One of my goals this year is to get out of the food rut I've been in. I want to be trying something new each week whether that's a new restaurant we've spotted or a new recipe from one of my many, many cookbooks. This last week we tried a restaurant I spotted in the Oak Grove area a while back: Taqueria El Vecino.
I used to live in the Oak Grove area so I'm always interested to see how things change in the area. I'm not sure how long Taqueria El Vecino has been there (at least since 2015) but I remember noticing it when the restaurant converted some of the parking out front into an outdoor seating area. It had to have been a while back because I was full of opinions about that.
We finally remembered to give it a try this last Tuesday which happened to be Taco Tuesday!
It's a relatively small location with a little more than a dozen tables inside. The walls are covered with murals of Mexican street scenes peopled with Dia de los Muertos style skeletons. There's a bakery case filled with a variety of baked goods many of which were latin inspired. There is also a bar stocked with craft beer and a truely impressive selection of taquilas. The atmosphere is homey and unfussy while still having a touch of edge.
The food was excellent. While all the taco standards are present, the real stars of the menu are the fusion tacos and their BBQ. We tried a variety of tacos and my son had the BBQ brisket plate. The Birria Queso Taco, which is a peppy lamb taco spiked with adobo and lime, was quite good. The Carnitas taco was excellent and exactly what one should expect. The only minor disappointment was the Smoked Pork Belly Taco which was quite tasty but didn't quite live up to its description. The tequila cantaloupe glaze was lost among the flavors of the pork belly itself and the slaw topping. Still, if I hadn't been looking for it, I wouldn't have missed it. It was still quite tasty.
The smoked brisket however. . . was almost transendental. My son had the plate and I accidently had a taco made with the stuff. This might just be the best brisket in the Decatur/Tucker area since The Greater Good shut down. It was tender and smoky while still being juicy. They nailed the balance of spice and smoke. Someone there knows what they are doing with a smoker.
The service was friendly but a little slow. In all honesty, I suspect that someone on waitstaff didn't show up for their shift and the bulk of the time we were there we watched one unfortunate sever scurrying around and trying to cover the entire room. The worst I can say about her is that I don't think she prioritized the tasks well, but that's a tough position to be stuck in. She was friendly and accommodating, when there was a mix up on my order, she took care of it right away. Over all, it was a great experience and I look forward to going back at some point.
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