Greasy Breakfast Tacos- yum.

For breakfast, I had a barbacoa taco and a potato and cheese taco. They were very good. The accompanying coffee, however, was awful.

We went to Villa Arcos, a little red shack of a restaurant on the other side of the tracks close to downtown. It is in the same neighborhood as the original Ninfa's, Houston's most famous homegrown Mexican-American food. Ninfa's has strayed into Tex-Mex yuckiness as it has franchised out, which is why I hesitate to call it Mexican food. The above pic is of Ninfa's, but it gives you a vague idea of the atmosphere. Villa Arcos is known for the best breakfast tacos in Houston. Having visited, I know their secret- lard. So much lard that their flour tortillas are almost translucent. I love my tortillas de maiz, but these were, by far, the best flour tortillas I've ever had. The barbacoa was heavily seasoned, kind of greasy, and very delicious. The accompanying salsa verde was painfully spicy but full-flavored, and complemented the greasiness nicely. My only complaint was the cheese on the second taco- it was a yellow cheese that failed to melt well, and remained rubbery and flavorless. The potatoes were smushy rather than crispy, but it turned out to be an asset to the overall texture.

The other great thing about our journey to the other side of town is that we discovered a strange, completely out of place beer garden down the street. I didn't get enough of a look to determine if it's really a beer garden or just a creatively named Mexican bar with a little side yard, but it's definitely worth looking into.