The regulars know what they want. So does Domitila Sanchez. Positioned behind a glass partition near the front door, Sanchez checks them out as she assembles the beginnings of the huge taco salads, burritos and fajitas. By the time the regulars reach the cash register to place an order, the order is already waiting for them.

Sanchez is the manager of the eatery, which features mesquite broiled or barbecued, "low fat" chicken and thin-sliced steak—the centerpieces for a variety of traditional Mexican dishes. Situated on the corner of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road at Prospect, the restaurant has been Sanchez's life's work for nine years. She started as a cook there under different owners and was asked to continue when Anna and Alex Cheng bought the place over a year ago. It was the Chengs' first restaurant-owning experience.

"After 1¹/2 years, I realize this is my calling," Alex says, reflecting on his earlier career as a corporate executive. "The people are very warm and very real here. It's not like the corporate world, where you have to devise a strategy before merely attending a meeting."

There is a rhythm in the running of the place. Each morning, the first chore is to fire up the rotisserie and grill. Whole chickens, marinated overnight in lemon and vegetable juices and herbs and spices, are skewered end to end and placed over mesquite coals and gas heat on a slowly turning rotisserie. For three to four hours, the fat drips away. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, cook's assistant Consuelo Samora is busy culling imperfect lemons from a box, readying the citrus for use in iced tea and lemonade. She has prepared large bowls of fresh salsa, grated cheese and salad mix. Rice and beans simmer on the stove. Nearby, huge, knobby lemons the size of grapefruits await slicing. "My sister brought them from Los Altos Hills, where she and her neighbors have trees full," smiles Anna Cheng, who comes by each day during lunch hours. She says that most of their lemons come from customers who are happy to see them put to use.

Back up front, barbecue and grill cook Isidoro Guerero removes some small pieces of chicken that have been grilling on a barbecue grate. He cuts away small burnt burrs of meat, trimming each piece into a consistent thickness. Then he chops the pieces into half-inch squares and places them in a "warming drawer." Meanwhile, Sanchez has positioned herself at the counter for assembling the orders. Large, crispy tortillas shaped into bowls are half-filled with fresh salad mixings. She scoops out a nearly two-cup measure of chopped chicken from the drawer and deftly places the meat in a cone atop the salad. A scoop of salsa, sour cream and guacamole are the finishing touches on the taco salad, which looms a good seven inches above the plate ($6.35). For a take-out order of a quarter chicken salsa, Guerero takes one of the rotisserie chickens out of the warming drawer and slices it into quarters. The quarter chicken is served with salsa, flour tortillas and a choice of two sides of Mexican rice, beans, coleslaw, potato salad or green salad ($4.95). A chicken family pack of 1¹/2 chickens, a pint each of rice, beans and coleslaw, 12 tortillas, guacamole and salsa runs $20.85. There are also barbecue pork and beef ribs.

Chicken Salsa, located at 12019 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga, is open for lunch and dinner, daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call 408.253.5667.