It’s another hot one in Houston. Wife had some business to handle this weekend over near the downtown area. We were gonna be on the road for a bit and needed to hit it with something in our bellies. Of course, Tacos are always a good choice! After a quick shower and coffee to-go, we pull up the map and find a spot that looks promising. We set our destination for Brothers Taco House for a quick bite before we tackle all our goings-on.

These Are Good Signs

We drive under the overpass, past the jail bondsman, and pull up to a tiny pink building in the middle of an equally small parking lot. While marveling at the line, queued up out the door, we happen to notice a guy pulling out of a spot right up front. SCORE! We park and head into the fray. There’s a picture of a lady holding a sign and another guy riding a donkey gesticulating like he’s trying to stop traffic. It’s pretty awesome.

Inside we’re met with cafeteria setup, a single line where you’re herded toward the register telling the ladies what you want. They’re all back there hustling and sweating and speaking Spanish. A man stands guard over the flat-top griddle that’s pumping out fresh tortillas.

Let’s Try Something

We glance over the menu as we get closer and I order our food from the stout woman who’s equal parts agreeable and impatient. Wife orders migas, aromatic eggs served with fried tortilla strips, and a quesadilla, a tortilla stuffed with meat and cheese. I get huevos rancheros, eggs cooked over-easy and smothered in a spicy tomato sauce, and a taco with chicharron, pork rinds braised in a spicy tomatillo sauce. As we make our way to the register we notice a small stainless steel bowl packed with… I’m not sure if they’re Cheyenne or jwala, but they look dangerous! I grab one. YOLO, right?

OH. MY. GOD

We make it to the cafeteria-style seating area and dig in. Dude! This is amazing! Wife’s migas are wonderfully textured. The tortillas are still crispy and the whole mound of eggs was cooked with fresh serrano peppers, onion, and tomato. The peppers added a nice heat as well as a very welcomed crunch.

Her quesadilla was cooked in a more traditional Mexican style. Normally a tortilla would just be stuffed and either topped with another tortilla or folded over. As you get deeper into the country, however, you’ll find the method they use here at Brothers Taco House. They place the cheese directly on the griddle which starts the melting and gives it a nice, colored flavor and texture. Then, once it’s started, they top the lump of cheese with a tortilla and pull it off to serve it. It was pretty damn good!

And For The Gentleman?

My huevos rancheros were really good too. The sauce was super spicy, the eggs were cooked well and the beans were absolutely marvelous. They were full-bodied and hearty. The rice served alongside was a bit bland when compared to the rice, but the texture mixed well.

But the taco. Guys. This taco may have been the best chicharron taco I’ve had since I was down here. Chicharrones are just pieces of fried pig skin with a little fat attached, usually. However, they used chicharron chico, which a type of chicharron that has a chunk of meat attached. It was reconstituted with the incredibly spicy sauce and left the whole mix overflowing with pork flavor. I wanted to add heat, but I couldn’t. It was so hot already that I had to abandon my pepper. Maybe I’ll live more than once?

How Angry Can I Get?

My mom used to tell us a story. She would say that you could tell when the person making the salsa was angry because it’d be hot. I can tell you: this chef was pissed! My bunghole is not gonna like me… But, even so, the Chef was not as angry as I was. It’s time to rate my experience and I can say: It’s not pretty. On a scale of shank-the-chef (high) to tip-the-hat (low), I’m going to straight murder the chef at Brothers Taco House, him and his whole crew. It’ll be glorious. I’m burnin’ up…

Chef Shanker

Keeping the world in balance.
Have you ever eaten something so delicious it made you angry?