TACO HUNT PART ONE: Restaurant Atoyac Estilo Oaxaca.

What's the best taco shop in Phoenix? I have no clue, I don't think most people do, some people think you have to spend $3.50 for a good carne asada tacos. Not is simply not the case. So what makes a taco shop the best?

Is it the tortillas? The meat? The ambiance?... What is the deciding factor?

I don’t feel qualified enough on my own to judge and compare these local restaurants, so I brought on a friend of mine to be my co-author, Bryan Suarez. Bryan has been working as a cook for over six years— one year baking bread, one year working at a butcher shop, and three years in the back of house of restaurants in Denver and Phoenix. Currently he resides at Restaurant Progress. Bryan is a young guy, but he is a damn good cook with a pretty good understanding of how food works. Plus he is a genuinely good guy, who likes good authentic food. I knew he’d be my perfect partner for my journey to find the best tacos in Phoenix.

For the first stop on our hunt for the best taco shop, we went to one of Bryans longtime favorites, Restaurant Atoyac Estilo Oaxaca, located on the corner of 19th ave and Glendale, in between a tire shop and a 7-11.

Restaurant Atoyac Estilo Oaxaca specializes not only in tacos but traditional Oaxacan food, like mole and tlyudas. Naturally, we ordered like 12 tacos, the house mole plate, and two large horchatas.

Tacos:

Al Pastor: $1.60 is delicious even tho you can see the preparation isn’t traditional al pastor. (Not spit-toasted) Nevertheless Salty, slightly sweet, and decadent.

Cabeza: $1.60 Get it. Eat it. Love it.

Lengua: $2.25 TENDER AS FUCK. Lengua is the go-to when trying out a new taco shop, this was one of my favorites.

Carne Asada: $1.60 Carne, hard to fuck it up. Grilled well, cut properly, not a chewy steak bite.

Fish: $2.30 Good, not memorable. We didn’t take notes, and I am writing this a week after we actually ate here.

Tortillas:

Arguably the weakest point of the meal, they aren’t made from fresh masa, and you can taste it. BUT they are not terrible, they hold up and don't get soggy or flimsy.

Toppings?

Atoyac serves these sweet and delicious grilled onions and jalapeños with your tacos and they’re so tasty it’s hard not crush in one bite.

Mole:

$10.00 The highlight of the meal. Each bite was full of flavor The plate includes a larger portion of chicken and mole, rice, beans, and tortillas. Atoyac goes traditional with their dark mole using a braised piece of chicken lathered up in the sauce like a little hen in the mud.

We grabbed the tortillas loaded the mole on, topped it with rice and beans … the end result … pretty damn good.

The best Horchata in Phoenix?

Horchata:

$1.80 We don’t want to be premature about awarding anything, but damn, this is the best horchata around. Honestly, it isn’t even close. The horchata is creamy and sweet then they go ahead and add some melon and pecans to it (Oaxacan tradition) holy hell. This combo only gets better as you drink. 10/10 would get every time.

Location:

Thinking about the location, it’s not ideal, but the drive is actually pretty nice. If you drive down central to get to Glendale you get to look at all of the big-ass houses that you can never afford. That’s a plus.

THOUGHTS SO FAR:

Obviously this is the best horchata. I don’t even have to continue my search (but you know I will). Also, I love me some lengua, and now I have a great new spot for that.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Hold Your Fork: Taco Hunt. Go eat some tacos!