It’s hard to keep Mexican food this good under wraps

Every week I think I’m going to write about Loteria Grill. And then I don’t.

I guess it’s because I don’t want it to get too crowded. I want to be able to slip over to the Farmers Market and find a free stool at this great little Mexican stall where everything is made from scratch. Even the tortillas.

Your basic beans and rice are so lovingly prepared, I could make a meal with just them and some of those fresh, supple tortillas. But then there’s a wonderful version of rajas con papa, basically potatoes laced with strips of roasted poblano peppers. It can be ordered as side dish or as a taco. Carne deshebrada is beef cooked until it’s falling apart, heaped on a corn tortilla, oozing its juices. And the cochinita pibil is the real thing: pork slowly roasted in a banana leaf with red chile and spices.

At Loteria Grill, you can order tacos or burritos with all-vegetable fillings such as mushrooms with epazote, bland fresh cactus salad or a succotash of zucchini and roasted corn. But you can just as easily go the other way and revel in chicharron (pork rinds) in salsa verde. The enchiladas here are some of the best I’ve had recently, filled with either chicken or cheese, in a choice of three sauces: roasted tomato, a mole poblano that makes the chicken look as if it’s been dipped in chocolate or a mild guajillo chile.

Loteria Grill has become a kind of cult place, with fans showing up day after day, slipping away from work to indulge in an order of chilaquiles or savor a taco filled with cochinita pibil. Funny thing; the owner, Jimmy Shaw, is not Mexican -- but he grew up in Mexico City.

Everybody else in his family has restaurants. This Wharton Business School grad just thought he’d have one too. And that’s how the Farmers Market lucked into this little gem.

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Loteria Grill

Where: Farmers Market, stall No. 322, 6333 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles

When: Open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. No alcohol. Parking lot.

Cost: Aguas frescas, $1.75; tacos (2), $3.65 to $3.85; burritos, $5.95; enchiladas, $7.95; sides, etc. $1.50 to $4.50

Info: (323) 930-2211