Ethnic.City: A Texican shame spiral
A couple weeks ago, I got a craving for Mexican food. Not the kind of Mexican food someone who grew up with an abuela who’d spend three days making massive batches of mole should crave. I wanted Texican, if you will. I figured the craving was fleeting — something I could snuff out with a little queso dip, maybe some nachos. Nope. Instead it turned into a four-day, ITP shame spiral.
I’ve always managed to avoid Taqueria del Sol (2165 Cheshire Bridge Road, 404-321-1118) because we live so close to Buford Highway. This time, my craving and proximity conspired against me. We happened upon the restaurant during one of its lulls, although a line of 20 quickly formed behind us. I get what owner Eddie Hernandez has done by muting Mexican flavors, adding booze and up-charging the hell out of the menu. While I think the salsas are excellent, the taco fillings were so intensely overseasoned (read: salty) that I couldn’t get past two bites. The cheese enchilada wrapped in a corn tortilla and smothered in pork chili verde, however, was an excellent pile of gooey, sinful goodness.
The next night, we found ourselves at Big Tex Cantina (308 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur, 404-377-3939) late in the evening. Despite the fact that it opened so recently (or, perhaps, because it opened so recently) the wait at Big Tex — even at 8:45 — was around 30 minutes. Not much to review, but the menu and vibe are dramatically different from the owners’ other restaurant, Fox Brothers Bar-B-Q. Look for a Texas-inspired poutine dish using the brothers’ stepmom’s red chili sauce recipe, a fully vegetarian version of stacked enchiladas topped with a fried egg, and flour (or corn) tortilla based tacos made with brisket from Fox Brothers.
I think this post has thrust me into my own Texican Shame Spiral.
So bad…and so good.