LTHForum.com

A former Chicagoan accustomed to the quotidian thrills of taqueria and birrieria alike, I recently moved to St. Louis conceding that, aside from my new husband's mastery of the oeuvre of Kennedy and Bayless, I might need to endure withdrawal from the Mexican foods that I have long taken for granted. Not so, I am happy to report.

While St. Louis has a small Mexican population compared to Chicago (2% vs. 28%), those numbers do not reflect the availability of the foods I love, but merely their accessibility and carbon footprint. While I can no longer roll out of bed and have a taco within walking distance at Las Asadas on Montrose, I can drive 10 minutes and eat at Taqueria Durango on the northwest side. Within 20 minutes, I can be at Cherokee Street, the center of Mexican culinary commerce in St. Louis. We checked out Cherokee Street during this year’s Cinco de Mayo celebration. This commercial area is adjacent to Benton Park, one of St. Louis’ many up-and-coming areas being revived by young people attracted by low rents and beautiful old storefronts for fledgling businesses. The Cinco de Mayo street fair drew equally from two groups: families festooned with floating Mylar and cotton candy, and tattooed hipsters composing sidewalk poetry and eating Korean tacos washed down with bourbon.


Cinco de Mayo on Cherokee, St. Louis by Josephine2004, on Flickr

seoultacostl.com by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The day’s festivities included The People’s Parade, which, along with the City Museum and independent radio station KDHX, qualifies as the three of the Ten Top Reasons to Move to St. Louis. The People's Parade is strictly a DIY affair, the only corporation-free public spectacle of free speech I have witnessed in recent years.


Free Bird at People's Parade by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Performers, People's Parade, St. Louis by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Filmmaker's Float, People's Parade by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Food-Related: You explain this to me:


Pig Slop 4 Life? by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We passed up the crowded outdoor terrace at La Vallesana to investigate the groceries at Supermercado El Torito. They offer as large a selection of Mexican herbs and spices as I have seen anywhere in Chicago. My husband noted the freshness of the house-brand chiles.


photo.JPG by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Lots of people were buying the Mexican pastries, which seemed especially fresh. Warm tortillas were stacked in boxes near the meat counter, but we could not determine if they were made in the store, or whether there is a tortilleria in St. Louis. As in many Mexican stores, kitchen ware, devotional art, clothes for work and for ceremony were all available at Supermercado El Torito.


photo.JPG by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Devotion at El Torito by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I was especially charmed by this blast from the past-actually the Stone Age-and felt sorry that I am now to big to take a ride in it:


photo.JPG by Josephine2004, on Flickr

We did not find any mastodon ribs on the menu, but the carne asada, lengua, and al pastor did nicely, along with a Dos Equiis.


Tacos at Taqueria El Torito by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Other eateries in the area were doing a brisk business, including Taqueria El Bronco, which appears to have been recently renovated. I hope to have an opportunity to report on the other businesses in the Cherokee Street area, as well as a Romanian-Mexican spot located nearby.


Taqueria Bronco by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Taqueria Durango is located in a strip mall not too far from the airport. It is a pleasant restaurant, rather than a take-out spot, and it was about half-full on a recent Friday evening. We thought the green avocado-based salsa was quite good. Sopes with barbacoa and al pastor (fillings of our choosing) were fried to order, and tender, with a slight exterior crunch to the masa. They were topped with a judicious amount of crema, queso fresco, lettuce and tomato. At $3.50, one of them might make a good, cheap lunch.


Sope at Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The sopes left us with little room, but we like the list of taco meat choices: carne asada, al pastor, barbacoa, pollo, carnitas, lengua, tripas, suadero, buche, cabeza. We tried the barbacoa, al pastor, carnitas and lengua tacos. We enjoyed the barbacoa and carnitas tremendously- both were moist and flavorful, and the lengua was subtly spiced (with clove? Mexican allspice?). The al pastor was also good, but not an all-time favorite. The lengua was soft as expected, but not as flavorful as the other meats.


Lengua Taco at Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Carnitas Taco at Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Next visit, I will try the torta ahogada, and chiles rellenos. Both looked great coming from the kitchen.

A list of other prospects is in my car. I'll add to this post as I get new information.

Supermercado El Torito
Taqueria El Torito
2743-53 Cherokee Street
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 771-8648

Taqueria El Bronco
2817 Cherokee Stret
St. Louis, MO 63118

La Vallesana
2801 Cherokee St.
St Louis, MO 63118

Taqueria Durango
10238 Page Avenue
Overland, MO
(314) 429-1113
Tuesday-Saturday 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

I was absolutely thrilled to find this post!

My years in Chicago (albeit a while back) formed my love for food in general but there was always a special place for good Mexican cooking. A move to the northeast, however, came with years of mediocre food and barely tolerable Mexican cuisine (other than what I taught myself to cook).

I am in the midst of planning a move to St. Louis this fall and reading that there are good (and even great!) Mexican restaurants (and grocers!) there puts my soul at peace. While not Chicago, it feels a little bit like coming home.

