Taqueria Los Taquitos de Puebla

"Con el original cheff Silvestre Torres.”

The place: Taqueria Los Taquitos de Publa is a bright yellow building on Rt. 13 S., feet from the exit ramp towards 141. It’s a bit tricky to get to coming north; you’ll need to make a u-turn somewhere further up 13. There’s plenty of parking and a colorful outdoor seating area that would be nice to take advantage of on a cooler day. There is plenty of seating inside, but it was so hot I couldn’t see dining in being a pleasant experience in the summertime. My takeout order took about 15 minutes to complete with two tables seated.

In the bag: Foil takeout box, big pile of napkins, healthy containers of both red and green salsa. Takeout menu.

Tacos al pastor.

The tacos: All the tacos are served in warm, double-layered corn tortillas and topped with cilantro and onion (with the exception of chicken, for some reason, which comes with lettuce, sour cream, and cheese). While I would have liked to have tried a few different meats, this taqueria doesn’t do mixed taco orders, so I went with the al pastor (seasoned pork). The pork was nicely cooked with good, crispy charring and decent flavor, though the seasoning didn’t come through as strongly as I expected.

The green salsa is chunky and chockfull of even more cilantro and onion. Very fresh-tasting and mild. The red salsa, which is more of a nuclear orange color, is smoother than the green, almost creamy. It’s pretty dang hot and, to me, complemented the flavor of the pork better than the green salsa did.

Their menu is extensive and offers a good selection of vegetarian options, as well as beverages, desserts, and weekend specials. I’m actually more tempted to return here to try some of the non-taco dishes on the menu -- this is not your standard Americanized La Tolteca fare, and many dishes are made with traditional Mexican ingredients such as pumpkin flower, cactus, huitalacoche (a type of fungus that grows on corn stalks), and the spices epazote and papalo. I had to look up almost all of these things to know what they were. Now that’s authenticity!

241 N. DuPont Hwy

10 a.m. - 9 p.m., open 7 days

Cash, major credit cards, no personal checks

Full takeout menu, free delivery (!)

Tacos Tradicionales, 3 per order, no mixing, $6

suadero - steamed beef

longaniza - mexican sausage

al pastor - seasoned pork

tripa - beef tripe

de cabeza - beef head

surtida - mix

cachete - cheek

trompa - lips

lengua - tongue

Tacos a la Plancha, $8-12

bistec - steak

arrachera con nopales asados - steak with grilled cactus

costilla - beef rib

chuleta ahumada - smoked porkchop

chuleta fresca - regular porkchop

cecina - salted beef steak

carne enchilada - seasoned pork steak

pollo - chicken (lettuce, sour cream, cheese)