“I could write prophetically about how perfect the taco is.” ~Ken Baumann
When it comes to perfect tacos, San Antonio has more than its fair share. Maybe not prophetically, as Mr. Baumann suggests, but even I should be writing about them more.
When it comes to the best thing I eat on a regular basis, tacos are often on my list. Whether those tacos be breakfast, lunch, dinner, beef, pork or chicken (or even fish), San Antonio has them all and I eat them all. And while mostly Tex-Mex, and mostly on flour tortillas they may be, we’ve definitely got a taco for everyone, every palate and every occasion. They may not always be everyone’s taco of choice (just ask Austin, where they think they, in fact, have it all…), but most of us from here, live and love with our warm Tex-Mex tacos that are usually filled with enough eggs, meat and cheese to fill more than a few of those fluffy white tortillas.
Are they the best anywhere? Obviously taste is a subjective thing, so it’s hard to say for sure, but when it comes to carnitas and corn tortillas, I now believe—objectively speaking—that San Antonio, does indeed have the best.
Last week, I was introduced to these best tacos at Carnitas Lonja, a Michoacan-style taqueria at 1107 Roosevelt, that opened in April of last year.
Not your typical San Antonio Tex-Mex fare—and I don’t usually say that as a good thing or at least as my favorite thing—I was willing to give it a try. As a lifelong and proud lover of just about everything Tex-Mex, I’m not one to usually seek out the corn tortilla Mexican taco joints that are much more plentiful around the city now than they were in my youth. I am team flour, if you will, and I’m not ashamed in the least to admit that. And while we’re choosing teams, I’m also a beef girl (I didn’t say beefy, although that could be the subject of another blog post…) and, unless it’s a good bacon, bean and cheese taco, I’m not usually one to go for the non-red meat in my tacos, especially at lunch.
So what happened last week? I became a convert. Plain and simple. Although plain and simple is not at all how I would describe what I ate at Carnitas Lonja. More like simply perfect.
Thanks to my fellow foodie, Steve https://www.instagram.com/atemyshorts/, I made my way to the small taqueria to get there right at 11, when they open. It’s one of those places where they offer what they make until they sell out that day and then they’re done. One of those seen-in-trendy-bbq-joints “sold out” signs was not within view of the door as of yet when I arrived, but was, I imagined, awaiting its turn for later in the day. Lucky for me.
Owner, and carnitas master, Alex Paredes, greeted me and watched me carefully as I admired some of the first batch of carnitas in a warming tray on the counter. Carnitas in all their glory doesn’t even begin to describe how they looked, how they smelled, and how they glowed. Yes, they glowed.
I was the first customer and arrived a little before Steve so I had the chance to read the San Antonio Express-News article on the wall, and be more than a little bit impressed with the 2018 Bon Appetit Magazine Top 50 Restaurant Nominee sticker on the window near the counter. I felt a twinge of guilt that my Tex-Mex ways had kept me away for over a year. I mean, I didn’t know about it, but I felt that if I really want to eat the best, I better do a better job of seeking out these places. I apparently need to be more aware of what Mike Sutter is writing about in the Food section!
Steve arrived and recommended the basic tacos: carnitas. And while not many options to choose from the small menu besides tacos, they do also have quesadillas, tortas and menudo. It sounded like they sometimes expand the menu but their basics are those options mentioned above. Based on what I had for lunch, those options are more than enough.
We ordered a taco of carnitas each, and a quesadilla with chorizo to share. Accompanied by both the red and the green salsas that Alex offers, our lunch was one of the best I’ve had in a while.
First the corn tortilla. It was thick and flavorful and kept its tortilla form through the entire taco. Its integrity was solid, and the taste was out of this world. Second, the meat. Oh, my. The pork was so tender, so good, and so much! It was definitely enough meat for three tacos (I should have asked for two more tortillas!); so much in fact that I ate some of the meat with a fork. Think of it as a carnitas appetizer before your carnitas taco. Third, the OMG-good quesadilla. If I would have been alone, I probably would have licked up the grease left behind, but I wasn’t alone, and so I didn’t. Next time.
If the carnitas aren’t enough for you to visit, the chorizo is. Or should be.
As you can tell, I liked it. Okay, I loved it. I’m a Carnitas Lonja and carnitas taco convert and I now have a new thing to add to my favorite things to eat in San Antonio list.
Best thing I ate last week? For sure. Best thing I’ve ever eaten? It’s hard to say. Best thing I’ve eaten for lunch sitting on a picnic table outside? Darn right could be. Definitely the best carnitas I’ve ever eaten.
Visit Carnitas Lonja on FB: https://www.facebook.com/Lonja17/ or in person at 1107 Roosevelt Avenue in San Antonio. Or give Alex a call at 210.612.3626 and tell him to keep up the good work. Order some tacos before you hang up.
Elda Eats XO
