Mouthful - Taq attack

Exploring Mexico’s casual cuisine at five taquerias

America’s love affair with Mexican food has reached breathless new heights. In the late ’90s, salsa surpassed ketchup as the top-selling condiment in the country. Here at home, the two wildly successful Taqueria del Sol eateries brought soft tacos and the term “taqueria” into the mainstream. But there’s another culinary world waiting to be explored, adventurous diner, and there’s no need to make a trip south of the border.

Our city is home to a sizable Mexican population, and there’s a clutch of authentic taquerias lining Buford Highway and scattered throughout the city’s suburbs.

The experience is a bit, well, funkier — more barrio than cafe. But don’t let that intimidate you: Menus are in English as well as Spanish, and order-takers are bilingual. Most of these mom-and-pop joints don’t serve alcohol and many don’t take credit cards, but they are often open from 7 a.m. till 8 p.m. or later. You’ll likely find minimal decor (piñatas, sports jerseys, colorful paintings, bright pottery, serapes), blaring music from tinny speakers, and modest seating (think church cafeteria tables and chairs).

The often-unfamiliar offerings dished up in these settings allow a peek into the real culture. Not feeling bold? Check out our not-as-off-the-beaten path, yuppie-friendly Decatur and Tucker picks for interesting alternatives to the typical taco.

Los Rayos Taqueria

Caliente! There’s no air conditioning in this cinderblock building, and the heat rises from both the many bodies and the open kitchen. Located in an industrial area, Los Rayos is a favorite of the Mexican community and area chefs, especially late at night. The place is mostly packed with men at a recent weekday lunch: construction workers, a cowboy or two and sharply dressed youths — not a gringo in sight. There’s a dizzying array of choices, from the familiar pollo (chicken), bistec (steak) and carnitas (shredded pork) to the exotic, such as cow’s cheek, lengua (tongue), sesos (brains) and barbacoa (goat). The chorizo (pork sausage) has kick, and the barbecued goat and the carnitas are both excellent; skip the somewhat tough bistec. The tongue variation is bland, though a shot of hot sauce remedies that. A special platter of meltingly tender, cubed chicken cooked with bacon and topped with cheese is a smoky treat. Slurp bracing Jamaica, a ruby-red drink made from dried hibiscus flowers.

3290 W. Hospital Ave., Chamblee. 770-936-9278.

Taqueria Los Hermanos

This popular Tucker eatery has the largest number and most creative, upscale offerings of the bunch, and serves beer and wine to its largely Anglo clientele. Run by the three hermanos (brothers) Ballestros, the service is speedy and attentive, the decor cheery. They make a terrific fish taco, lightly fried tilapia fingers and piquant tartar sauce goosed with banana peppers. The New Orleans-meets-Mexico marisco (seafood) enchilada combines a generous serving of chubby shrimp and thumbnail-sized crawfish with grilled onions and peppers. Stuffed into a flour tortilla and smothered with a rich, creamy, almost sweet poblano sauce, it is damn-the-diet, finish-it-all delicious.

4418 Hugh Howell Road. 678-937-0660.

El Taco Veloz

Busy Roswell Road is one of seven locations for this chain eatery that boasts drive-thru service. On a Saturday afternoon, there’s a mix of Mexican and Anglo families and groups of blue-collar workers hungrily tucking into bowls of menudo (a soup that includes tripe; available on Saturdays and Sundays only). El Veloz hands-down has the best tortas — sandwiches made with lightly toasted bread that’s perfectly spongy on the inside. Try the huevos (egg) and chorizo variations, and the shredded beef dressed with avocado. All the tacos here are made with flour tortillas and the meat is wet, so expect a bit of sogginess. The el pastor (pork) is slightly sweet, with a pleasant kick from its red sauce, and the chicken is tender and flavorful. An unusual choice is the battered, mild poblano pepper filled with cheese rolled in a tortilla. At the salsa bar you’ll find condiments from medium to fire engine hot. Wash them down with cinnamon-kissed horchata, a milky rice drink.

5670 Roswell Road. 404-252-5100.

Taqueria Nayarit

This sunny spot is located on the edge of leafy Grant Park in a short strip center with a Hispanic grocery. My favorite dish is the sincronizada, a quesadilla-like griddled flour tortilla sliced in quarters and filled with jamon (ham), tomatoes, avocados, jalapeños, lettuce and oozing cheese. Pick it up and eat it with one hand while swigging a soda in the other. I also like the adoba, a tangy pork taco tinted deep red from the chiles and scattered with cilantro, a dice of raw onions, and enlivened with a squeeze of lime. The pierna is a two-fisted torta that the friendly counter girl tells me is “like a Cuban sandwich.” Sure enough, it’s a salty, sloppy beauty with pork and ham slices, tomatoes, lettuce and a mayo-like dressing. Two kinds of tamales are served, and on weekends you can sample posole, a traditional pork-based soup, as well as menudo.

562 Boulevard Ave. 404-622-0999.

Billy Goat Cantina

The owner of Decatur’s Supper Club opened this bohemian Oakhurst storefront a year ago. There’s an extensive menu and full bar, including something dubbed “devil’s water tequila.” For $8.95, you can pick two tacos served with good black beans and a rather weird green-tinted mound of rice. The steak is tender and juicy, and the fish has a pleasantly charred taste, but neither benefits from the nest of red cabbage plunked on top. Instead, flick it off and smother the tacos with Venezuelan avocado sauce, a zippy puree with cilantro. The smoky chilaquiles — a tortilla casserole with layers of chicken, red and green chilies and black beans — is a goopy pleasure. Sip the almost-acrid sangria, which trumps too-sweet versions elsewhere. There’s also a daily tamale special.

653 East Lake Drive, Decatur. 404-687-0007.

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