Guns and Tacos

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A Taco Hunter Strikes Gold

I visited Baytown, TX with J.C. Reid a month or two ago, and he found a hidden gem, Taqueria Sahuayo.

On a cold and overcast Sunday in January,  I drove to Baytown to pick up my brother and continue the taco expedition in this oft-forgotten city.

“What an ugly day”, I noted.

“Not really”, he responded brightly. “It’s always overcast in Baytown”.

This didn’t make any sense to me at the time, but as I tore down the road that went through the Exxon refinery, it occurred to me that he was right. Every time I go to Baytown I get lost, and every time I go to Baytown it is overcast. Go figure.

Tia Nena's. Baytown

We ate at a tiny place called Tia Nena’s Restaurant, down the street from Lee Highschool/College. A couple welcomed us at the door of the empty restaurant, an endearing Latina woman and her giant of a husband.

“You can sit anywhere you’d like.”

We’ve all been to restaurants with an unsettling ambiance, but I tend to give it a grain of salt when exploring for genuine Mexican food.

But this place was creepy. You could see where Ike’s floodwaters had come and gone, and there was a tangible scent of mold in the air. It was like eating in an old person’s living room while their cat stares at you.

He took one look at my grizzled, snarling brother and quickly realized we weren’t into the telenovela they were watching.  Andre the Giant started flipping through the channels while repeatedly looking at us for approval.

Not while I'm eating.

I considered leaving, but the Not So Incredible Hulk brought us some chips and salsa, which were some kind of generic Sysco Tostitos and salsa from a can.

I ordered the Tampiquena, and my brother ordered ground beef tacos.  The steak was actually really good. It was ten bucks, and was heavily marinated and tender, with a good fat content. The tacos were Tex-Mex style, served with lettuce and tomatoes. The guacamole was fresh but bland, and we both pushed the refried beans aside after a taste.

We paid Lyle Alzado and left, as his wife gave us a sincere, sparkling smile and told us goodbye as if we were their last customer. It was memorable.

I continued driving around Baytown, taking photos of different establishments that were closed on Sundays, or simply out of business.  I was ready to move on.

“Let’s go to Pasadena”, I told my brother.

“But you said you would never go back to Pasadena”.

“That was a long time ago”.

“Will they ever stop chasing you?”

“I don’t know, brother. It’s been 16 years”.

I flipped through my Twitter feed as I fueled through the ghost town and down Interstate 10. A fellow Houston taco aficionado and Texas traveler Stephan Seagraves suggested that I explore a couple of exits in the Channelview area, so I took an exit onto Sheldon Road.

For a few blocks, I saw nothing but dollar stores and pawn shops. When I began to lose hope, I saw taco stands. And chrome. Lots of chrome and neon orange signs. And then I smelled mesquite smoke.

I had discovered Karanchos- a place I would soon find to be one of Houston’s taco truck champions.

Karanchos. A new contender in town

“Why is that lady letting her kid pee in the parking lot?” my brother asked as we exited the ’59 Pontiac Bonneville.

I ignored him as I peed on the other side of the parking lot.

We advanced toward the taco stand, and I noticed something beautiful. Something I hadn’t seen since I lived in Tijuana twelve years ago.

The illustrious Tacos de Trompo.

How Tacos are Done.

A taquero stood with a giant knife and two huge spits of achiote-red pork, stationed in front of two multi-tiered fireboxes. He delicately carved off ribbons of bright red, juicy pastor as my brother treated me for shock symptoms. At the top of each spit was a whole skinned pineapple, which dripped down into the beautiful glaze.

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is currently a county regulation prohibiting this method of cooking. Probably because it would put a lot of restaurants out of business if people knew how good these tacos really were. Perhaps this part of Channelview is exempt (or maybe not).

A uniformed taquero, wearing latex gloves, pours a paprika mixture over chickens on a pit.

“What would you like to order?” the lovely taco lady asked.

“Tacos de Trompo”, I whimpered.

“Why are you crying?”, she asked.

“Tortillas maiz. Con todo, por favor”.

She directed us to the other side of the taco stand, where the food was received. To my absolute astonishment, this taco truck had an entire dining room area behind it. There were around 35 dining tables. The area was enclosed with a plastic screen perimeter to retain the heat, and several new state-of-the art standing space heaters were installed for maximum dining comfort. A staff of 7-10 employees wore matching orange uniforms and blue latex gloves.

