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| - It is interesting that the bust of a tattooed woman above this restaurant specializing in tacos should have such a strong Aztec feel to it since, according to Wikipedia the Spanish conquistadors were the first Europeans to enjoy tacos and incidentally wiped out the Aztecs. I guess that means cultures may come and go but tacos, they are forever, and thank goodness because this place, one heck of an bargain for such a great foodie experience.
The restaurant, if you don't know what you are looking for, can be easy to drive past so have you smartphone out with the map function on Yelp to make sure you don't miss it. Once I arrived, as it was just me, I sat at the bar instead of taking up a whole table. After ordering my drink, which comes in a take-out cup (and I ordered iced-tea, not the famous Horchata which seems well worth trying) you get a basket of tips and then you can go hit the salsa bar which has at least a dozen different types of salsa. I was partial to the peanut salsa, sort of feels like a Thai/Mexico crossover though the pecan salsa, which creamy, was somewhat bland. I did especially like the 7 pepper salsa, a mix of roasted green peppers, slivers of garlic and olive oil, from what I could tell and their more traditional red salsas seemed quite good.
I had the two taco special, which is about $10 and comes with a small side order of rice (fluffy white rice with corn in it, nothing special) and a small container of re-fried pinto beans, also nothing special but they look nice on the taco plate. For the two tacos I ordered, and this is a mouthful, the "Mayan Cochinita Pibil Taco" and some sort of grilled steak taco..both came made with two corn tortillas instead of one and the nice thing, they were not overly soft but had a dry feel to them that kept them from getting soggy from any juices from the taco fillings.
The grilled steak taco had some sort of lime based topping that was really good and both tacos were quite substantive. The Cochinita taco was made with pork shoulder roasted with some sort of red spice and what tasted like orange juice and topped with pickled onion and it was also quite delicious. I did like adding some spicy salsa to that one to kick up the heat a bit.
The menu online is rather limited compared to what they offer now but for a meal that was $13 with a drink and tax, it was a great food experience. If this place was up in Scottsdale instead off of McDowell and 16th St (by the way, easy to get there on the 202, just get off on 24th, go to McDowell, drive to 16th Street and turn. I plan to take some co-workers from the office here next Friday so I can share the experience.
Oh, by the way, found t his place because it was listed as one of the best new 25 restaurants in Phoenix in Phoenix magazine, and they were spot on. Next time I have to try the Horchata which is enhanced with pecans and fresh fruit. Bottom line, worth you time to go here! :-)
Bit of an add on - went back this Friday and boy, even at about 11:30 it was packed. I tried the Horchata this time and the best I've had - I like the pieces of pecan and diced fruit they mix in with it. I also had the steak taco, I guess it is the Condessa taco, that has the spice and olive oil mix on it and it was wonderful, especially with the oil based salsa that tastes like it is made with oil, dried crushed papers and salt, excellent, and I also ordered the grilled squash which, while not amazing, is a nice addition to the meal. I have decided, now that I've eaten there a second time, that I like the grilled steak tacos but the pulled meat, both the chicken and the pork, nothing special, and the side of rice this time, really clumpy and overly sticky, not like what I had last time so I'll give it four stars but need to do something a bit more special with the rice and beans to get a five.
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