Sep 11 2009

Chacho’s Tacos #2 – Rainy Day Edition

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Interior

Chacho’s Tacos #2

1321 Ayers Street

Corpus Christi, TX 78404

361-888-7378

Chorizo & Egg – $1.75

Carne Guisada – $1.95

Large Coffee – $1.35

“There will be a rain dance Friday night, weather permitting”

– George Carlin (1937–2008)

Exterior

It was raining when The Hat and I set out this morning – just like the day before.  Downtrodden and in need of coffee we navigated by intuition toward the Donut Hole, a fabled hole in the wall which has been recommended many times.  Closed…  Fortunately we’re in Corpus Christi, so we drove 2 blocks and found Chacho’s Tacos #2.  Sure the numeric reference in the name was unfortunate but if the hand painted sign was any indication we were in for a treat.

CorpusRainAs we stepped in from the rain, we shook off and stepped up to the counter and reading the menu board found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: the elusive spam taco! The 5th in town! Next week we’ll be reviewing all five, stay tuned.  For today, however, I stick with my regular.  The place was nice, painted white, bare walls, humble and clean.  The servers were friendly and the patrons were diverse. We got our chow to go and headed back to Kevin’s to do some analytics.

TeeBack

The tortillas were soft and flour coated – an object of contention.  I like, Kevin doesn’t.  The Chorizo and egg was delicious, and tasted as if it was cooked in butter as well as chorizo grease.  The Carne Guisada was also quite good, very tender, and savory with more than a hint of tomato. The coffee was not great, and the creamer was in a packet.

We sat and ate the breakfast in the warm security of the house, a whole world of deep blue shadow, and quietly reflected on the day ahead in a fleeting period of calm before the storm of work. I swear I saw a ghost at the taqueria. Then – out into the rain again.

From the Hat
It was a dark and stormy morning.  The kind of morning that makes you want to roll over and stuff your head back in the pillow.  But the day was havin’ none of it.  I was still wearing the night on my face when I heard the knock on the door.  I knew what it meant.
By the time the coffee kicked the cobwebs, I was careening down a dark and deserted Staples St.  I knew something about the neighborhood.  It was early morning darkness, but it was still Darkness.  My companion seemed unaffected.  Navigating the video game that was Staples-under-construction with the confidence of man who knew what he wanted and nothing could stop him.
I knew he wanted Tacos.
We’d picked a notorious spot on Ayers called the Donut Hole – nothing could stand in our way… Nothing that is but Thor the god of Thunder.  The Hole was closed – Rained out.  But lucky for us, there was a taqueria a block away where we could gather our thoughts and decide what to do.
I decided to have a nopalitos and egg a la Mexicana on flour, a brisket with the works on corn, and a large coffee.  For the technicians, Chachos #2’s nopalitos and eggs were very good with plenty of cactus and Mexicana vegetables.  The taco was seasoned well.  It was seasoned even better with a dose of their salsa.  It had a bright taste, possibly mostly from canned ingredients.  But it was very well done and had plenty of heat.
The Brisket taco was okay.  The corn tarp was good, but it was hard to tell with all of the big flavors in the innards.  There was plenty of baked brisket dressed with pickles, grilled onions, and bar-b-que sauce.  The more I got into it, the more I liked it, but I still found myself wishing I’d tried the barbacoa.
Chacho’s #2 was a bright spot in the rainy darkness; a sentinel watching over those hardy few seeking early morning tacos.  Not a bad piece of Serendipity.
Salud
Tacos

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