Posted by Erin Zimmer, June 20, 2008 at 2:00 PM
The thrill of eating tacos for breakfast is similar to that of eating waffles for dinner: slightly rebellious and definitely not to be allowed all the time, but a good way to change things up. At the roadside stand Rosie's Tamale House in Bee Cave, Texas (near Austin), floury tortillas wrap up cheesy eggs, bacon pieces and fluffy potato slices—that's the trademark breakfast taco order.
Of course my eyes gravitated to the "Suicide Taco" which includes all of the above, plus chorizo. With contents overflowing, this one can barely fold into the typical taco posture, leaving you a second course of leftover innards. Breakfast tacos are only available here between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., after which you will be restricted to regular tacos.
Rosie's Tamale House
13436 West Highway 71, Bee Cave, TX 78738 (map)
512 263-5245
Posted by Ed Levine, May 5, 2008 at 8:30 AM
To continue our Cinco de Mayo madness, our celebration of Mexican food and drink, we thought it would be fun to ask all you serious eaters the following muy importante question: What's the best Mexican food town in America?
Many cities have a case to make. Folks in Los Angeles swear by their impressive array of tacquerias and Oaxacan restaurants. Those in San Francisco claim their city gave birth to Mission-style burritos. My friend Robb Walsh of the Houston Press swears by the taco trucks, Tex-Mex specialties, and myriad regional Mexican restaurants in Houston.
Other folks, like cookbook authors and enthusiastic eaters Cheryl and Bill Jamison would put forth Santa Fe as the king of all Mexican food towns in the U.S. And our own Chicago correspondent, Michael Nagrant, would of course put Chicago and its Mexican food ahead of all other comers, led by the formidable and impressive Windy City chef Rick Bayless.
Finally, the good people of San Antonio swear up and down that their city is the place to eat Mexican food in the U.S. And maybe, just maybe, you think you could make a compelling case for a city that's not mentioned above. You'll get your chance to put forward your favorite right now. Vote after the jump.
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Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, Julie Besonen hips us to a couple of Santa Barbara taquerias that sound awesome, including El Bajío for its "sensational seafood soups, fresh moles and well-seasoned, slow-roasted meats," and Los Arroyos, "famous for warm, freshly cut chips and creamy guacamole heaped in a molcajete."
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 29, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Houston Press food critic Robb Walsh discovers a pupusa truck at South Post Oak Road and Tidewater Drive (map): "A Salvadorean lady named Elisa churns out pupusas at an amazing clip. I watched her make a dozen in five minutes."
The cool graphics on the truck (including what what Walsh calls a "funky chicken") are almost worth the price of ignition alone.
Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 28, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Rick Bayless, chef/owner of Chicago's Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, has me brainwashed. Inspired by his example for the last few years, I’ve been telling everyone that you either go regional Mexican or you go home.
If the shadow of a Chipotle and their swaddled infant-sized burritos fell across my path, I’d consider taking a shower. Scarfing down Oaxacan moles and Yucatecan puerco pibil meant I was living right; chewing on chimichangas and noshing on Nachos Belgrande, not so much. Then a few weeks ago, I discovered Mexican Inn.
Mexican Inn is a 47-year-old corner joint located in the shadow of the Chicago skyway. It’s in a south side neighborhood called the East Side, an island of land separated from the rest of the city by the Calumet River and surrounded by behemoth factories with flatulent smokestacks. The East Side is closer to Indiana than it is to downtown. It’s a place most Chicagoans never stop for, though many drive through when the tollway gets backed up.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 14, 2008 at 11:15 AM
There are at least a thousand taquerias in Chicago city proper, though only about ten of them actually sear their meat and season it properly. Still, ten is a pretty hefty number. Hell, growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, we didn’t even have one good taqueria, only a second rate Chi-Chi’s serving up enchiladas “Cancun” filled with fake crab meat and krill-sized shrimp. Faced with this gluttony of “local” options, I wondered why I was driving 40 miles to check out a suburban taqueria. But I try not to leave any stone unturned when it comes to food tips, and I'd heard from a good source that the folks at Bien Trucha were tearing it up.
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Posted by Zach Brooks, November 14, 2007 at 12:30 PM
Who doesn't know what a burrito is? Taco, of course. Quesadilla? No problema. Torta? Well, they don't have those at Taco Bell! Even if you are familiar with the Mexican Sandwich that is the torta, (not to be confused with the Spanish egg "torta") you probably don't know the torta. Why? Because no two are alike, and every region/state/restaurant/bodega has their own version. Meat or no meat? Sliced avocado or guacamole? Black beans or refried beans? The permutations are endless, and you'd be hard pressed to the find the "perfect" torta. That is, until you try the version from La Casita Chilanga, a tiny torta specialist on Middlefield Rd., the "Little Mexico" of Silicon Valley.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, September 20, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Ed Levine made ethnic and cheap eats safe for America, or at least New Yorkers, anyway. In some ways, his seminal work, New York Eats, put pastrami and pizza on the same table as foie and truffles. It's precisely why I've been excited to contribute to this site, as my personal philosophy is that haute cuisine and the antiquated starred review system panders to people who are more likely to equate the cost of a meal with the quality of a meal, the same people who shove food in their mouth but never taste it, the folks rocking mediocre Cristal because that's what Jay Z clued them in to. I believe that the Italian beef sandwich should be as vaunted as a Waygu beef, and that's why I'm here. So in the vein of Mr. Levine, I've put together a short primer below on some of Chicago's truly best and relatively cheap ethnic joints that are as relevant as our four-star palaces like Alinea and Charlie Trotter's.
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