Tortas El Guero (for me, TEG for short) is a little tortas/taco shop in the Uptown area of Phoenix. If you are familiar with Barrio Cafe, it’s right down the street. “Tortas,” for you gringos (like me), is just another way of saying “Mexican sandwich.” TEG also provides tacos, burritos, quesadillas and the like.
I had heard a little about TEG’s tortas before I visited. My expectations were solid without being unrealistic; however, they were a little slower at 12:30 than I had anticipated. The crowd was predominantly Hispanic , both young and old. The restaurant itself was very clean and fairly simple. Concrete floors, tin sheets on the wall (think Chipotle’s restaurants), painted walls of yellow, brown and salmon, and framed awards and write-ups on the walls.
Now that I think about it, what’s with all the concrete floors nowadays? Have you noticed that they are in almost every restaurant now? I’m sure they are more affordable and definitely more durable. I wonder if it’s just an Arizona thing? Hmmm, maybe I’ll save that for another blog.
All in all, the restaurant was very simple but clean and orderly. Clean and orderly, unfortunately, are two areas that are often overlooked but shouldn’t be...EVER!
The staff at TEG was very polite, friendly and fast. If you read my last post on Bertha’s Cafe, I commented about the dude with no smile. This was not the case at TEG. I felt welcomed and comfortable. Don’t you think all restaurants should have that as a goal?
The featured sandwich for this location was the Cochinita torta. It’s a slow roasted, shredded pork served on a wonderful, light, toasted bread with fresh avocado, lettuce, tomato and pickled jalapeno. A point worth noting for all of you avocado lovers, the avocado was perfect! It was ripe, bright green and full of flavor. Avocado is one of our best super-foods but is often misused. The last thing anyone wants to see with their food is something mushy and black or green and hard. Unfortunately, that’s what we get much of the time. I don’t know where you are getting your delicious green fruit TEG but kudos for caring about quality.
The pork on the Cochinita torta was a unique combination of sweet, salty and slightly tangy. After completing the first half of my sandwich I couldn’t help but day dream about a giant Cochinita burrito. Oh well, there’s always next time. Anyways, the sandwich was excellent! I would happily go back again and again for this treat or one of their other items.
Now don’t let me fool you into thinking the Cochinita was all I had this day. Oh no my friends, I went after it. I also tried their asada tacos, pollo tacos and their roasted pork quesadilla. They were all fantastic, especially the quesadilla with it’s homemade tasting tortilla. Combine these items with a Mexican bottled coca-cola and you’ll be feeling Mui Bueno.
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I give the Cochinita:
4 out of 5 “M’s” for a M-m-m-m
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Much Love - Munch Love,
Alex
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