It's a bit challenging getting to Trompos, a new eatery in the middle of Fort Union Boulevard's busiest shopping district, but it's well worth the effort.

The name of this new Mexican grill refers to a toplike toy popular in Latin America and to a gyrolike rotisserie cooking method used at this restaurant, which occupies a triangular building known to many locals as the site of a former Snelgrove's ice cream parlor.

Let's all take a moment to bow our heads and miss that local favorite. ...

OK, mourning period's over. Trompos has reinvigorated this space with bright colors, enthusiastic service and food that's a step beyond lots of the south-of-the-border fare out there. For one thing, visible in the kitchen is a big spit of carne al pastor, a meat like a gyro or shawarma seasoned with Mexican spices. If you've never had it, you're missing out on a treat.

We visited Trompos for dinner on a recent weekend and immediately liked the deep red and apple-green color combination now adorning this space. The menu, with a strong emphasis on house-made ingredients, has plenty of tacos and other familiar dishes, plus things you don't see quite so often, especially at this fast food-level price point.

Before we'd even ordered, a worker brought us a sample of teensy, delicious corn-tortilla tacos with carne al pastor topped with pineapple mixed with onions, so that we could try the al pastor meat.

Two of my daughters had the kids' meals, one enjoying a hot, tender, cheese quesadilla and the other a generously sized bean-and-cheese burrito. Both meals came with mild Spanish rice, refried beans and a drink. The other daughter had, for about the same price, the excellent queso fundido, two kinds of cheese melted to a creamy ooze in a little earthenware bowl and accompanied by warm, soft flour tortillas. She had salty sliced ham in hers, but the owner said his favorite is cheese with chorizo, which does, indeed, sound delectable.

My husband and I both had house specialties, served on trencherlike wooden boards with tortillas and beans on the side. He had the "fortachon," a meat-heavy preparation of chorizo, carne al pastor, carne asada (beef), bacon, cheese, green pepper and onions. It was sizzled together with a nice sear and ready to heap onto the accompanying tortillas.

I had the "que me vez," which featured both chuleta (pork) and bacon, as well as mushrooms, pineapple, onions and bell peppers. At the counter were several sauces with varying degrees of heat, from mild to fiery. I liked the green sauce but found all of them a good addition to our various meals. For dessert, we shared a couple of orders of Trompos' creamy house-made rice pudding.

There are whole swaths of the menu we didn't get to on this visit: chili verde and mole poblano, enchiladas and enfrijoladas and many types of tacos, breakfast burritos with carne asada or chorizo, plus the silky house-made horchata I tried on the way out. But we'll be back — we'll just make sure we arrive from the east, as it's impossible to turn left into the Trompos parking lot if you're coming from the west.