This week our search for the best tacos in Chatt Town brought us to Taqueria El Poblano on Rossville Blvd.
The building was once a Foametix Insulation office. About two months ago, the vacant building was transformed into Tienda GuateMex. I just knew that if I waited long enough, they would park a taco food truck there, and they did!
When I saw the posted taco banners, I knew the truck was open for business. It has a tiny menu but street tacos are among the featured items. They offer chicken, chorizo, barbacoa, asada, and Al Pastor pork.
I ordered one Al Pastor, one asada and one barbacoa and paid $10 for all three. I took a photo of their menu that was taped to the building and written with a Sharpie which showed signs of being caught in the rain. I reviewed the menu quickly and saw something called “the gringa.”
“What’s a gringa,” I asked.
It’s a flour tortilla that we place flat on the grill, place Al Pastor pork, cilantro, onions and cheese on it. We then place another tortilla on top and grill both sides and then cut it into four slices,” she said.
“That sounds delicious,” I replied. “I’ll be back for one of those.”
I asked her how many months she’s been open. She said only 20 days. She said they are open daily from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.
I went back to my car and waited for my tacos. She flagged me over when they were done and I was on my way home. I gave mom my barbacoa taco. Packed with the tacos was a lime wedge, sliced radishes and sides of salsa verde and pico-de-gallo.
Awesome, I wasn’t expecting pico-de-gallo, so that was a nice surprise.
The tortilla shells for the barbacoa were grilled in the meat sauce so I gave mom a fork and knife since I knew her arthritic hands and the soft shell would make the taco difficult to pick up.
If you’ve read a few of these taco stories that involve my mom, you know the food is phenomenal when she doesn’t say a word until she is done eating. You could have heard a pin drop from her corner spot. All I saw was the knife was tossed aside. She had moved the meat off the shell and was eating that with the fork and then grabbing the shell to take a bite of it as well.
Occasionally she looked my way and just nodded her head, meaning, this food tastes good. After she finished, she said the meat was tender and had great seasoning. She said there was a hint of spice but it was okay for her taste buds and she loved the shell being soaked in the juices.
I sampled the salsa verde and it was more like that delicious avocado green sauce I first tried from Taco Chattanooga Morales. But this one was a bit spicier, yet still within my heat limit. The Al Pastor pork meat was that beautiful bright red, the asada meat had great seasoning and was tender. The salsa verde paired great with the pork. I took a little bit of the pico-de-gallo and placed in in my asada taco.
HAY CARAMBA!
The pico-de-gallo packed much more heat than I expected, then I noticed the jalapeno SEEDS!
Whoa!
But the rest of the pico mixture carried the heat well. I cleaned out that container of pico-de-gallo, as well as cleaning out my taco plate.
Of course, I went back the next day and got the “gringa,” which was only $8. However, I might not have thought everything through. Earlier that morning, I had two fillings and a crown placed and my mouth was still swollen and sore, but at least no longer numb.
The gringa is their version of what we think of as a quesadilla. It looked like a Mexican pizza when I opened the box. I was happy to see the salsa verde and pico-de-gallo, again. I served myself one of the slices, showed mom what was left and she knew what we were having for dinner that evening.
Despite all the dental work, the pork was so tender, it didn’t bother me at all. I have a lot of friends who always raved about Taco Bell’s Pizza. Sit down man! This was soft, chewy and cheesy, in the center with crispy, crunchy edges, perfect for dipping into the salsa verde and the pico-de-gallo. This was well-cooked pork and creamy cheese.
Taqueria El Poblano has a few other things on the menu, I’ve never seen before like Tlaconetes and two others, I’ll need to ask about. They do offer tortas, pork chops with cheese, chorizo with cheese, queso fundido and house made juices.
Inside the store they have a few tables for seating and they sell a brand of ceviche called Ceviches Perez. The store sells produce, vitamins, herbs, juices and more.
Taqueria El Poblano
- 2434 Rossville Blvd., Chattanooga, TN
- (423) 508-9527
- $ - $$
What’s your favorite taco place and why? Send me an email at Pattyl@brewermediagroup.com