El Sol de Mexico – the Amber Lamps Edition
3321 South Staples St. • Corpus Christi, Texas • 361-723-0574
Chorizo & Egg $1.35 • Carne Guisada $1.60 • Bottomless Coffee 99¢
‘I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!’
Does anyone remember this line from Network? That’s how I’m feeling this morning. I don’t want to get into a list of the things that are bothering me – they have nothing to do with the topic at hand: tacos. But I am. I’m mad at the guy who fixed the roof that is as we speak leaking into 6 buckets. I’m pissed off at the jerk who broke into my truck, stole my bass guitar 6 months ago and destroyed my driver’s side lock in the process forcing me to open my passenger side door first 20 times a frickin’ day. I’m done with the republican party for being hypocrites and I’m livid at the democrats for not having their crap together enough to get a damned thing done when they have control over all three branches of government. And all of them for being lying bastards. I’m mad at the tech who fixed my embroidery machine, because I had to get it fixed again after 1 day, and again after it was fixed the 2nd time. I’m mad at whoever made my office smell like garlic chicken soup yesterday. And why the hell did they cancel Carnivàle and Deadwood and the Wire and Swingtown and Brotherhood when CSI Miami and Extreme Home Makeover are still on the air? And black eyes to anyone who says Katrina was a natural disaster when it’s a disaster that would have been mitigated had the Army Corps of Engineers managed the levees the way they said they were. And you damned kids with your droopy drawers, I hope you fall down and bust your ass while you’re running from the cops after perpetrating some half assed wannabe gangsta caper.
And it seems I’m not alone in my seething hostility, in fact the whole world is up to their eyeballs in a seemingly endless flood of insufferable malarky. Just look at Epic Beard Man who ‘lost his composure’ all over the face of a guy whose mother should have taught him to respect his elders, or at least not to invite some mentally unstable veteran who is a good 10 inches and 50 pounds better’n’you, and that being 67 doesn’t mean he’s not gonna make good on his promise not return fire. And if you think it has to do with racial tension, you’ll see Tom ‘Vietnam’ Bruso fail to exercise common sense in this other video where he refuses to cooperate with some caucasoid police at a ball game. I think he’s unhinged, but it’s understandable in this world of ingrates and schmucks (tacotopia readership, of course, excluded – you guys rock!) This Can't End Well There is one thing that soothes my delicate sensibilities when I’m ready to throw myself under the D-Town Tram like what almost happened to the whacked-out broad who gave my kid an impromtu anatomy lesson on Fat Tuesday before pelting empty cars with candy and beads before stumbling off and somehow avoiding injury, and that’s breakfast tacos. This morning brought us to El Sol de Mexico, which occupies the property that used to house Elva’s before it shut its doors. Casey Lain at House of Rock told me about this place when I was dropping off some posters for his upcoming songwriter series which will feature Joe Ely (Feb 27th), Monte Montgomery (March 11th) and Michael O’Connor on April Fool’s Day. As you can see the interior is completely redesigned, and the soothing earth tone decor and the smells coming from the kitchen washed over me, extinguishing my burning hostility. The waitress brought us coffee, and I think there must have been some kind of issue with the coffee maker because the steam from it must be what shrunk her clothes. She was pretty, and very friendly, and it’s hard to be angry when there’s a pretty lady pouring you coffee (that’s why I’m never angry at my house).
From the Hat
It’s Friday so you know what that means, RAIN! Officially, Texas is no longer in a drought and I think Ian and I deserve credit. If anyone were to look back, I think you see a pattern of Tacotopia = rain. It could be worse; an association with pestilence or IRS audits would suck. I’m not going to make light of the dude that flew the plane into the IRS building in Austin recently. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a murderer. But it does make one pause and take note that you better watch out because those crazy old white guys aren’t taking any shit.
Plane, building, smoke rising into the air – this is an event I wish I didn’t find familiar. He was pissed at the IRS, the GM bailout, and shifty, do-nothing, on-the-tit politicians. Okay, I can go there, but flying your Piper into the IRS takes Falling Down to a whole new level. This guy had more Wacka-Do to him than the old Roger Miller tune. Did he just snap? Upon reaching his middle age crisis did he say, “Hmm, should I buy a new Corvette or fly my plane into the IRS building?” I’d like to say it’s an isolated event, but I’m more inclined to say it’s an archetype buried somewhere in our collective unconscious. It pops up in the real world in the likes of Ted Kaczynski and in the media in the movie Network. Whether it’s untreated mental illness, or true madness, the effects are the same – death, destruction, and sadness. For me, I plan on buying the Corvette.
