Food Truck Fridays: Tacos Don Memo

Food Truck Fridays is a column by sophomore Will Constan documenting all the tasty mobile treats in Philly.

Tacos Don Memo

This week is the first time I have reviewed a truck that is actually on Penn’s campus. Tacos Don Memo is a small and well-thought-out Mexican food truck at 38^th and Locust. They have a classic menu of tacos, tortas, tostadas, quesadillas and of course burritos. To top it all off, they have an excellent selection of Jarritos, the Mexican soda brand that I believe to be the best soda money can buy. I was craving tacos and burritos this week, so I had to stop by Tacos Don Memo.

Pastor Burrito

The Pastor burrito is a classic, no-frills burrito consisting of Al Pastor style pork, Mexican rice, beans, avocado, onions, cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. Although this may seem pedestrian, Tacos Don Memo’s burrito rises above its competitors because it is constructed of excellent ingredients.

The Al Pastor pork truly stands out in this burrito. Al Pastor is a Mexican preparation of pork which consists of marinating the pork in a variety of spices, including chillies, and pineapple for many hours and then cooking the marinated pork. The spices are primarily for flavor, but the pineapple actually serves to break down the proteins in the meat. Initially, the Al Pastor in this burrito distracted me from the other ingredients in the burrito simply because of the deep and satisfying flavor it contains. There is just the right amount of spices to give it a well-seasoned chili flavor, but not so much that it obscures the flavor of the meat. Rather, the spices complement the meat so well that I almost couldn’t imagine one without the other. On top of all this, the meat transcends tenderness to become something that truly melts in your mouth. My only complaint about the pork is that I wish there was more of it.

Fortunately, the Al Pastor shares the culinary stage that is this burrito with a slew of excellent supporting ingredients. Yellow Mexican rice occupies the majority of the space within this burrito. Typically the rice in burritos adds substance and carbohydrates, but not much in the way of flavor. This rice however, adds a slight chili and tomato taste to the burrito. Rather than being watery and bland, the beans are relatively dry and flavorful. The cilantro, lettuce, tomatoes and onions are all superbly fresh and portioned. Fresh does not adequately describe the avocados. They are perfectly ripe, with a strong avocado flavor and a pleasingly smooth, but not mushy, texture. The sour cream and cheese are both subtle in taste and substance. I happened to order my burrito with hot sauce, so the sour cream and cheese also provided a slight cooling effect to combat the hot sauce. With that being said, the burrito was still fiery. This collection of exemplary ingredients was tightly wrapped in an equally impressive tortilla. To top it all off, they put the burrito on the grill for a few minutes to warm it and slightly toast the tortilla.

Chicken Taco

This chicken taco is extraordinarily simple, consisting only of chicken, onions and cilantro wrapped in a corn tortilla. I opted to add hot sauce to my taco and I suggest you do as well, it really brings out the flavors in this taco. The chicken is simple and well cooked. Because it is not excessively seasoned, most of the flavor comes from the actual chicken. Not surprisingly, Tacos Don Memo uses chicken that is as excellently selected as all its other ingredients, so the chicken itself is flavorful and not bland like lesser chicken. The cilantro and onions are the same fresh and crisp ones used in the burrito, and they provide a nice cut when paired with the hot sauce. The tortillas themselves were flavorful and had the smooth texture of fresh tortillas, as opposed to the usual sogginess that plagues lesser corn tortillas. Initially, I was concerned that the two tortillas that form the outside of this taco would be too much tortilla and that I would feel like I was eating a giant tortilla with a little bit of meat in it. By balancing the portioning of the meat with the amount of tortilla, as well as using quality tortillas, Tacos Don Memo has dodged the two-tortilla problem that I was concerned about.

The team behind Tacos Don Memo deserves an award for their attention to detail. They took the time to find the perfect ingredients and preparations, rather than taking the easy way out and using subpar ingredients masked with complicated seasonings. As much as I love food trucks that take a typical dish and really go to town on making it different (I’m looking at you Mac Mart) the simplicity and elegance of Tacos Don Memo is refreshing. I know that there are a lot of places to get tacos and burritos, but none are quite like Tacos Don Memo. Next time you’re craving Mexican food, give Tacos Don Memo a try, and don’t forget the Jarritos.

-Will Constan