La Victoria Taqueria

A friend fond of bad-mouthing Northern California, where he's lived for more than 20 years, bemoaned the region's lack of hearty sandwiches. Like the ones he remembers from in Baltimore, Philadelphia, even Atlanta. A sandwich should bulge and leak. Ours were too prissy.

La Victoria in downtown San Jose, next to Jack-in-the-Box and across from Camera Three, gives the sandwich a good name: torta.

It's like a burrito on bread. Only better, because this particular bread does not get soggy when it meets hot ingredients. At La Victoria, the Mexican sandwich comes on a French roll custom-made larger for the torta by San Jose Vietnamese bakery Bui Phong. The roll, or bolillo, is browned and crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside.

La Victoria gets the name not only because it's in a charming Victorian house, but also because opening ``was a huge victory,'' owner Nicandro Barrita said, because of permit and money problems. The name has nothing to do with the line of Mexican products. Barrita had more than the first-time restaurateur's inkling about what he was getting into, having worked in his parents' sit-down restaurant in Redwood City, La Huasteca.

At La Victoria, the menu divides neatly into tortas and quesadillas on one side, burritos and tacos on the other. To the right, another menu lists combination plates, breakfast burritos, aguas frescas and other beverages. (The fruit drinks are made fresh. There is always horchata and jamaica, with watermelon and pineapple rotating in. They are $1 for 16 ounces, $1.50 for 20 ounces, $2.25 for 32 ounces.)

La Victoria is open practically around the clock. The breakfast burrito special ($1.49) is rice, beans and your choice of ham with eggs, chorizo with eggs, potato with eggs.

Tortas may take a little longer. You order, pay up front, and get a number. My No. 10 waited while 11 and 12, both burritos, came and went. Burritos are $3.50 for regular size and vegetarian, $4.50 for super (larger, with guacamole, cheese and sour cream).

To get a fresh torta, the bolillo is cut in half lengthwise and some of its guts are removed. The inside then meets hot oil in a skillet for about a minute. This not only makes room for all the stuffings, it also gets rid of the soft center that would just sog up when met with hot meats and beans, lettuce, fresh tomato, avocado and sauce. After being stuffed, the sandwich returns to the skillet again for pressing and browning.

All tortas at La Victoria are $3.50. Of the three we sampled, plain chicken stood out. How many stick-in-the-throat chicken sandwiches have you had? Those are the evil stepsisters of this Cinderella torta. The meat from grilled chicken quarters, cooked in tomato and chipotle sauce, was tender, juicy and warm. The lettuce was crunchy. The beans were whole pintos, not mush.

The carne asada (marinated and grilled beefsteak) torta involves a powdery tenderizer but then a sprinkle of beer, tomato, onion and garlic with grilling.

Carnitas, crinkly braised pork, would not be my first choice for a torta, but my companion liked it. He doesn't mind a little fat on his bread.

Other choices for tortas and burritos include chile verde, al pastor and vegetarian.

Accompanying orange sauce is thick and clearly spiked with red peppers, but more than that Barrita won't reveal, except that there is no mayonnaise in it.

With an order of chips or burritos you get fresh salsa.

The justifiably popular super-quesadilla ($1.95) would have made a meal. Corn and flour tortillas come fresh every day from De La Rosa bakers in Watsonville. They are pressed and browned on a grill, just like the tortas. Chunks of pork are tenderized deliciously with pineapple.

Combination plates ($6.95) feature enchiladas and chiles rellenos.

The usual beans are whole pintos, but you can also get refried and vegetarian black beans.