Yearning for a taste of her Los Angeles roots, Mrs. Burgerdogboy suggested we find an adequate-sized Mexican grocery and pick up some supplies for Mexican style “street tacos.” She was feeling a bit nostalgic for home comfort food, and me, I’m always up for her cooking, and a little taco nostalgia myself, tho my memories of same tend to drift towards the tequila black-outs of my youth in TJ.
I Yelped for suggestions and opted for La Tapatia, at 18330 Southeast Stark Street, and ventured into a heretofore unchecked out part of Portland (for me, in any case).
It’s a great choice for buying Mexico groceries and meats, and it c0-located with a rather large “Mexican-style” flea market, a beehive of activity on Saturday afternoons.
We parked in a the crowded lot next to a taco trailer, and Mrs. BDB’s peckishness got the best of her, and we had to score a couple of tongue tacos before venturing into the grocery. With us, it’s always best to eat prior to grocery shopping else we fall into food budget disaster.
A wide variety of tacos are offered by this cart in the parking lot, for a buck a pop, and they were delicious.
The grocery was beyond my expectations, sparkling clean, helpful employees, and a great fresh meat counter. We picked up some marinated pork meat for our tacos, tortillas, shrimp ceviche, and a couple of pounds of chorizo and other sausages.
One often hears that Portland lacks authentic Mexican food, but such is not the case, whether you want to prepare at home, or check out the taco stands in the parking lot or within the flea market.
It’s as authentic as it gets.