Playa Los Corchos remains a true hidden gem in Nayarit, Mexico, a pristine beach untouched by tourism. Its gentle waves whisper in the calm breeze that flows through ramadas, the thatched-roof huts that serve pescado zarandeado, a dish so popular with locals that they come in droves. One of them, Ramada El Torruco, is where 35-year-old Anthony Plascencia spent his childhood feasting on barbecued fish, oyster tamales, and ceviches. Born and raised in La Puente, Plascencia’s family comes from Puerta de Magos, just 20 minutes away from Playa Los Corchos.

After his event catering business closed at the onset of the pandemic and taking time off to rehabilitate a broken shoulder, Plascencia retreated to Puerta de Magos in the summer of 2020. Passing the time with feet planted in the tranquil sands of Playa Los Corchos, he was inspired to learn El Torruco’s method for Nayarit-style pescado zarandeado, and set off on a mission to bring the taste of home to California. In September 2022, he opened Mariscos Los Corchos in a Rialto backyard, serving quite possibly the best pescado zarandeado in Southern California.

Pescado zarandeado, which translates to shaken fish, gets its name from the technique of barbecuing the whole, butterflied and adobo-marinated fish by shaking it back and forth on the grill. In Nayarit, mangrove is the traditional firewood, but since the trees are now endangered, cooks use other woods like mesquite. The Indigenous cooking technique and dish are credited to the island of Mexcaltitán de Uribe, a Pueblo Mágico in the municipality of Santiago Ixcuintla, just north of Playa Los Corchos. The original pescado zarandeado recipe calls for an adobo of chiles, spices, and seasonings that varies by region, and from family to family. Today, different Mexican states use regional names like pescado a la talla in Oaxaca and Guerrero, and tikin xic in Yucatán.

However, there have been modern innovations throughout the 20th century for a dish rooted in an Indigenous recipe. Marinades might now include butter, mayo, soy sauce, and even mustard, among other ingredients. Salsa Huichol, a bottled salsa first introduced in 1949, features a piquant blend of chile cascabel and spices that has become the preferred base for adobo in Nayarit, as well as a typical ingredient in the region’s cuisine. For many grillmasters, Salsa Huichol with lime juice, salt, and pepper is often all you need for a good zarandeado adobo.

Mariscos El Torruco’s adobo respects the standardized recipe, slathering the marinade onto pargo (sea bream), róbalo (snook), huachinango (red snapper), and occasionally barramundi. “We’re keeping everything original,” says Plascencia, who sticks to the adobo he learned in Nayarit but adds a few tweaks: additional secret spices and mayonnaise to maintain the fish’s moisture. Mariscos Los Corchos imports pargo, róbalo, huachinango, shrimp, and curvina from Mexico while sourcing the milder barramundi locally.

Plascencia has brought his family together as a formidable culinary team. Plascencia’s mother, Maria Carrillo, makes regular trips back to Puerta de Magos to conduct research recipes and find ingredients, while his girlfriend Dora Barajas helps develop recipes. Plascencia’s daughter Jade helps with prep and waits tables, while Barajas’s 17-year-old son Seth Caldera operates the grill after learning from Plascencia. “I had my daughter really young and had to drop out of culinary school to work, but all I was doing was working, and not spending time [with her],” Plascencia says. Mariscos Los Corchos is a passion project that has afforded more family time for all involved, and under Plascencia’s leadership, they’ve created an exceptional Mexican seafood restaurant in the deep Inland Empire.

Entering through the side of the house, customers are met by a handful of folding tables covered with bright tablecloths. To the left is a barra fria (cold bar) serving ceviches and seafood cocktails, while the mesquite grill highlights the main attraction of barbecued fish. Start with ceviches and antojitos like tamales de camarón that tell a story of Plascencia’s journey from the young man who cherished his childhood memories in Playa Los Corchos, and the familial wisdom that has guided his work as a chef. Nayarit is known for its simple, minimal approach to seafood, something Plascencia learned from his parents. “My dad always told me that seafood should taste like seafood,” says Plascencia.

Back in Puerto de Magos, ceviche de sierra (mackerel) features finely chopped fish, red onion, tomato, cucumber, and carrot for a sweet finish, though Plascencia cuts the sierra into rough chunks and mixes them with julienned vegetables. The almost creamy ceviche gets a quick bath of kumquat juice squeezed from fruit picked off a tree in the backyard, seeded by Plascencia’s late grandfather’s tree in Puerta de Magos. The spicy salsa macha and the umami-rich salsa marinera are perfect for all ceviches. Empanadas de camarón filled with dried Nayarit shrimp and mozzarella cheese, and tamales de camarón are also must order items. “Dress the empanadas with the chipotle mayo, plus salsa verde for some acid,” recommends Plascencia.

Plascencia often dreams up specials using only fresh seafood, like a chicharrón de pescado that features deep-fried chunks of rock cod. For caldo de camarón, Plascencia cooks a stock with shrimp shells, tomatoes, chile guajillo, and one chile de árbol for a noticeable kick before finishes with Sonoran shrimp and little neck clams. Garnished with cilantro and matchsticks of red onion, it’s as sophisticated as something served at a marisquería in Mexico City’s trendy Roma Norte. The starters are all so delicious that one almost forgets the fish is coming.

At the grill, Caldera carefully monitors the three-and-a-half pound red snapper held in a fish basket, brushed lightly with the marinade. As the fish roasts slowly over mesquite, he applies more of the bright, rich mixture whose tangerine hue matches the fruit on the family’s citrus tree. Plascencia watches his pupil then turns away to plate other dishes. “[Plascencia] taught us all how to cook,” says Alondra Salas proudly, a cook who prepares ceviches and seafood cocktails.

The standard pescado zarandeado is enough of an attraction, but there’s an upgrade available. Ask for “Estilo Los Corchos,” which includes a whole butterflied fish layered with shell-on shrimp and octopus and is the standard recipe at El Torruco. Mariscos Los Corchos’s marinade lessens the acidic aftertaste that sometimes lingers with pure Salsa Huichol, allowing the fish to shine. The soft, flaky red snapper comes with handmade corn tortillas, salsas, sliced cucumbers, red onions, and limes. Scoop up chunks of fish, shrimp, and octopus with a piece of tortilla, and dress the bite with something spicy. There’s a house michelada on the drink menu, the ideal pairing for pescado zarandeado. Together, they’re an essential component of the Mexican beach experience.

The latest additions to the pescado zarandeado’s set of sides are crispy tacos de frijól charred directly over the mesquite. Plascencia asks his mom for the name of the tiny yellow beans that look like petite Canary beans, known as peruanos in Mexico. “Those are frijoles azufrados,” says Carrillo, who brings back the tiny yellow beans from Nayarit. It could be considered an unnecessary touch likely to be lost on customers, but this is the thoughtfulness behind everything on the menu.

The bottom of every menu reads, “El Rey del Zarandeado” (The King of Zarandeado), a bold statement to make in Los Angeles given its competition. The line could simply point to the team’s pride and dedication to a style of Mexican seafood from a tiny, unknown beach in Nayarit. Mariscos Los Corchos stands firmly alongside the two other recent chef-driven Mexican seafood restaurants, Del Mar Ostionería in Mid-Wilshire and Muelle 8 in Downey. Like those two Sinaloan restaurants, Mariscos Los Corchos leans into both provincial cooking and contemporary Mexican techniques. “Honestly, we just want to put [Playa] Los Corchos on the map,” Plascencia says.

303 North Brampton Avenue, Rialto, CA, (951) 218-7720, Friday 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.