La Maya Hellertown
June 2, 2026
In the vast culinary landscape of rural South East Pennsylvania, using the old adage needle in a haystack phrase rings true on many occasions when you are attempting to find food that doesnt fall under the category of tavern, Italian or diner.
I get it. The area is replete with my fellow working class folks who enjoy simple meals, but we are definitely witnessing a gentrification of areas once home to acres upon acres of farmland. Sprawling fields of agriculture being gobbled up by subdivisions of McMansions as far as the eye can see.
We find ourselves venturing outside of Bucks County to seek out food that doesn’t usually fit into the categories I just previously mentioned. Hellertown is a charming little borough in the Lehigh Valley county of Northampton.
Founded in 1742, Hellertown consists of a modest downtown that is home to a number of restaurants that continue to draw us to this charming hamlet. Typical Mexican restaurants where we live simply don’t exist or they aren’t very good. This place was highly recommended. We made the choice. Off to Hellertown we go!
Even though the place has a feeling of slight appropriation and a tad hipsterish, we do appreciate good food made with local ingredients. All in house liquor is PA made and it’s a scratch kitchen so we entered the vestibule with an open mind.
The bar and dining area is shotgun designed that seats around forty guests. It is well decorated and unlike typical Mexican restaurants.
Perusing the menu, we were greeted by an eager server who was definitely trained to steer us to fan favorites that he highly recommended. Having never dined here before, we put our faith in his hands and chose items from the menu he suggested.
We first decided on two cocktails. La Moda Mexicana and the Coco Pasion. Both delicious.
Our server suggested their most popular appetizers to start. The ceviche and guacamole and chips. We enjoyed the flavors of both dishes though they could have been simplified a bit so they could be navigated easier. The seafood on the ceviche was cut extremely small so we fumbled when trying to make it’s way to our mouths and the two large tortilla shells didn’t work well when breaking them apart as we dug into the guacamole.
We moved on to one of our favorite appetizers. Enfrijolada is Queso Oaxaca, corn and wild mushroom stuffed tortilla, bean sauce, habanero crema, and queso fresco. We found the flavors unique. It was a fantastic dish.
We shared the Pescado a la Talla which is butterflied grilled branzino, marinated in salsa verde, topped with red cabbage slaw, morita salsa, and verde cruda, served with house-made tortillas. It was delicious though we probably wouldn’t order it again. The amount of bones I encountered made it difficult to navigate and the micro greens made it difficult to identify the random bones as well.
We enjoyed our visit. Despite some of my mixed reviews on what we chose, we will definitely return. Their menu is extensive and veggie friendly which our dining companion really enjoyed as well.
Frida, Not Just an Artist…
August 12, 2021
I was fortunate enough to live in an area that had some of the best Latin American food outside Mexico. Peruvian, Salvadorian, and Mexican Taquerias were scattered all over the San Francisco Bay Area. Concentrated in The Mission District of San Francisco was a myriad of excellent and cheap restaurants that put their heart and soul into their kitchens.
Attempting to find places in the Tri-State area I was told about a restaurant in Covington’s Mainstrasse District called Frida, named after famed Native Folk artist Frida Kahlo. The building is beautiful, spacious and also has a taco window, in case you want to grab a quick bite, then sit at one of the many picnic benches in the park.
This wouldn’t be classified as a traditional Taqueria or even an authentic ethnic restaurant. Their claim to fame is “Latin Street Cuisine”. and has many different influences including American. My guess is this is American-owned but pays homage to different Mexican and South American food trends. In the two visits to Frida, the execution was focused and the food was well presented and very good.
My first visit, I opted for a chicken burrito and a fish taco as seen in the pictures below. The flavors are balanced, the plates were nicely designed, the fish was crispy, seasoned well, and hot! My only gripe is when you put wet ingredients like toppings for the burrito, you are then obligated to eat with a knife and fork which causes the paper that is lining the serving tin to shred throughout the course of the meal, thus leaving you with having to sift through the food you are eating to discard the shredded paper.
In order to not have to navigate another burrito paper lining debacle, I decided on four tacos. Two fish, a beef and a chicken. Each one of them had a unique preparation and the beef resembled almost a braised short rib consistency and was delicious. I also ordered the chips and salsa sampler with a tomatillo, peanut satay, and traditional pico de gallo salsa. The peanut sauce was my favorite.
Each visit was accompanied by their house margaritas. I don’t want to get on a soapbox here, but you can serve a shrug-inducing screwdriver, gin and tonic or greyhound anywhere and get away with it. What you don’t want to fuck up are margaritas. I’ve had some of the shittiest margaritas in my time from places I dined as well as places I worked. It is imperative that you put some effort into this amazing drink or you will lose my business. Frida nailed it. Not heavy on the bar mix, the lime juice shined through and you could taste the tequila. Some spots I’ve been, windshield washing fluid gave these drinks a run for their money. No Bueno!.
I suggest early afternoon on weekdays to enjoy a carefree lunch and afternoon saloon. Both times I went around three o’clock and it was empty. By the early evening, the place was packed. I can see why.
