Tacos Aquí Mero
🇲🇽 HIDALGO, MÉXICO / HISTORICAL: Giant pots of Hidalgo-style barbacoa are enough to convince customers to slam on their brakes in La Puente.
🇲🇽 MÉXICO (Hidalgo)
📍 14941 Amar Road,
La Puente, San Gabriel Valley.
🅿️ Street parking
💲 Cash Only
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📆 Original Article 12 February 2020Sometime around last summer, a new Hidalgo-style barbacoa purveyor was born that goes by the name of Tacos Aquí Mero. True to form, tacos were the main item on offer, barbacoa de chivo available in both soft and crispy fried tortillas.
The team first moved to an Arco station in East Los Angeles, but has relocated to a high-speed stretch of Amar Road between California and Unruh Avenues. Since there is no stopping on Amar, you are better off approaching the stand from the neighborhood just south of Amar and parking on Foxworth Avenue.
Catching up with them on a recent chilly and windy Sunday morning (the stand is open Saturday and Sunday only from 07:00 to 15:00), it was also of note that they sell a beautiful consomé to accompany your taco orders, and the hot broth was much appreciated.
One of the nicest features of the stand is the availability of three homemade salsas, each presented in a giant molcajete. The salsa verde goes very well with their barbacoa, while the orange habañero is ready to make you sweat whenever called upon.
Tacos de barbacoa (above) are placed on nicely warmed tortillas and given plain. The condiment bar is ready for you to top each with your desired amount of onions, cilantro, and lime juice, as well as the salsas. On warmer days, their aguas frescas will need to be explored.
On Facebook the team talks about taking no shortcuts in their preparation and using pencas de maguey (agave leaves) during the overnight cooking process. The barbacoa itself does not defy this, rich, smoky and smooth with so much juiciness.
A cup of consomé (above) is a clean but very complex broth. It is not served with any goat meat, so they offer chickpeas and rice if you would like to make it a bit more hearty. Either way, it is wonderful to sip on between bites of tacos, especially on these cold winter weekends.
They also sell their barbacoa by the pound for those wanting to cater their own family breakfasts at home. Look for the bright sign below the next time you are passing through La Puente.
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