Burrito

Williams, California, April 15, 2012—

LAST WEEK, KNOWING we'd be on Highway 5 at lunchtime, I called a fellow I trust to ask where to eat decently between Sacramento and Redding. Only place I know of, he said, is La Fortuna, where you can get a really good burrito.

I looked it up on Yelp, which I don't always trust, and was amazed at the great number of rave reviews, with just enough savage denunciations to reassure me that democracy still works. We stopped there Friday on the way up to Ashland, and liked it well enough to stop again today on the way back.

It's a tiny joint next to a general store selling staples to the Mexican-American community: huaraches, dried shrimp, leather work gloves, a wide array of ground spices, canned food, beer, housewares, light bulbs — just about anything you might need to set up housekeeping in a new and unfamiliar environment.

We ordered our burritos (they also have combination plates, tacos, tortas, enchiladas and so on), snagged a beverage from the cold case, and sat at a dinette table - one of six or so — to enjoy home Mexican cooking. Lots of flavor, lots of food, cheap and good. I think this will be a regular stop from now on, now that my wonderful Portuguese restaurant up in Orland is out of business.

• La Fortuna Bakery, 669 F Street, Williams, California; 530-473-2823