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The Taco House, which is located in the parking lot in front of David's Market, is a rather unique operation, in that it features an almost full-featured restaurant, in a permanent location, yet it's located entirely outside, and only protected from the elements by temporary fold-up gazebo-style canopies, the kind that you'd purchase at your local big box store for only around $70.00 each. The Taco House is owned and operated by the folks who own and operate David's Market, and The Taco House caters to shoppers who require instant taco gratification, rather than purchasing their food at the market, taking it home, and cooking it. The Taco House also caters to folks passing by on busy South Avenue B, which is actually located on the north end of town.
Photo: The Taco House is located in the parking lot, just north of David's Market, and is owned and operated by the same friendly people.
Photo: The Taco House is set up permanently, but is housed under flimsy canopies. Note the refrigerators, grills and the huge assortment of cooking equipment. Their menu is painted on the wall, near the right of the photo. Thursday afternoon, October 21, 2010 found me coming back from a trip to the border town of Cd. Los Algodones, Baja California, which has the distinction of being the most northern town in Mexico. During my visit to Algodones, I had the pleasure of eating at three different restaurants, but I could not find a place in town that served cabeza, nor could I find a vendor selling grilled, bacon wrapped hot dogs. That was unusual for Mexico, but, that's Algodones. When I asked the gal at the motel for her recommendation of a good taco and/or hot dog place, without hesitation she recommended The Taco House. So, you might say, I wanted to give the place a try... Like any good Mexican street food vendor, the gentleman operating the restaurant, Alfonso, didn't speak a word of English. No problema, as my Spanish kicked in and I asked him what variety of tacos they were serving, and he pointed out the painted menu on the wall of the store, but today's offerings for tacos were chicken, carne asada and cabeza, as he was out of the other ingredients. In addition to tacos, I noticed that they serve tostadas, tortas and hot dogs. Hot dog!!! I asked him if they serve Sonoran-style hot dogs, which are wrapped in bacon and served with beans, guacamole and more, and he said that was the variety that they offer. Sing me up!!! I ordered two tacos de cabeza and one bacon wrapped hot dog to go, as I planned to enjoy the fine cuisine later in my motel room.
Photo: Alfonso has my tortillas cooking on the griddle. The next logical step would be to drink another beer and to start the chicken grilling, but The Taco House doesn't sell beer, (but David's Market does...) and I had to drive.
Photo: A portion of the condiments offered were the red salsa, at the left of the photo, to diced green onions. The Taco House is quite an operation, and despite the flimsy protection from the elements, it's a full-service outdoor restaurant, and sports a stove, a griddle, a couple of charcoal fired grills, a refrigerator for drinks, a refrigerator for meat and vegetables, several ice chests, a complete salad bar, and much more. I noticed a big pot of something simmering on a burner, and I asked Alfonso what was cooking, and he said "beans," which could be added to the tacos or hot dog as a condiment. Yes, I was in true Sonoran style taco and hot dog heaven! Alfonso got right to work and placed four corn tortillas - you get the choice of corn or flour tortillas - on the griddle to toast. When the tortillas were ready, he placed them on a plate - two per taco - and scooped the lengua out of a pot, and place a large spoonful on top of the tortillas. Then he handed me the plate of tacos and invited me to garnish them with the garnishes in stainless steel bins, at the counter. That's the format with tacos - you pick out the garnishes that you desire and place them on your tacos. I chose a spoon of beans on each taco, guacamole, pickled red onions, chopped peppers and cilantro, but there were many other choices from his extensive condiment bar, such as several varieties of salsa,, chopped cabbage, and of course key lime halves.
Photo: Alfonso scoops cabeza from a stainless steel bin and places it on my freshly toasted tortillas. Next, he handed me the plate, and it was up to me to garnish my tacos... no problema!
Photo: Alfonso places condiments, which are kept cold, inside the refrigerator, on to my bacon wrapped hot dog. I forgot to mention that he reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a hot dog, that was pre-wrapped with bacon, and placed it on a separate griddle, that seemed to be used exclusively for hot dogs. Whatever... there is nothing that I love more than a Sonoran-style hot dog. It works a little different for the hot dog, as you tell Alfonso what you want on your hot dog, and he garnishes your hot dog for you. He grabbed a bun from one of the ice chests and placed it on a paper plate. His timing was perfect, as the dog was nicely browned, and the bacon was cooked. I asked him to add mustard, mayonnaise, diced tomatoes, diced white onions, beans, and more of his creamy guacamole. I also requested a small container of red salsa to go, which he was only too happy to provide.
Photo: My plate of two tacos de cabeza, garnished with beans, chopped onions, cilantro, red onion strips, and creamy guacamole. The guacamole hides the beans, but trust me, they're in there!
Photo: My delicious bacon wrapped, Sonoran hot dog sports mustard, mayonnaise, diced tomato, diced onions, topped with guacamole. I took home a small bowl of red salsa, that I used as a dip for some tortilla chips I had. All together, my meal of two tacos de cabeza and a Sonoran style hot dog, with all the trimmings, came to the very reasonable price of $4.75 - you can't get a decent fast food lunch for anywhere near the price - and the food served at The Taco House is the real deal, real Sonoran-style Mexican food. The food is authentic Sonoran style Mexican cuisine, it's delicious, the proprietor doesn't speak English, the condiments are fresh, and the price is right. You add it all up, and The Taco House is my kind of restaurant. The
Taco
House Copyright(c) 2010 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custon photography for any occasion...
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