Tuesdays with TT: Austin: Tacodeli

Over the past couple of months I have become quite the food blogger. I or (CT) bring a camera to every restaurant we go to. Since Yvo has been busy with school, I am stepping up and will now have a weekly column, Tuesdays with TT. Bon Appetit!

Before I left for Austin, I decided to do some research of places to eat when I get there.   Serious Eats recommended Tacodeli for their tacos, so I added that to my list.  M suggested we go there for breakfast.   NYC is definitely lacking in the good taco department, especially when it comes to breakfast.

This location was pretty nice with a bunch of tables on the patio to eat.  Inside was the quirky kind of place you would expect with a bunch of hipster working there.  Since we woke up late and were having an early lunch with our cousins later, we only got 3 tacos. 2 for me, 1 for M.

M got the bacon, egg, and cheese taco.  By the look of it and her response, a great choice.

I had the Popeye, eggs with spinach and queso fresco.  The fresh spinach was great and was the star of the show.   I added some house-made hot sauce for a nice kick.

I also got the Jess Special, eggs with migas, monterrey jack, and fresh sliced avocado.  For those fellow Northerners, migas can represent a variety of dishes.  The Tex-Mex version is eggs mixed with strips of corn tortillas. This was also a very tasty taco.  I can never get enough fresh avocado.

In all, for the 3 tacos and 2 coffees it was less than $11.  That is a pretty good deal in my book, especially considering the freshness of the ingredients.

NYC Taco Update:

One of my new favorite deal sites is Blackboard Eats. They offer a couple deals a week to various restaurants in NYC & LA, usually 30% off. The best part is that this is a free service, no membership fees or anything.  A couple weeks ago they came out with an extra special deal for Cabrito. 30% off plus a free margarita for each person in your party.  I had tried the tacos before when Cabrito had a stand at Madison Square Park last fall and liked them a lot.

Unfortunately, it was very dark inside so pictures were out of the question(sorry Yvo, no picture is better than a dark, blurry one).

We started with the guacamole, which was nice but on the small side.

For mains, the three of us decided to share a couple different things.

Lengua y Tomatillo Tacos- I am all about the tongue tacos, they were good, but not especially memorable.

Al Pastor Tacos- The pork tacos with pineapple habanero pico de gallo.  The chef definitely didn’t use a light hand with the habanero.  These were pretty hot! CT didn’t think so, since she isn’t a wuss, but I struggled a bit.

Chicharrón Tacos- These were a nightly special. CT & I both have a love for chicharrón ever since we had them at Momofuku Ko.  This time around wasn’t as good. I believe the pork skin was braised, not fried, therefore not a true chicharrón.

Al Carbon Hurache- The steak hurache. I like this for the good char on the meat. The other two thought it was bland, but this was after they ate the Al Pastor tacos.

Cabrito- the signature dish. “Sour orange, garlic and chili rubbed goat. Slow roasted and served chopped with salsa borracha & warm flour tortillas.” I only had a small taste of this since we ordered way too much food. It had a nice crisp exterior, but the meat was a little dried out. Some salsa was definitely needed.

All in all a great experience. Be warned that it gets pretty busy on the weekends, so there may be a wait, especially since they don’t take reservations. While waiting I saw Sylar from Heroes walk by in full hipster garb with the red headed guy from Modern Family, gotta love the West Village. After the BB Eats coupon, all of that food plus an additional beer for me was about $30 pp. We ended up saving about $60.