Alisal, Salinas, CA

Alisal in Salinas is the part of town often called East Salinas, an unincorporated community until the city annexed it in 1963. It still works like a district of its own, with markets, bakeries and taquerias on nearly every main road, and most of the rest being residential streets. Pan dulce is the neighborhood's signature. Panaderia Ortega and Sal Mex Bakery are the bakeries, and La Plaza Bakery & Cafe, at 20 North Sanborn Road, adds cakes and a made-to-order menu of tacos, burritos and plates. Taqueria Jalisco and El Milagro Restaurant handle dinner, and Pacheco Ice Cream is the dessert stop. Eva's Cafe and Taqueria El Chavinda handle everyday Mexican meals, Tacos El Pariente Y Mariscos adds seafood, Exitos Latinos brings a Latin American menu, and Dulceria El Guero and Dulceria Vargas sell candy and sweets. Hot Stop Market and Landing Zone Restaurant fill out the list for a quick stop. The odd-one-out meal is Flying Artichoke, at 40 Mortensen Avenue, which sits at the Salinas airport. Its patio has views of the runway, and the menu stays casual. Closter Park, at 401 Towt Street, is the neighborhood's big field park, well used every day, and a city rebuild now under way is reworking its ballfields and adding a walking circuit with exercise stations, stage-style seating and room for events. Myrtle Court Park and the wetland-style Upper Carr Lake add more room outdoors. Foods Co. Is the large grocery, and independent markets, including KK Market, El Rey Market and Princesa Market Sanborn, fill in the gaps. Longer trips use US 101, the main route out of town. The cost of an active commercial district is that the main streets are busy and parking is competitive. Day to day, Alisal asks for little more than a short drive and a few dollars to eat well.