El Pajaro still making homemade tortillas, fresh eats after 34 years

Jose Aguilar Sr. flips slices of ranchera steak in a large skillet with seasoned onions and bell peppers, preparing one of the authentic Mexican dishes he’s been cooking up for 34 years. In his kitchen, with his hand gripping a knife or pan and surrounded by his staff of family and friends, is where he is most comfortable.

Aguilar Sr. and his wife, Modesta, opened El Pajaro Mexican Restaurant in Downtown Lodi in 1978. Aguilar had worked many years at Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant in Stockton’s Lincoln Center, before taking on his own foodie venture.

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El Pajaro still making homemade tortillas, fresh eats after 34 years