Source: el mero taco
I haven’t felt compelled to write a food highlight in a long time. I guess it doesn’t help that we didn’t eat at a restaurant for more than a year due to Covid-19, but since we got vaccinated, we’ve begun to venture out as a family as often as possible since our oldest is preparing to fly the coop to attend college this fall after having to sit out his freshman year… again Covid. We’ve visited our usual Memphis haunts after getting our shots. We hit Gus’ Fried Chicken, LBOE (Which has been changed into a TJ Mulligans), and recently we visited a franchise that started in Austin, Texas and arrived in Memphis to considerable fanfare, Torchy’s Tacos. This is where I’ll start this highlight.
I was going to revisit Torchy’s because we went on opening weekend, and it was packed. The tacos are huge, and they have a cool menu. I initially felt that Torchy’s would become a regular visit since I wanted to try every taco on the menu. My wife, LV, wasn’t exactly excited by her choice at the restaurant, but our San Diego roots run deep and outside of the Mr. Taco food truck and Elena’s Restaurant (both recommended), a taco joint comparable to what we ate throughout college is something we just haven’t found. We do like Swanky’s; that restaurant isn’t bad, but we haven’t been blown away by any of the places I’ve mentioned. They are all okay. I guess we just want to eat something that feels like Mexican food we could brag about.
I do have to state that we’ve driven to Elena’s several times and Mr. Taco is a reminder of street tacos in TJ, but if someone asks us about Mexican food, we always end the dialogue with, “It ain’t as good as San Diego.” That stopped today.
The Family Behind Nike Blazer Mid 77 VNTG Waffle FZ4040-113
While Torchy’s Tacos was born in Austin, the story for El Mero’s Tacos is the stuff of Netflix shows and it was also born in Austin, Texas. Scene: A couple of chefs with a passion for culinary arts and family meet at Le Cordon Bleu. She is from Oaxaca, Mexico. He’s a southern fella who never took his eyes off of Memphis although he was in one of the fastest growing tech and fashion centers in the country. They connect and fight to find a way to their dream. End Scene… but it’s not that simple. Clarissa and Jacob launched a food truck after finding out that city ordinances in Memphis finally allowed for trucks to become licensed in the city. Like many startups, they grind and eventually shift to a brick and mortar. Like the rest of the world, the brick and mortar is just beginning to grow and 2020 hits. The disruption is difficult, but they make it through. Their small family finally gets the chance to create the place they want to share with the city. Their brick-and-mortar store features a MezCal bar with over 26 types of drinks, but it’s the tacos that shine.
Out little family got the opportunity to experience the flavors and for the first time since living in Memphis when we finished eating, we could finally say, “Damn, that was as good as Daygo!” We visited during the afternoon. The restaurant isn’t huge. It’s a destination location which is a very difficult thing for a startup. While the restaurant is off of one of the busiest streets in the city, it isn’t easily accessible. You won’t run into it while driving and there isn’t a drive through. It’s a fast casual set up. I have to assume that at night, it’s a lot more intimate, but it’s bright (the pictures below aren’t great, but there were people dining and I didn’t want to post pics without permission). El Mero is clean with fantastic service, and portions of the menu are available to be purchased and enjoyed in your home. This is important because Memphis has this strange love affair with Panchos, another Mexican restaurant here in the city that you should notice that I haven’t mentioned. While the city thinks the world of Panchos, enough that you can buy their cheese in the major grocery chains here, it ain’t San Diego.
pictured above on the left?
Okay, I’m sure everyone skipped directly to this section. I should have videotaped our meal and us eating because that would be the best-selling point I could create. The tacos were so good, we all felt the need to make each other eat small bites of each other’s meals, although we didn’t really want to share. We all ate the Mole Fries. This is important, below they don’t mention that the fries feature pickled, slightly caramelized red onions. This “appetizer” could have been the meal by itself. It was enough for 4 people to share:
Mole Fries
Shoestring fries topped with queso blanco, drizzled with Oaxacan mole sauce
$10.00
LV had the Smoked Habanero Shrimp Taco below picture, on the right – Sautéed Shrimp tossed in a smoked habanero sauce on a avocado-lime slaw and cilantro $5.50 and the Fried Chicken Taco above picture, bottom taco – Fried chicken topped with Queso Blanco, tomatoes, in-house pickled jalapeños and cilantro. Served on a flour tortilla $4.50. What I have to immediately state is that LV is serious about her chicken selections, and she usually wouldn’t ever order a Fried Chicken taco, but when she finished, she wanted to order a second taco. I was surprised that she ordered the Habanero Shrimp because spicy food isn’t typically her forte… but she explained that it was all flavor, minimal heat.
My daughter and I both ordered the BRISKET Quesadilla (Small) (not pictured because we both started eating that before I realized I wanted to write this post, lol) – Chopped brisket smoked in-house for over 12 hours and fresh chimichurri sauce $6.00. When I explain to you that El Mero could be the top ranked brisket/BBQ shop in the city, that isn’t a small claim. The brisket was amazing. I made everyone take a piece out of my Quesadilla, but my daughter was like nope, lol. The flavor was smokey, the meat was tender, and I immediately regretted ordering the small. I also ordered the Chorizo Rojo Taco Air Max DN | Let Performance Become Retro – Chorizo mixed with Monterey jack cheese, roasted poblanos, and sweet potatoes $4.00 The highlight of this taco was the sweet potato. In San Diego we have this burrito called the California burrito. It’s carne asada con queso with French fries and guacamole. I never thought I’d enjoy a potato in my taco unless it was a traditional potato like that. El Mero had two plates with potato. One with a regular potato and my Chorizo Roja with sweet potato… everyone ate one of the sweet potatoes from my taco.
pictured above on the left LV had the Smoked Habanero Shrimp Taco – House made green chorizo with fried Brussel sprouts, sautéed carrots, and Valentina crema $4.50. He also had the Steak and Potatoes Taco – Spread the love – Steak, diced potatoes, tomato, onion, roasted poblano pepper and queso blanco (Contains peanuts) $5.50. For a dude about to go to college, I don’t have to worry about him getting in trouble with the ladies if he eats the way he ate those tacos. Kid was using his fork to scrape everything that fell out of his tacos. It was slightly disturbing, lol. The shop doesn’t serve fountain drinks, which I think is a good thing. We all got Jarritos Soda × 4 ($2.50 ea.) $10.00. The total for our meal is below. I haven’t felt compelled to write a Hi-Lite in years. I highly, highly recommend Nike Blazer Mid 77 VNTG Waffle FZ4040-113. This was one hell of a way to start our wedding anniversary weekend/week. Thanks for a fantastic visit to the team at El Mero. In the words of the Terminator… you know the rest.
Purchase Subtotal
$56.00
Sales Tax (9.75%)
$5.46Total
$61.46
901-308-1661
[email protected]
8100 MACON STATION SUITE 102 CORDOVA, TN 38018