Antojitos Mexicanos: Pambasos y Huaraches

I have been taking South 1st to work every day for the last two years, and about six months ago I noticed a new taco truck establishment on the northbound side of the street. It’s hard to miss, painted bright yellow, sitting in the parking lot of Creditland Cars, advertising “pambasos” as their feature menu item. Pambasos! Hit the brakes! Now I’ve seen some interesting taco truck items, such as discada or capechano tacos, or non-taco items such as sincronizadas or grilled corn niblets in a cup doused in mayonnaise. But pambasos! They haunted me for six months until finally one night we decided to try them once and for all.




Although I was there on an undercover mission for Taco Journalism, I couldn’t help trying the non-taco items, if only because I’ve never seen them anywhere else in Austin. That’s because Antojitos Mexicanos serves up Mexico City style fare – and that’s a rarity in Austin, which is overrun by Jalisco style Mexican cuisine. The taco selection isn’t very expansive at Antojitos and includes easily recognizable items such pastor, picadillo, tripa, and chicharron, but it also offers a few more unique tacos such as tinga and rajas con chorizo. I’ll have to try them next time. But for now, I introduce to you the pambaso and the huarache.

The pambaso begins with a large bread roll lightly fried in chile colorado sauce. There are a variety of fillings, but I wanted my first pambaso in the most traditional way possible, so the staff suggested a filling of picadillo (ground beef with small cubed potatoes). Before the filling goes in the sandwich, they add a thin layer of refried beans as the glue. It is then topped with shredded lettuce, sour cream, queso fresco, and salsa verde. It was not quite as savory as I’d imagined, but it was super filling for the price and unlike any other sandwich I’ve had in Austin. Originality goes a long way with Undercover Mexican Girl.



We also tried the huarache, the preparation of which we witnessed starting from the ball of dough used to make the flour tortilla. After the ball is formed, it is punched in on one side, and refried beans are mashed into the center. Then the tortilla is flattened out using a traditional wooden press. After the tortilla is flattened into an oblong shape – into the shape of huarache (sandal) – it is cooked on the skillet and then lightly fried. Then it is topped with salsa verde, onions, and queso fresco. So, basically, it’s an open-faced quesadilla, with a thin layer of beans cooked inside the tortilla itself. And if all shoes tasted like this huarache, then give me a cowboy boot.

It was cold that night, and when they offered hot chocolate, I first had to know – was it real hot chocolate? Because I will drink the powdered stuff if forced to, but cocoa processed with alkali is not a UMG-approved hot beverage. Not only did they have real hot chocolate – it was Abuelita hot chocolate. I will eat that chocolate right out of the box, going to all lengths to saw off a perfect triangle wedge off the disc. To top it off, it was made with honest to goodness milk.

All in all, our bill rang up to about $10 (one pambaso, one huarache, and two hot chocolates).
When you’re getting a late-night antojito – a craving – head south of Ben White to Antojitos Mexicanos. And I admit, it’s fun to say it. Pambaso!

Antojitos Mexicanos - 5 Stars - Undercover Mexican Girl
4221 South 1st
(parking lot of Creditland Cars)
(512) 803-5099

Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 7 AM - 10 PM
Friday: 7 AM - 3 AM
Saturday: 9 AM - 3 AM
Sunday: 12 PM - 9:30 PM

2009: The Year of the Taco

At least it was for the Taco Journalism team. We probably ate more than 300 tacos this year and if you look at my belly, it shows! 2009 hit some people pretty hard but luckily for us, we mostly ate at cheap taco joints and were able to survive "these economic times." We did eat a lot of tacos, met some cool peeps, collaborated on projects (yeah, just like the hop-hop moguls), traveled a bit, ate more tacos, got our 15 seconds of fame, added a girl Taco Journalist to the team and watched a man eat 26 tacos in 15 minutes! All this and we all managed to keep our day jobs!

So here's a quick recap, from our taco world to yours!

