Good Mexican Food in Kettelman City

Anyone who has found himself traveling between San Francisco and L.A. on I-5 knows there is a dearth of decent food available to motorists along the entire route. The arrival of In & Out Burger a few years back was a red letter day in I-5 dining but there's a limit to how many times you can only enjoy a Double-Double (or tolerate raucous kids on some "team road trip"). Harris Ranch, at roughly the halfway point, seems so promising but the food is underwhelming and prices exploitative. Maybe you've wondered, as I have, if there is anything beyond the roadside fast food clusters but have declined to risk heading east or west into the middle of nowhere. At least at one point along the highway I’ve discovered the antidote to the I-5 meal problematic. My recent weekly trips to Fresno include heading west on Highway 41 from the coast, which bisects I-5 just before it passes through Kettelman City. On my first trip through I was curious to see what was in Kettelman City proper after so many years passing by, out of sight, a few miles away. * About two miles east of the gas stations and the Taco McJackers Jr., right on the highway, sits a little shack that puts out a nice spread of carnitas and organ meat. I'm not sure of its official name because the signage is dominated by the word "Carnitas" in huge letters but if you take the Kettelman City exit and head east a couple miles you can't miss it. My first trip I had two carnitas tacos - delicious. While I was waiting for my order a guy who may have been the owner or manager gave me the guided tour of the glass case full of offal. I recognized the kidneys and the pig snouts but I needed his help identifying the rest. He spoke reverently about some organ that he loves to eat so I told him that I might try that next time. Next time was this evening, on a trip back home, and I ordered a carnitas burrito. The guy ringing up my order asked who was going to help me eat it, which I suppose I could have taken as a personal slight about my stature but I think he was only boasting about the size of their burritos. He stated that they use the biggest tortillas available for their burritos and the final product weighs about 1.5 lbs. When it was bagged up he threw it on the scale to prove his point and it weighed in at 1.47 lbs., which visibly distressed him. At $3.50 for the massive log I figured I had room in the budget for something from the hot case. I passed on anything that I recognized from medical illustrations and opted for chicharrones. I chose the version with meat attached because fried pork skin with no meat seemed too decadent. The burrito was a meal and a half so the skin is sitting in a brown paper sack on the kitchen counter, waiting for me to build up an appetite. Although I haven’t tried anything beside the carnitas I suspect the other traditional meats they serve would be good (chile verde, chili colorado, etc.). Don’t let the slaughterhouse spread in the front window scare you – the tacos and burrito rank as some of the best I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot. I marvel how most people slog through the fast food in view of I-5 when outstanding food is only a couple miles away. I was one of those people but now I know better and I highly recommend a visit if you’re passing by. * I actually had been out to the edge of Kettelman City once before. It was sometime around 1990 when my college roommate, Mark, and I were returning from LA to Berkeley in my 1967 Mustang when we stopped for gas at about 10:00 PM. Prior to the trip, Mark prophetically jested that if I didn't replace my erratic starter motor we would be trapped in Kettelman City. The words were echoing in my ears when the turn of the key produced nothing but silence. The nearby 76 station had one starter motor in stock for my car, which they thankfully tested before selling me, revealing it was bad. We had no choice but to spend the night where we were until the Napa Auto store in Kettelman City opened in the morning. We rotated between J's Coffee Shop (now the site of In & Out) where we tried to stay awake and the Mustang where we tried to sleep. At 5:00 A.M. we began the couple mile walk from the gas station to Kettelman City. Fortunately they opened early, had a good starter in stock and we hitched a ride with some sort of public utility employee on the way back. I crawled under the car and installed it with the tools I had on hand and we made it back safely. As it turns out, the Napa store is the first establishment you come to as you approach KC, as I now call it, and I pay homage every time I pass.