Each table had its own clear plastic box with self-serve lime, onion, and cilantro. A bottle of green salsa was on each table.  To my right was a juice bar, with art deco stools and tables.

The patrons watched a soccer game on two flatscreen HD television sets.

My tacos arrived, as a rainbow appeared in the sky.

Real. Mexican. Tacos

I explained to my brother how to apply cilantro, onion and lime liberally, as he explained that I was not seeing a rainbow, but the sun reflecting on a compact disc that hung from someone’s rear view mirror.

My hands shook as I lightly salted the bright red pork. There was probably some red salsa somewhere, but impatience prevailed and I hurriedly used the green.

I took a bite. The crunch of the lightly charred pork, the oily corn tortillas, the hot green salsa, fresh lime juice, and salt converged to a spectral point of magnificence.

I felt like I had just won a gold medal in the Tacolympics.

Karanchos offers a large menu, with several types of tacos listed. They also have chilitos rellenos; tiny poblano peppers that have been stuffed, battered and fried. They looked delicious, and I regret that I didn’t pick a few up on my way out.

I will come back to this place. And I’m bringing as many people I can, because I can’t wait to share this with everyone. This is taco gold.

And I didn’t even have to step foot into Pasadena.

Taqueria Taconmadre
Tamales Atascocita

10 Responses to “A Taco Hunter Strikes Gold”

  1. Austin Sepulvado says:

    Where exactly is this Karanchos? I’m sold beyond sold…

  2. Jay says:

    620 Sheldon Road
    Channelview, TX 77530-3508
    (281) 862-9968

    It’s worth the trip, I assure you.

  3. Austin Sepulvado says:

    Thank you. The day I can make it out there, I’ll report back with my verdict!

  4. JHS says:

    Yesterday I made my second trip out to Karanchos in the past week. Jay definitely hit taco gold here and the tacos de trompo([pastor) is some of the best I’ve ever had. Tuesday’s offerings were good but to get the best or freshies I recommend going on a Saturday or Sunday when they have the tower of pork piled up with pineapple on top and shave your taco, torta and gordita filling right into it. It is reddish colored pork perfection at it’s finest. I believe they just reheat the rest of the pastor for the remaining week if I understood my waiter correctly. The chile relleno tacos were damn good as well and the gorditas are worth a try but if you can’t put down as much food as I and many others can, just go with the pastor. i might have to steal one of those bottles of green sauce next time if they wont sell me one.

  5. J.R. Cohen says:

    Ever since you wrote this article, I have been dying to go get this. Today, is the day! Thank you fur hunting out the best of the best. Its hard work and I’m glad you are the one doing it. I’ll follow up and let you know my 2 cents. Cheers Bubba #SLGT

  6. Jay says:

    Glad you and your brother enjoyed it. I’ve been back there once or twice myself.

  7. Jay says:

    I was thinking the same thing about that bright green sauce. I’m going to get the name of it next time because I love that stuff.

  8. Gil says:

    I too am looking for taquerias with “that smell”, you know what I’m talking about, I’ve read thru your website, and let me tell you that we are on the same page.
    The way I reached this website was by googling for tacos de Trompo in Beaumont or Port Arthur.
    I live in the houston area, and already knew about Taconmadre (One of my favorites – I too hate the processed package the salsa comes in).
    I’ve been working in Port Arthur for almost three years now, I’m originally from Monterrey, so you know, los Tacos de Trompo are my favorites, very hard to find in this area, I don’t know where to get’em when I’m here, but when I come back to Houston in the weekends, there’s Julio or Mr. Trompos, I didn’t know about Karanchos, that’s 80 miles away from where I’m at right now…I’m tempted just to go flavour those, just reading your article made me want to bite the keyboard.
    If you’re ever in Beaumont you have to go to Taqueria La Bamba (It has that smell) it’s a video rental store/taqueria, like the good old Mexico – you get two for the price of one.
    Anyway La Bamba is located on Calder road at the corner of 4th Ave, great carne asada tacos, plus ceviche, coctel camarones, etc.
    If you know something I don’t know about Beaumont/Port Arthur area regarding Tacos de Trompo, please let me know, I’m in need.

    Regards,and Happy Taco Trails!

    Gil

  9. Oooh, you’re such an inspiration. I love this blog!

  10. Great work! Keep posting good work. Thanks a lot!

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