Austin Taco Tours
Who knew tacos would bring so many people out for the rainiest East Austin Taco Bike Tour we hosted with TastyTouring? Yeah, I remember seeing all those bike riders (40+) at Porfirio's then it rained on our way to Piedras Negras & Marcelino's but the troopers stayed strong (20ish) finishing at Mi Madre's. We ate a lot of tacos aguados that day!

We also searched the best Taco Al Pastor in town. We did a video for Dishola and recruited some pretty committed pork eating peeps. Austin is not D.F. and we don't do our al pastor trompo stlye but we can definitely pass the health inspections. For this tour, we had to try the best al pastor taco in town. We searched far and wide; not really, we just went to 5 taquerias: El Taquito, Rosita's Al Pastor, La Guera, El Primo y La Flor. La Guera won hands down and we got a vid to prove it! We also had a pro photographer (Penny De Los Santos) taking the most amazing photos of any taco you'll ever see!

World Taco Tour
We'll go where ever the tacos will take us and where we can afford to go. This year, we teamed up with Austin & Houston food bloggers for the H-town Taco Tour. Addie Broyles was our fearless leader in this tour and the Catrachas closed the deal for us. Great times were had by all Americans, Mexicans and Hondurans.

SF - We also ventured to the west coast to rip on the burritos and take a taco tour of The Mission. Dishola's Lindsey Simon helped us out with some pretty good places and one joint to be remembered by all. Visions of the taco dorado at La Taqeria will be 4evah engraved in my belly!

We went all the way to San Antonio to try the "best tacos in America" and were not disappointed. In S.A. the tortillas bring it home. That pretty much wraps up the world tour.

Pissing people off
Yeah, we pissed some people off but we're sticking to our taste buds. El Chile, La Condesa, Zocalo, Flaco's, Curra's, Rio Grande, Cafe Hornitos, El Sol y La Luna, Ken's Tacos & Jalapeño Joe's: No Thanks!

And I thought we ate a lot of tacos!

Nope, there are some serious taco eaters in this town and that included Joey Fulcher, the winner of Open Door Preschool's taco eating contest. This guy downed 26 crispy tacos in 15 minutes beating out 14 other contestants! He barely stayed for the trophy ceremony cuz he had to go.

The Taco Journalista
We had one try out and she made it. This year, we welcomed the Undercover Mexican Girl to the team, mixing it up for the puro vato taco team.

RIP: Magic Taco Box
Yes, this year, we said good-bye to the Magic Taco Box aka Alayna's Taqueria. You will be forever in our hearts.

Our 15 minutes
Tacos: you love them, we love them and the media loves them too! This year, we were very fortunate to talk about tacos with media types including...

Austin360: Tour de Tacos
Austin Monthly: Will Work for Food
KGSR Food Show w TastyTouring: Breakfast Tacos
We Are Austin: A Convo with a Taco Journalist
Austin Vida: Meet Austin's Taco Experts
SF Weekly's SFoodie: A Texas Taco Blogger's Crawl Through the Mission
and we made the cut for Austin American-Statesman's Top Blogs

Finally, the 3 Taco joints to eat in Austin for 2009 are...
Taqueria Olivas by the Undercover Mexican Girl
San Juanita's by Jarod
Amaya's Taco Village by Cornbiter Deluxe

So what's in store for 2010? We don't know but mibbe we'll get more organized, the quality of our photos may improve (or not) and there's rumors of a Taco Council??? We'll see but I hope you will join us in our taco adventures!

Adios Mofos!

The TJ Team
Jarod
Cornbiter Deluxe
The Commish
Undercover Mexican Girl
El Mundo de Mando

My Rejected Food Network Video

Well, I didn't get a call back. That's pretty much rejection, right? Gotta keep trying though. We need a show that shines the light on all the taquerias from Austin to Akron, Ohio, right???

Muchisimas gracias to my friend, Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon for filming and everyone else for your ayuda!

Now for your viewing pleasure (or not), here's my rejected Next Food Network Star try-out video...

The Case of the Mystery Chones!

