is a priority.)
Then came word of more experimental takes on Culturas-grade Mexican food, in a place that rolls closer to mi casa than Salinas.
Other Brother Beer Co. co-creator Evan Loewy, keeper of under-the-radar flavor capitals of the Monterey Peninsula, whispered word Culturas added a food truck—and it parks in Marina.
After a little researching and a driving around, I found this fusion-friendly treasure, and the decision-making crisis gets real.
Mexi-cheese steaks?! Memelitas de carne? Buffalo chicken melts?! (That’s about 1/20th of the menu, wherein everything ranges around $5-$14, and most items hover around $10.)
There are ways to deal with this specific sort of foodie indecision.
Bring a friend (and share), cultivate an appetite (skipping dinner is optional), and don’t be shy (sorry Blue Zones, this won’t be so healthy).
And, play your faves.
So it’s decided: fried fish tacos with cabbage, pico and chipotle sauce ($4.50) and the torta Hawaiian from some mad mastermind who stuffs the missile with al pastor pork, pineapple, spicy hot dog, ham, avocado, fried onion, jalapeño, queso fresco and chipotle mayo ($14).
(Editor’s note: After I ordered the Hawaiian, chef Alexis Monjaraz Martinez advised there wasn’t any remaining al pastor, and the torta wouldn’t quite be the same. The takeaway there is three-fold: 1. This guy believes in the recipes he creates, 2. Get there on the early side for max satisfaction, 3. It was all good because we were already satisfied with the large taco and grilled cheese.)
And the new candidate for grilled cheese of the generation ($12).
Picture a bravely engineered mature adult melt, layered with smartly seasoned barbecued beef, held together by a cheese-topped-and-griddle-pressed-crust, partnering up with a soup that’s also hyper-flavorful and eye-catching.
Individually, the sandwich and consommé work wonderfully (and for a modest $2 you can add fries for more dipping and dripping).
Then an opening dip of the beefy-and-tender-and-molten-and-crispy grilled cheese into the swirl-of-savory-rich broth, and you crack open an angel’s chorus.
As a combo, they blow the doors off an adored institution like, say, a normie grilled cheese and tomato soup.
“I like American stuff, but I’m also Mexican, so I feel like I should combine the two,” Monjaraz Martinez says. “And since I’ve always like cheesy things, and quesobirria was already a thing, I figured I might as well do it.”
Out here on the outskirts of Marina, satisfaction swells as the endemic wind kicks up, the rich flavors and textures harmonize, and the wider world’s noise falls away, for a few minutes at least, depending on how fast you eat it.
And you can drip on the sidewalk.
More at El Barrio Urban Food’s Instagram page.
Mark C. Anderson, EMB’s managing editor, has reported on food and drink from 25+ countries, at least once by pay phone. (He does have email: [email protected].)
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