Cheap Eats - Tlayuda who?
Authentic flavors and foreign words at Cafeteria La Oaxaquena
Spanish class may have been naptime in high school, but you’ll want to brush up on those skills before a trip to Cafeteria La Oaxaquena. Situated off a dusty side street (next to an even dustier package store) in Smyrna, this little gem of a Mexican grill cooks up authentic flavors in old favorites including burritos ($4.50), tacos ($1.50) and tostadas ($1.50). There are other dishes, though, that will have even the most die-hard Mexican lovers tripping over their tongues in an eager attempt to master their pronunciation. One would do well to take extra care with those attempts, as English is an anomaly here. Children in the restaurant tend to stare and giggle at the phenomenon of an adult whose Spanish is more limited than their own.
Homage to home: The cafeteria’s name comes from the Mexican state of Oaxaca (pronounced wa-HA-ka), a region known for its unique and robust flavors. More than one queso-loving friend immediately recognized it as being particularly known for its cheese. No wonder — the cheese, called quesillo, that tops most items at La Oaxaquena melts on the tongue like ultra-creamy mozzarella, though it crumbles like feta. The cafeteria also features two other Oaxacan specialties: tlayudas ($8), or Mexican pizzas, and huaraches ($3.50), similar to a tostada.
Run from the Border: The ingredients of La Oaxaquena’s tlayudas may look familiar — refried beans, tomatoes and cheese — but they bear little resemblance to the “Mexican pizza” served at Taco Bell. Refried beans, for instance, are not a dense, globby layer but rather a light, almost invisible paste that serves to bond the meat against the huge, crispy corn tortilla that comprises the base of the tlayuda. On top, a massive pile of cool iceberg lettuce is speckled with the aforementioned quesillo. Bright tomatoes and avocados hide within the green mountain.
Frittered and Fried: Huaraches, along with burritos, tostadas and tacos, feature a similar combination of ingredients lying on a dense, oblong tortilla (hense, the sandal reference in the name) that is addictively crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle.
On each of these, you choose your preferred meat — roasted beef, red chili pork or chorizo — or forgo all that and simply get extra quesillo. It’s impossible to say which is best. The roasted beef is actually tender chunks of steak tinged with lime, while the extra quesillo produces irresistibly velvety results. The red chili pork conveniently advertises “no hot”: The smoky red pieces of meat indeed have a peppery, sweet chili flavor without tongue-lashing spice.
Otras Especialidades: It’s difficult to stray from these menu items, but those who do should choose the tamales ($2) before the solid and mostly recognizable selection of fajitas and tortas. Served only on the weekends due to the time involved in making them, the banana leaf-wrapped pockets of corn masa and ground chicken are smoky-sweet thanks to a generous layer of Oaxaca’s legendary mole sauce, so dark it’s almost black. Despite the presence of chocolate in the mole, the sauce provides a sharp, almost bitter contrast to the sweetness of the tamale. Try finding that kind of flavorful intensity at your corner burrito joint.