Found Treasure: El Compa Grill Food Truck

January, 24, 2025 – The bright red taco truck parked at the Braga Fresh shipping yard in Gonzales, deep into the southern side of Monterey County, can seem a long way from the coastal climes of Santa Cruz.

Similarly, the drippy quesabirria tacos and burly burritos that trigger lunch and dinner rushes down here against the backdrop of the Santa Lucia Mountains don’t really resemble the cinnamon rolls and Florentine omelets that star at Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe on Seabright Avenue.

Spiritually, though, they’ve got a lot in common, most prominently: 1) homespun and handmade comfort food, 2) a relentless work ethic, and 3) that guy with the huge grin named Fabricio Lariz.

It was Seabreeze that carried me to this side of the Salinas Valley, after Matt Hintze and Marcie Bei Magdaleno—who are helping lead Linda’s new era in all its old-school glory—insisted on a pilgrimage to see their longtime colleague’s newish endeavor.

Lariz started as a dishwasher at Linda’s, then went on to work as a line cook, server and spot manager. And, he notes, when La Posta next door forgot to hire someone to man the dish pit when they first opened, he handled that too.

El Compa Food Truck has been purring for about a year now, but relocated more recently from King City to this outpost at 500 South Alta St., Gonzales, a surprisingly simple in-and-out from Highway 101 in either direction. 

There Lariz and wingman Hector Falcon welcome largely locals, but also long range truck drivers who roll out with full bellies and can tote an al pastor burrito bowl for the road. 

My betrothed and I were struck by the from-scratch flavor—when we got there, Lariz was hand kneading the Colombia-style masa for the day’s shrimp empanada special. 

That empanada, BTW—for a professed empanada obsessor—qualifies as superb before adding the tractor beam green salsa and chipotle crema.

My pescatarian date did a mini swoon for a veggie taco that was clearly designed, note the girth and ingredients, by someone who’s worked in Santa Cruz for a generation.

The quesabirria and accompanying consume aced the test too. 

“Queso, carne, cebolla, cilantro, salsa,” Lariz says. “Everything you need.”

An A grade for the house limeade too. 

Those scores bode well for the rest of the menu and specials on the chalkboard, the “Cielo, Mar y Tierra” chicken-shrimp-carne asada combo among them.

One more similarity between Linda’s and El Compa expresses itself more subtly: It’s an element familiar to eaters who frequent independent spots who genuinely love to serve, and will dedicate a lifetime to it.

You can call it tenderness.

I see it in the camaraderie that generates incredible retention—for both staff and clientele—at Linda’s, and the gentle attentiveness of the nuclear El Compa crew. 

I also hear it as Lariz describes why he put so much of his life force into nonstop days at Linda’s, the last six years of which happened after epic commutes from Gonzales as he learned English from YouTube en route. (He says Italian is next.)

“I would do anything for [former owners] Tex and Claire [Hintze],” he says. “I started there so young, they were like my parents!”

Gonzales was already one of those local cities that makes me smile—the “Wine Capital” sign straight out of the 70s, the hardworking identity, the crop and vine lines against the highlands, the fact Gary Pisoni lives there in the family farmhouse with the dirt-floor wine cellar beneath a hidden trap door.

So I was smiling when we pulled up. 

But in case you aren’t, Lariz’s smile—and his food—are contagious. 

El Compa Grill is open noon-8pm Monday-Friday at 500 South Alta St. in Gonzales. More at El Compa’s Instagram page.