Ethnic.City: Gorditas La Rancherita: Norcross
Don’t be embarrassed when the door slams behind you at Gorditas La Rancherita (2055 Beaver Ruin Road, Norcross, 678-206-0107). It happens to everyone. The shades are always drawn, lending the restaurant a tinge of sketchiness, and the hard booths aren’t too kind on the rear. The drawbacks end there.
In our taco saturated culinary landscape, Gorditas’ range of real-deal Mexican especialidades is a blessing. Chilaquiles is one of the most popular breakfast dishes in Mexico; old tortillas are repurposed by being fried to a slight crisp and slathered in a spicy salsa. Gorditas makes theirs with smoky red or acid green salsa. Chilaquiles is often served with sliced ham; here, they’re topped with two fried eggs (or your preferred preparation), creamy refried beans, and what has to be the most authentic-tasting (it actually tastes like tomato – not bouillon) Mexican-style rice in Atlanta.
Chunks of fork-tender barbacoa de chivo (goat) are coated in a silky and heady sauce with numerous plates of taco-making accoutrements – a basket of Gorditas’ exceptional tortillas included. These aren’t store-bought tortillas. The short but serious female cook makes them to order in her cubby of a kitchen. They are thicker than the machine-made variety, but take a deep whiff of the steam when they come to the table. Your nose will immediately recognize the distinction.
