$10 Deal: Taqueria San Felipe
A tongue sopa (left) and carnitas torta are available at Taqueria San Felipe on Summer Avenue. (Jennifer Biggs/Daily Memphian)
I’ve driven by Taqueria San Felipe dozens of times and for some reason had a vague thought that it was a place that sold Western clothing. I missed the “taqueria” part of the sign and would have stayed oblivious had someone not posted a photo of a torta on Table Talk.
I thought it must be from a new place and made a note to check it out, which I did Monday. I asked the server how long the restaurant had been opened and she told me that everyone always asks that, and they’ve been there four years.
Well.
That’s long enough to change the prices on the menu but not quite long enough to print a new one. Black marker covers the prices and since I was specifically looking for a $10 deal, I had to ask for prices before I ordered. I can only relay to you what I was charged.
I say this because I think $4 is a remarkable bargain for the torta, a Mexican sandwich, that came to the table stuffed with carnitas. I confirmed when we were eating and again when I paid, so if it turns out to be a mistake, sorry.
We tried a few things: a $2 taco that was unremarkable, a $4 sopa that was good but not up to the torta standards, and an $8 huarache that oddly didn’t seem to be a bargain when everything else was.
The small restaurant, in a strip center at Summer Avenue and Elmore, is about as nondescript as you’ll find and we were the only people there when we walked in for lunch on Monday. Shortly after we placed our order, I saw a server busily preparing bowls of salsa, onions, cilantro and so on, and expected a bespoke experience.
Who else would that be for?
A large group, it turns out. As workman filled the tables around us, the condiments were placed there along with trays of tacos and such, Cokes and other soft drinks. Our food came to us already garnished and it was all fine, but it was the sandwich that left us smitten.
“That’s got more meat on it than most barbecues,” my friend noted, a true statement, at least in ratio of bread to meat. Tortas are usually massive and this one wasn’t; it was a small bun, grilled until a little crisp on the outside and with a little nice chewiness inside.
The meat was just great. It was pork at its simplest, letting the flavor of the meat show off. A little crema, a smidge of avocado and a slice of tomato was all they added to it, but it’ll get me back there. When I go, I’ll get a handful of those to go and serve them at home with chips and salsa and some margaritas (none of which are available at the restaurant). No one will complain, I promise.
As for you, you can buy two and stay under $10, and you have choices for the filling. In the pork family, you have the carnitas, or you can get pork skin or stomach, which is said to be more tender than tripe, or beef stomach, which is also available. For the less adventurous, there’s chorizo, ham, steak and chicken.
Taqueria San Felipe, 6415 Summer Avenue; 901-395-9886.
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$10 Deal Taqueria San Felipe BartlettJennifer Biggs
Jennifer Biggs is a native Memphian and veteran food writer and journalist who covers all things food, dining and spirits related for The Daily Memphian.
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