Very cheap but yummy local food south of Zocalo. This is every man's food stall, so don't expect a…read moreMichelin star service. In fact, don't expect any service except them cooking the food for you.
It's close both to Mercado Sonora, and Mercado Merced. To be visited no later than 4 PM. Earlier if you can. This area is not safe later; but it is perfectly safe for lunchtime. Lots of families with children purchasing stuff for school.
I have never seen this place be less than packed. Cash only.
The condiments, pickles, and everything else are free, but there is a sign that says if you overdo it, you will get charged 18 pesos extra. There should be nothing left on your plate when you're done.
I recommend you take a minute and see how the locals do it and just mimic the way they do it so you don't get embarrassed.
I usually have a bistec and a campechano. I really like their onion and habanero, boiled white beans, and nopales. Of course you should put some salsa Verde or salsa roja as well.
As a rule, I avoid ice; so, I've never had their fruit drinks. I have a very good reason for avoiding ice. And if you walk very early in the morning when they are stocking stalls for the day you'll see why .
A little note about Nopales. They are cactus leaves that have been slightly pickled. You can have also them grilled, sautéed, steamed, and even fresh blended as jugó verde which you can have for breakfast. They could be a little slimy like okra. If you I recommend grilled. There is a very specific way getting the cactus thorns out. I wouldn't recommend you trying to buy them and make them yourself unless you really know what you're doing. Safer to eat it at a restaurant or a stall made by people who have been doing it for hundreds of years.
Sometime very soon we in the north are going to "discover " nopales and the price is going to be 100 times more expensive; It's going to be hard to find, and you're going to kick yourself for not trying it while it is still dirt cheap.
End of the Taqueria review.
I'm going to digress a little:
Examples of these miracle discoveries are:
Coconut water,
Quinoa,
Mezcal,
Vietnamese sandwiches,
Vietnamese summer rolls,
...
They were all food for low income people who couldn't afford anything else and then we in the first world discovered those foods and now they are luxury foods you buy at Whole Foods.
By the way, I lived on Vietnamese sandwiches and spring rolls while I was in college. Back then they cost $1.25, and $1.50 and coconut water which was common and the Vietnamese stores was less than $.50. The 50 Cent was for those giant coconut waters with a picture of a parrot on it! Twice the size of a regular Coke.
Mezcal used to cost 232 pesos for a bottle of 400 conejos joven only five years ago before some guys DISCOVERED mezcal and ruined it for the rest of us.
As of this morning 400 conejos joven cost 529 pesos and our brethren's made up labels cost a whopping 929 pesos. This is over here in Mexico City, I can only imagine how much it cost in Los Angeles
It's not the fault of our intrepid discoverers that the Price is so high; but they are definitely one of the reasons it happened.
All sort of interesting people are now manipulating the market like they did for avocados. People who plant agave are being leaned on to sell their goods to "recommended " buyers. I assure you, the farmers are not reaping the benefits of $50 a bottle mezcal.
Anyway, P.T. Barnum said a long time ago that a sucker is born every minute. I try not to be one; but the other night I accidentally bought a shot of Mezcal and I paid 250 pesos for it when a bottle of the same shot used to cost 232 only a few years ago!
In summary try Nopales while you can still afford it.
And if you can help it at all, try to be a symbiot instead of a parasite, and definitely try not to be a sucker.
