Dining With Plastic Forks

Kale G: One of the fun things about doing a food blog is when you talk to people about it, they’re always willing to give their recommendations. That’s how we found this week’s offering, Pineda Tacos. To be fair, I think the Pineda being recommended to us was the one in Plymouth, but that’s a bit far to drive and there’s one on Lake Street and 3rd, so it was to Lake Street we flew!

Phil B: As usual, we nearly got into an accident shortly after getting on Lake Street. I am thinking this may be a good place to practice defensive driving before you go motoring into Chicago or Boston, or maybe NYC if you really like to gamble with your life -- the cab drivers there are certified, 100% insane (trust me on this).

Also, here’s some great advice for those of you who care about the appearance of your car: Once you find your destination, park nearby on a side street instead of parallel parking right on Lake Street, which has a bad combination of narrow lanes & inattentive drivers. I always notice a bunch of cars with their side mirrors missing from being sideswiped by the local traffic.

KG: Pineda’s is smack dab in the middle of the Latino neighborhood on Lake just off 35W. There’s a ton of little Mexican and Spanish restaurants, and Phil and I vowed to come back and try many, if not all of them. But those are future columns – for today, we only had eyes for the local chain.

PB: Yes we did. For one thing, I wanted to get an idea of what Pineda’s has to offer since their Plymouth location is not too far from my house.

KG: We walked into Pineda’s, and if you’ve ever needed a working definition of hole-in-the-wall, this is it. A long, narrow hall led past the counter back to where you could see a lone table with four chairs sitting. Not quite in the line of sight is a door leading off to a half a dozen tables in a side room where they play movies dubbed in Spanish for the patrons. The whole place has a gritty feel to it, like the smoke from the griddle had coated everything in a light layer of soot.

In short, we loved it from first blush.

PB: Yep, I’m going to repeat a theme from an earlier posting: we had a real good feeling about this place. The signage and menu were mostly written en Español, and there was a bit of a language barrier between us and everybody else. The whole thing had a greasy, spicy ‘tortilla flats’ type of vibe to it that made me want to belt out a verse of ‘La Cucaracha’. Being the gringos locos that we are, we took our place in line and waited our turn.

KG: We examined the menu, noting that there was the Burrito (Choose 1 meat), and the Burrote (Choose 2 meats). Rationalizing that two meats are better than one, we moseyed up to the counter and when the lady asked us what we wanted, Phil casually said we were thinking a couple of Burrotes, the woman grabbed a pair of tortillas, tossed ‘em on the grill, and we were off and running to our first revelation of the day.

DWPF’s First Lesson of the Day: The number and variety of meats is NOT the major difference between a Burrito and a Burrote.

PB: I’m going to let Kale explain the difference, so follow along carefully.

KG: The woman and Phil engaged in a discussion of what types of meat he should choose – Phil and I are both lovers of both Mexican and Spanish cuisine…

Beavis: Hehe, did you hear that? Those dudes are lovers! Hehe… hehe…

Butthead: Hehe… hehe…

PB: Hey, who let those idiots in this blog? Get ‘em outta here!

KG: …aaaand these people had meats we’d never even heard of. Carnitas we knew, Carnitas we wanted, but she talked Phil into getting Pastor for his second meat. Carnitas is common enough that you probably know it – slow-cooked, marinated pulled-pork that will have aficionados drooling at its merest mention, but Pastor requires a bit more explanation. It seems that when the Lebanese culture first met Mexican culture, one of the things that Mexico loved in the culinary arena was the Shwarama, which you might know a bit better from its Greek counterpart, the Gyro. However, the spices the Lebanese used were not in abundance in Mexico, so they developed ‘Al Pastor’ instead. Pork is pressed into a log which has had various and sundry peppers and spices mixed in and then is spitted on a vertical rotisserie. Meat is sliced off and served up hot, spicy and delicious.

Butthead: They can serve my meat anytime…

Beavis: Hehe… hehe…

PB: I said get!

Now, back to the story behind Pastor. The street vendors also usually stick a pineapple on top of the rotisserie, which allows the juices from the pineapple to run down into the meat as things heat up. You serious cooks out there may already know that pineapple juice contains an enzyme called bromelain, which does a fantastic job of tenderizing meat. A typical taco al pastor is very small -- maybe a few bites of meat garnished with cliantro, onions, and some of the roasted pineapple. Add your favorite hot sauce, take a bite, and you will quickly understand how tacos al pastor became a favorite sidewalk snack of Mexico City. Pastor also makes a good burrote filling, which reminds me -- I believe Kale was about to tell you the difference between a burrito and a burrote.

KG: I was. Meats selected, the woman returned with the tortillas. I figured she’d fill the first and then get my meat selections: I was wrong. She laid the two tortillas on the counter, overlapping each other like a flour-based Venn Diagram. Phil and I boggled as she began to fill the both of them with beans and rice, then layered on the meat and eventually created a foot-and-a-half long log that was the Burrote. Then she turned to me for my order. Fortunately, I am occasionally quick on the uptake, and I quickly stated, “Burrito!”

PB: Yep, if you haven’t already guessed, ‘burrote’ roughly translated into English means: “Big honkin’ burrito that could choke a starving mule, or maybe even Eddie.”

Who’s Eddie?

He’s Eddie.

He’s a beauty, isn’t he? Eddie can inhale a can of dog food in one bite.

KG: Huh. Not at all what I thought you meant when you said you were gtting a doggy bag. I was picturing this:

Anyways, Phil had been a little dazed by the size of his lunch and had failed to properly consider his add in options, but I had no such issue. Salsa Verde, guacamole, chopped cilantro, and a few lime wedges squeezed over the lot of it, all of these added into my Carnitas Burrito and the flavor just popped for me. Phil’s was good (and partially responsible for Third World Hunger), but I think mine was better due to the additions.

PB: Dazed is the understatement of the year. I was shell-shocked. So shocked that all I could do was point mutely at the pico de gallo and the cheese to top off my Buick-sized burrote. Won’t make that mistake next time.

As usual, Kale graciously offered me a sample of his lunch selection. I am beginning to think of the add-in options that he ordered as a new ‘holy trinity’ of burrito seasoning; namely, the cilantro, salsa verde, and lime juice. That combo can really zing up the taste to a whole new level. As for guacamole: there are few things in Mexican cuisine that aren’t improved by adding a dollop of ‘guac’. Kinda similar to what bacon does for Yanqui food.

KG: A couple of lime Jarritos and we settled in to listen to ‘21’ in Spanish and try out these monsters. Phil got his cut in half, either half was still bigger than his head, and we were off. Like I said, mine popped. Having the extra lime juice gave everything an extra kick that I heartily recommend, and unlike some national chains, Pineda nether charges for Guac nor skimps on the meat. For Burritos, I know where I’m heading in the future.

PB: Me too. I am going to try the Plymouth location next time, just to see if there is consistency across the chain. I give my burrote three tines for flavors (my fault), and ten tines for size. For the sake of science, next time I may experiment to see what the ‘holy trinity’ does for a burrito al pastor with pineapple, onions, and guacamole. Just might end up with a new favorite.

KG: Pineda’s in one of the quintessential hole-in-the-wall joints, and I’m saying four tines. I like the selection, I like the atmosphere, and damn if I didn’t like the Burrito. I’d suggest parking on a side street just because of the nature of traffic on Lake, but otherwise there’s nothing to not recommend this place over.

Pineda Tacos
311 E Lake St
Minneapolis MN
(612) 825-7466