Thought you might be interested in the specials we’ll be running on the 4th of July in honor of our country’s appropriation of Mexico’s food. We will be participating in the Dining with Dignity program that day. A portion of all our proceeds will go to Sisters of the Road to help feed those in need.
We’ll be serving two American Mexican dishes all day: New Mexico’s green chile cheeseburger and LA’s pastrami burrito, each $8.75.
The green chile cheeseburger is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth. On a trip to New Mexico with my wife, we ate at least two a day. I’ll be taking my cues from places like the Bobcat Bite, Pasqual’s, and various drive-ins and taverns. (The picture attached is one I took of the burger at Pasqual’s in Santa Fe.) We’ll be using 1/3 lb of ground beef, smothered in a house-made roasted Hatch green chile sauce and aged white cheddar.
As someone born in LA with a special affinity for both Mexican food and deli, I’ve always marveled at the drive-ins that dot the city advertising “TACOS – TAMALES – BURGERS – PASTRAMI”. I partially modeled the pastrami burger at Kenny & Zuke’s on the pastrami burgers found in LA delis, drive-ins, and diners. One of the native LA mash-ups popularized by places like Oki Dog and Pink’s, though, is the “pastrami burrito”, aka the kosher burrito, something Gustavo Arellano (of Ask-a-Mexican fame) describes in his book Taco USA as “an ungodly concoction of a flour tortilla, heaps of pastrami, and cheddar cheese.” The Oki Dog version, – probably the most famous rendition – contains pastrami, two grilled kosher dogs, all beef chili, cheese and grilled onions double-wrapped in tortillas. It’s this version we’ll be serving, either Oki Dog style with the cheese, or true kosher-style without. And yes, I’ll be brining and smoking the pastrami in-house. The chili will be house-made, too. See a picture of the one at Oki Dog on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Instead of our normal weekday hours, we’ll be open from noon until 7:30pm – later if it stays busy. Since we have no idea how many of these things we’ll sell or how busy it will be, we’ll be offering people the opportunity to reserve their green chile cheese burger or pastrami burrito, guaranteeing them one. (They can reserve by emailing reservations@mmmtacospdx.com.) Everyone else will be first come first serve. Otherwise, we’ll be serving our happy hour menu until 3pm and our normal menu until close after that.
Viva Los Estados Unidos!