Chacho’s Tacos #2 – Rainy Day Edition
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)
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.
As 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.
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.
My ancestry is Irish, with a little english, dutch, french-canadian thrown in for good measure. I am fortunate enough to have been born in Texas, and to have had a lot of interaction with the blended Mexican American culture of Texas. What I’m trying to say is I’m an outsider, but I’m not an ignorant outsider. I make these observations with a fair amount of experience – what with having spent more than a little time in Mexico. Mexico has had a profound effect on my life, both good and in one case tragically. So when you read what I have to say consider this: I am trying to be funny but I am dead serious about what I’m doing. I think the taco in all its forms is the perfect food. I have a deep love for tacos and for Corpus Christi where my family goes back on two sides for three generations.
All this said, I’m still a gringo. I think it helps me to make objective observations but there are things about which I know very little when it comes to Mexican Food. Take, for example, Menudo. I know what it is, I know what it tastes like, and I know what it’s good for but beyond that I’m still in the dark. So one fine Sunday morning I called upon an insider – Dee, my father-in-law – to bring his not insignificant experience to bear on the subject of Menudo.
know that it’s good, at least at Sonny’s. I got the small bowl and it was still pretty big, though it looks tiny next to the 500 ml bottle of Mexican Coke. Dee would frequently dip a rolled-up homemade corn tortilla into the soup and eat it. I ordered a Chicharron and Egg to go with it and it was really good – fried but not fried out. The service was good and they called Dee by name. It was almost as if we were eating at a friend’s house.