Last week, I was in the outskirts of D-town, a place called Carrollton/Farmers Branch. Yeah, the same place that tried to ban colorful houses. Anyway, I went to this Mexican joint with the fam and found something curious while I was there....Chones - aka calsones/underwear/boxers, pronounced cho-nees! Yeah, can you believe it??? I didn't but it was true. I even made a short video of it. Check it out...



Have any stories to compare??? I've heard cucarachas and ratones, but chones?? Can you beat it?

El Mundo de Mando

One Taco - Zen Taco Truck Madness

One Taco is a new-ish taco truck operating in the parking lot of the Little Woodrow's on West 6th street. One of the previous occupants of that spot was a Torchy's Tacos. So it is understandable that One Taco can't help but echo some of what people like and dislike about Torchy's. It is self-consciously stylish and clean. It is a bit overpriced (the price's don't approach Torchy's levels though). They both use high quality ingredients and neither serves 'traditional tacos'.

The differentiator, then, seems to be in the menu. Torchy's has a sprawling menu with tons of variations. One Taco took a zen-like approach with a minimalist menu: for lunch they serve breakfast, steak or chicken tacos. No crazy tacos named after fake sexual positions are served here. With such a limited menu, those tacos better be awesome.

The steak was broken up into small, pebble-sized bits, covered with white cheese and marinated in a chipotle sauce and served on a flour tortilla. Green salsa was served on the side. It proved to be rather bland. The steak was nice and non-gristley, but the chipotle sauce was lacking in any heat and was rather watered-down. Overall, it was a decent steak taco, but not memorable.

The breakfast taco was serviceable, but done in a style I dislike. The eggs were clearly prepared separately from the bacon with the bacon being added at the end, assembly-line style. While it probably makes for easier assembly, it definitely loses a lot of flavor. I was disappointed.

Finally, I'm not normally a 'bean guy'. I don't see the big fuss. However, in this case, I made an exception and was quite pleased. The beans were nice and smooth, not too thick and not too thin. They had a great consistency and were well complimented by the white cheese. I would definitely order it again.

If you're drinking at Little Woodrow's, One Taco is a serviceable choice for food. Actually, if you are drinking, you'll probably think it is amazing. Just don't go back, sober, expecting Torchy's.

One Taco - 2.5 stars - The Commish
520 West Sixth St.
Austin, TX 78701
info@one-taco.com

NOTE: The review was initially done when they were in the parking lot across from Little Woodrow's.

Best Tacos Al Pastor in the World (Hint: Not in Austin)

So says mi amigo Elias Hermida. He just came back from El D.F aka Mexico City and videotaped "the best tacos al pastor in the world" joint and it's even a taco drive-in. Enjoy!

Juarez Mexican Bakery - Round Rock, TX

A few weeks ago, we all decided to try out tacos in Round Rock, TX. I thought good Mexican food was practically nonexistent in the Rock but I was wrong. I found one good place - Juarez Mexican Bakery. A not so close second was Speedy Tacos, at least from my flavor flaves. Check out the video on Juarez Mexican Bakery for my review.



For both taco joints, check out the reviews by Undercover Mexican Girl...

The Round Rock Excursion

Juarez Bakery & Restaurant

You’d think for being a native of Los Angeles, I would easily embrace driving 24 miles north on a major interstate highway. But I loathe driving, particularly on freeways. Fortunately, The Commish volunteered his Civic Honda as the Taco Journalist Mobile.

We arrived 15 minutes late to meet with Ian Morales of Austin Vida, for the video shoot that would make us famous. Due to unforeseen circumstance, our Round Rock expert was unable to meet with us. What were we to do? Between the four of us, I think our combined lifetime visits to Round Rock were not more than a dozen. Alas, we figured it out.

10:15 AM was rush hour at Juarez – we had no time to lollygag in line – make up your mind quick, and order quick! The line moves faster than you’d expect. Barely awake on a Sunday, I wasn’t ready for anything too experimental, so I settled for my standard eggless breakfast taco: bacon, potato, and cheese. (One morning, years ago, this combination occurred to me during a hangover, when the smell and thought of eggs seemed nauseating.) This taco is all about indulgence. If you want to be truly sinful, leave out the potatoes.

