I love trying a new culinary experience that prompts me to learn something new about history and culture. La Señora Del Zacahuil gave me that gift this week and I couldn't believe she had no reviews on Yelp. Coming here to pull up her page and I see 16 glowing "currently not recommended" reviews. Let's see if we can fix that and get her some more visitors from the Yelp community.
Firstly, know that this food is lovingly hand-prepared with highest quality ingredients and the price point reflects that. I gotta admit, I was shocked to learn that our meal for 3 from a freeway-adjacent food truck was $62 - gulp, come again!? That total included 2 entrees, 5 tacos, and 1 horchata. Inflation must be impacting this small business, as the prices we paid were $1-3 higher per item than the prices on the online menu or Yelp/Google/FB photos from 6 months ago.
Notably, prices are not shown on the posted menus at the truck, so you really don't know about the sticker shock until you start to pay for the meal. If you aren't a fluent Spanish speaker, it may be a bit challenging to negotiate if you want to ask questions about changing your order to bring the total bill down.
Now to the food. Everything we tried was delicious & beautifully garnished with fresh veggies & crunchy, colorful pickles (en escabeche). Salsas were offered in red and creamy green by squeeze bottle straight from the fridge. Be sure to return these when your meal is done.
We ordered at the truck window then waited under the adjacent covered outdoor seating area for our order to be called. As we waited, the owner came out to serve us an amuse bouche of small cups of the thick, traditional spiced hot chocolate & corn masa drink (atole), champurrado. Yum!
Given the name of the place, I simply had to order the zacahuil, a (supposedly) gigantic tamale cooked in banana leaves in the Huasteca style of San Luis Potosi, only offered on Saturdays at this truck. If you get this in Mexico, it may be a meter or more in length, intended to serve 10+ people! My expectations were high from the truck's photos and the $16 price tag, but I'd say it was just... alright. The food portion was comparable to 2 small Tex-Mex tamales in corn husks and the pork meat filling was sparse compared to photos. While the flavors were very tasty, I'd likely not order this again due to the food-to-dollar margin.
Tacos we tried were tasty but also very pricey. Cochinita pibil, chicken tinga, barbacoa, all on doubled corn tortillas, plus bean & cheese on flour, and potato, egg, & cheese on flour. The cheese appeared to be queso fresco, so it added extra "funky" flavor to the dishes where applied - good thing for me, not so much for my picky eater son. Tortillas appeared to be hand made, another plus.
My date ordered the daily special, chicken tinga chilaquiles. Very fresh, flavorful, and delicious, clearly made-to-order with homemade, thick & crispy totopos.
Will we be back? Yeah, definitely! La Señora offers a novel menu with items rarely seen around Austin, and the service is friendly & welcoming. Seating area is covered & kept tidy. It's like taking a little trip to Mexico without the airfare cost or travel time.
Next visit, I'd love to try the tortas, tacos de canasta, tostadas de siberia, burritos (best price point), and the tepache, a kombucha-like drink from pineapples. To better manage my spending, I'll come prepared with the right questions in Spanish about prices before I complete my order.
Be sure to check social media (FB, TikTok) for any daily specials, as these vary by the owner's inspiration and availability of fresh ingredients. Past offerings include seafood soup and plate lunches (ex: stuffed sirloin or chicken breast with yellow spaghetti and potato casserole).
https://www.laseñoradelzacahuil.com read more