But for now, I’ll settle for breakfast tacos – good breakfast tacos that is. Ian and I tacoed up at El Sol de Mexico this morning. I have to say the place was a bright shining difference from its previous life as Elva’s. I had coffee before I ordered it and it was good. I ordered a nopalitos con huevos and a machacado con huevos from the fairly extensive menu. The nopalito taco was full, flavorful, and they didn’t skimp on the cactus. The red salsa added a smoky accent that went well with the taco. As nopalito tacos go, it was up there, but San Luis still sets the bar for this particular taco. The machacado taco was surprising. There was much more carne seco in this taco than you usually find. It needed salt, but other than that was tasty, with just enough tooth to the beef. I’m not usually a big fan of Ranchero sauce, but I have to admit it added to the machacado experience. Both tacos were on very good flour tarps. For all of those Elva’s fans, look closely at the menu, a Destroyer by any other name is still a Destroyer.
Salud
The tacos came out, and we took out our remaining aggression on them. My carne guisada was very good, tender with a lot of cumino, and my chorizo & egg might be more aptly named chorizo and the vaguest suggestion of egg. And the coffee was good. And the tortillas were good. What was I complaining about again? Things are great! I’m dying to go to work! Hip Hip Hooray! I love Friday mornings!
Our free taco winner for this week is:
Rosie Perez
From the first time the world saw her, in the beginning of ‘Do the Right Thing,’ the world has not been the same. An unflinching warrior in the fight to be an actress in an industry that would rather she assume the role of an ethnic actress, Rosie looks better than ever at 45. And while we don’t have any Puerto Rican restaurants here in Corpus Christi, we do have some killer tacos.
Offer includes 2 tacos, an audience with the ‘tacoteurs,’ and a free tacotopia t-shirt. Please redeem this offer at Whetstone Graphics on a Friday morning of your choice. Offer subject to cancellation by order of the wives of the tacoteurs. Enter to win by emailing your name and an autographed dvd of ‘Perdita Durango‘ to tacos@tacotopia.net.
I hope you can pardon the irregular schedule, tacotopia has been closed during the holiday festivities but we have not been resting – we’ve been quite busy with family fun, travel, and of course eating great mexican food. I will be dropping a few supplemental updates over the next few days to give you a taste of the new year. This first one comes from Curra’s Grill, a little spot on Oltorf in South Austin. Having grown up in (among other places) Austin, ate here back in the 80’s but it was a different restaurant and I think before that it must have been a convenience store. For the past seven years though, whenever I would come back to Austin I would stop here. I think my friend Otto brought me here and recommended the Avocado Margarita and I’ve been coming back ever since.
The place wasn’t perfect. We in Tacotopia, our sparkling taqueria by the sea, take homemade tortillas as a given. This is not so here in Austin (even in South Austin) and the tortillas here were no better than you’d find in a grocery store, and not nearly as good as you’d find in a Stripes. The corn chips, too, were inedible. The prices were more than you would find at most of the best taco spots in Corpus. Even the chorizo & egg if edible was only average. The atmosphere was lovely, with local art crowding the walls, wobbly hand tiled tables, and a full bar – early in the morning. The black bean frijoles refritos were excellent. Two red salsas were brought to the table: a standard fresh red salsa and a salsa borracho made with roasted peppers and beer. The chile colorado was a deep crimson and even in the leathery shelf tortilla it was delicious, bleeding from the back and making my plate look like an episode of CSI. We finished off with the avocado margarita which sounds repellant, until you taste it. Then you wonder why they don’t have it everywhere.
‘The Hat’ and myself got a hot tip on a serious taco establishment from Louie at Executive Surf Club, who knows a lot about Movies as well as Tacos. A town like this is so overrun with taco shops you could eat at 1 or 2 a week for years and not have even heard of a place that’s about as good as they come. Linda’s is one of these places. I drove by a couple of taqueria’s we’ve reviewed before to get here but I didn’t recognize the place we I came up on it, and was surprised once I got inside. It was big, bright and clean – looking like it had less than 1000 miles on a remodel, though I hear tell of tacos being peddled from the same spot as far back as the 80s.