Thanks for making my day!

Glad to be of assistance, mudphud! Send me a pm when you get to town. I'd like to start organizing some lth outings here, and we need a critical mass of locals to get things going! A good welcome to town event for you would be one of the first Friday of the month Food Truck Friday events at Tower Grove Park. Arrive early, because all of the food trucks in town circle the wagons near the Pavilion, site of the Tower Grove Farmers' Market (Saturday's), St. Louis' equivalent to the Green City Market. Lots of folks show up with blankets, coolers, kids, frisbees, dogs, and all that sort of thing. The lines are long, but it's a lot of fun and a great way to meet people, I would guess.

I'm going to add a few notes to this post as I try different Mexican places in town, but so far, Taqueria Durango is tops.

On Olive in University City is Taqueria La Monarcha. It's a pristine, friendly, family-run spot. We visited on a Monday evening, and there were only a couple of other diners there at the time, so I'm pretty sure we didn't get the best of what they have to offer. My husband had sopes, which, truth be told, just did not have the delicate touch of crispness of the sopes at Taqueria Durango.


Sopes @ La Monarcha by Josephine2004, on Flickr


Taqueria La Monarcha Gorditas by Josephine2004, on Flickr

My gorditas were a bit disappointing, as the al pastor was clearly reheated and dried out. Even the carne asada was a bit tired, though it appeared to be freshly griddled to order. The lettuce and cheese toppings were too plentiful and there was very little cilantro and onion on them. On the other hand, guacamole was chunky and good. Chips were just OK.


Sopes @ La Monarcha by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The tamal with green chile was quite good indeed. I'd go back just for those tamales. I wonder if they serve breakfast. . . .


Green Chile Tamal @ La Monarcha by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Oh, and their website and Yelp reviews say there is no beer, but that is old info. There is beer as of the past year. La Monarcha is the only taqueria in an area with a number of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and markets.

Taqueria La Monarcha
(314) 991-9949
(University City)
8531 Olive Blvd. Map.994afc2
St Louis, MO 63132

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

Great intel, Josephine - thanks for the post and lovely pictures. Have you been across the river to El Gallo Jiro?

Alas, no, I have not yet made that pilgrimage, Santander. It's on my list, as I have not yet seen carne en su jugo on any menus in town. However, that may be due to the fact that I'm making surprisingly slow progress here in St. Louis. (I have been traveling quite a bit lately.) I hope that an upcoming St. Louis tour with some other LTH-ers will help me get most of the local classics under my belt. Stay tuned. There seems to be a lot of good food here, and with little traffic and a 20-minute trip to get from any point in the city to any other point in the city, much can be accomplished in a day.

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

Another visit to Taqueria Durango, where we enjoyed an excellent Torta Ahogada, filled with a hefty portion of porky goodness-carnitas chunks, most likely. A great sandwich:


Torts Ahogada at Taqueria Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Carnitas and barbacoa (foreground) tacos were also very flavorful:


Tacos at Taqueria Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr

Chile relleno was good, freshly fried, and had a bit too much sauce for my taste, detracting from the deep-fry crunch I prefer. Never mind.


Chile Relleno at Taqueria Durango by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I'm going to have a hard time exploring the other St. Louis taquerias on my list, much less the citified bistro-type spots. Next up: an acclaimed taqueria in a former Taco Bell!

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

In search of tamales for a party recently, I headed to El Chico Bakery on Cherokee. You would never know from the wares on display that they make two types of pork tamales every Friday: one with mild red sauce and another with spicy green sauce. Both were excellent, though I slightly preferred the spicy version. I ordered 48 - the total came to $60.00. There was a very helpful young woman at work there. She was able to clarify that the tamales contain some gluten, which averted a possible health crisis for one of my guests.

Here are a couple of pics:


El Chico 2 by Josephine2004, on Flickr


El Chico by Josephine2004, on Flickr

I also stopped at El Torito Grocery (mentioned in the OP) to pick up a few staples. Their Christmas shrine was more beautiful than ever. On a regular weekday they have the full complement of taco fillings available and all tasted very fresh. (Taqueria El Bronco did not fare as well, with burned, griddled al pastor and dry carne asada.)


Shrine @ El Torito by Josephine2004, on Flickr

The availability of reasonably priced retail space in St. Louis makes for some lovely creative displays in many establishments, as well as for many businesses based in creative work to flourish, such as the galleries, art centers, and vintage shops in Benton Park. (It's kind of Bucktown-Wicker Park in the 90's-feeling.) I'll be posting on those in a separate thread soon.

El Chico Bakery
2634 Cherokee Street
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 664-2212

Supermercado El Torito
Taqueria El Torito
2743-53 Cherokee Street
St. Louis, MO 63118
(314) 771-8648

Taqueria El Bronco
2817 Cherokee Stret
St. Louis, MO 63118

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.