Now, breakfast on the weekends is something I like to take my time with, and as a first timer to Juarez, I did feel rushed and unable to properly make my decision. Given a little more time, I would have ordered a second taco, a cup of coffee, or even a pastry. Lucky for me, Mando ordered a pan dulce that was simply pan francés (French bread) slathered thick with rich, creamy butter and a generous layer of sugar. This he shared with the rest of us, and even though one of my aberrations is regularly turning down sweets – this just might be my downfall. Much to my mother’s dismay, my father taught me at a very early age this delicious concoction of bread, butter, and sugar. And now I discovered it comes ready-made, in a more spectacular form! I also had a bite of Justin’s concha. Both sweet breads were soft, warm, and fresh.

The salsa is not easy to come by – no squeeze bottles on the table and not included on the side in mini-containers with lids. The salsa, which to my delight was plentiful with cilantro, was in little ramekin bowls on the far left of the counter. The pressure to order quickly, along with the inconspicuous salsa, made me think you have to be a regular here to get the most out of the experience. The tacos were made very quickly and served wrapped in foil allowing for the cheese to melt nicely, but you don’t seem to get a choice between corn and flour. Call me crazy, but occasionally, I do like my breakfast tacos in the ancient maíz tortilla.

The potatoes were fried just rust right – crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside – with the proper coating of herbs and seasoning. There were two dense, but not fatty, strips of bacon, and a suitable amount of shredded cheese. The experience itself was a bit impersonal, but if this place were in South Austin, I’d definitely go back.

4.0 stars – Undercover Mexican Girl

Speedy Tacos & More

For a place called “Speedy,” I was very amused by their subtle decorative humor – I counted at least half a dozen clocks in their establishment, ranging from classroom-style wall clocks to antique grandfather clocks. The heavy yellow overtones in the décor took me back to the 1970s. I almost felt I was at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor when the music turned to a rag-time piano version of Glenn Miller’s In the Mood, but when the curious musical intro evolved into a Tejano song, I realized I was still at a Mexican American taqueria.

For comparison’s sake, I ordered a bacon-potato-cheese breakfast taco, and being closer to the noon-time hour, I decided also on a beef fajita taco. The tortillas – flour, of course – (corn seems to be more prevalent in South Austin) were quite delicious. Thick, puffy, and homemade.

The taco fillings, however, were not as impressive. I always frown upon a higher-to-other-fillings potato ratio, and while I can often appreciate simplicity, these potatoes were on the blander side. Also, there was only one strip of bacon that didn’t extend the entire diameter of the tortilla. This is important, you see, because otherwise, about 1/5 of your bacon-potato-cheese taco ends up being simply a potato-cheese taco.

I was visibly impressed by the thick cuts of beef fajita, but they were almost too thick for the palate. A bit too Tex-Mex for my tastes. For my tacos, I prefer smaller chopped meat. The grilled onions, too, were cut into hearty strips, and were quite juicy, which I enjoyed. While the taco didn’t excite me on a first try, it was tasty as a leftover the next day.

On a final note, I’m never too sure when a taco place also serves “more” (hamburgers, fried catfish, etc.). I’m a firm believer a restaurant should pick a niche and become an authority. Then again, I do appreciate post-modern hybridism. I’d have to try their “more” items before I could truly judge.

3.0 stars – Undercover Mexican Girl

Juarez Mexican Bakery - 4 Stars
1701 S. Mays Street P
Round Rock, TX 78664
512-255-6262

Speedy Tacos & More - 3 Stars
2000 N. Mays Street #300
Round Rock, TX 78664
512-246-3881

A Taco Journalist on Austin Monthly

Pretty much our premiere on a glossy magazine. It's not available online but that's not gonna stop this Taco Journalist! Click here to download the write-up.