Tacos Atoyac: Street-Style Oaxacan Eats

A A A Comments (0) By Laura Hahnefeld Thursday, Jan 26 2012

Elsewhere on the menu is the torta milanesa, whose top-notch combination of ham, egg, and avocado would be improved with a better roll. And there are tamales, cheese and epazote (a pungent herb native to southern Mexico) quesadillas, and memiltas (crispy corn-dough tartlets filled with meat and cheese) that are not nearly as flavorful as the aforementioned favorites but still find a way to satisfy.

That may be why, although Tacos Atoyac is just a year old, the small, spartan room is usually thick and noisily alive with a melting pot of families, friends, and regulars. Sitting at the eatery's handful of tables and biting into solid shrimp burros stuffed with rice and whole sweet shrimp, or intently focused on slurping up the bits of pecan and cantaloupe left from a heavenly sweet cup of homemade Mexican horchata, the packed room is reinforcement that Maldonado and Lopez's concept is working like gangbusters.

jackie Mercandetti

Served up fast and flavorful, Tacos Atoyac goes south — way south — of the border with its less commonly found Oaxacan fare.

Location Info

Map

Tacos Atoyac

1830 W. Glendale Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85021

Category: Restaurant > Mexican

Region: North Phoenix

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Details

Tacos Atoyac
1830 West Glendale Avenue
602-864-2746
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday

Taco: $1
Fish taco: $1.50
Al pastor burro: $4
Tlayuda with meat: $8
E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com, or call 602-229-8414.

Tacos Atoyac

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The two-man team is almost always on hand. While Lopez muscles trays of tamales or a hefty pot of steaming mole in the kitchen, Maldonado plays the role of gracious host and server, switching with rapid-fire flair between English and Spanish, welcoming customers and assisting first-timers' ums and ahs with suggestions of the day's best dishes.

None of which, unfortunately, include Lopez's chicken soup, but most of which are just as comforting.