You Should Be Dancin' Yeah

My dreams have all come true, a Mexican take out restaurant around the corner!  El Toro Taqueria.  They don't have a website but are part of Seamless, so maybe that will be a good reason to start an account. Actually, we already have a Mexican restaurant around the other corner, Pequena, but it's not cheap and it's not that fabulous.  Or rather, to be fair, it is good but its not really the Mexican food I'm accustomed to, not Tex Mex or Fresh Mex. But it actually has been really tasty in the past. I love their Chilaquiles. The region of Mexico seems to make a big difference in how the food is prepared, the beans they use, the rice, the meat seasoning.

The bad thing is we're not eating so many things so the only item on the menu we can get right now is the El Toro Chicken salad.  To be fair to a take out joint like this, the salad probably isn't the most amazing dish on the menu. I ordered the stewed chicken and it was a meal.  Stewed chunks of chicken, black beans, pickled onions, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, and the lettuce was also cut in large pieces like a Caesar salad.  I was happy with it.  Was it fabulous, mmm...probably not but it has potential.  I served it along with my homemade salsas and baked pea chips (nerd alert!) along with another side of guacamole.  I have condiphobia,  a fear of never having enough condiments.

Again, this is where truth and kindness meet.  Firstly, I was so happy to eat this salad.  P met me at our front door with a big bag of take out, my other dream, a man with a sack of food.  What a treat! So all in all, no complaints and I'm lucky to be alive and able to sit and eat good take out food when others are having a hard time.  But, If I had to elaborate, I found it weird that the cook would choose to bury the beans and the tomatoes in the bottom of the salad since we eat with our eyes first.  Beans are cheap but there was only a handlful in the salad. On the other hand, it was like digging for treasure and I was surprised when I found it down there. I did't really taste the 'stew' in the chicken because it was so chunky and almost tasted canned but I know that can't be true.  The only person I know who cans meat is my brother in law out in Colorado. There was some tomatoe-y flavor though and it was not unpleasant.

And it did inspire me! I took this as a sign to make a week of my own Chicken Salads.  We'll eat here again and it's so great to have them.  I've noticed real take out Mexican restaurants are slowly coming into neighborhoods in Brooklyn, something lacking for years.  What they used to have was Chinese shops serving 'Mexican' food but it was stretching it big time.  Deep fried 'tacos'.  These places still exist all over New York but soon the smart New Yorkers will realize what they've been eating has nothing to do with even the Americanized Mexican food.  Look, it served it's purpose, because I know I ate enough from these Fresco places through the years but they must die now.

This El Toro shop lacks energy or happiness which is weird because it's in a super cute little corner location.  It's not as depressing as the Chinese food take out but these guys are so young.  Put some good music on, smile a little, enjoy your work!  These guys might just work there and maybe are not the owners but if they are, hey man, you're in Brooklyn, in a great location and you are living my dream to have a tiny shop serving take out Mexican food.  Let's get to steppin!