What to Eat in Birmingham

UPDATE 4/30/2015:  I just heard from a very reliable source that ownership has changed and this is not the old Los Pedros we know and love.  I am holding off on moving this post to the graveyard for now but…. It seems like a strong possibility.  Brief moment of silence for the old Los Pedros.

Now for the original post:

Recently, a friend told me about a taqueria that is his new favorite place to get authentic tacos. When he told me it was on Valley Avenue, in a strip mall in the parking lot behind the Salvation Army, I knew I had to go ASAP.

I absolutely love the fact that they put photos of their menu on the outside of the restaurant. Makes for a colorful facade:

Menu

Here’s the actual menu: an extremely affordable mixture of the usual tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas etc:

I went with a friend for lunch, and we had a strategy. Guacamole (of course), one taco each (pastor), and per the waitresses’ suggestion, the chicken quesadilla. In fact, much to my surprise, she told us that the grilled chicken quesadilla was the best thing on the menu. We took her advice.

Guacamole

Look at this. Delivered to the table as fresh avocado, tomatoes and onions. Mixed by us right before eating. No limes were available (assuming this has to do with the international lime shortage we are currently facing). But a squirt of fresh lemon and we were good to go. Amazing. Before and after:

Tacos

This place is, I think, unique from the other places I’ve blogged about in that they make their own homemade corn tortillas. And they.are. so. good. The pastor had chunks of fresh pineapple in it and is probably now my favorite pastor in Birmingham.

Quesadilla

I understood why the waitress insisted this was such a good dish. The combination of the homemade tortilla with almost smoky grilled chicken and mild Mexican cheese was unbelievable.

First, the aerial view:

Now in mouth-watering cross-section:

I’ve never had a quesadilla like this before-it wasn’t greasy, but it was still very hearty.

The Fixins

This place has a more extensive fresh fixins bar than most: not just salsa but amazing pickled veggies and other fresh toppings:

And at $20 for all of that including a nice tip-you can’t beat it. Not even on Greensprings.

UPDATE, 4/26/2014: Hurache

I just keep going back, and I’ve heard from several of you who have been there since our original post. Please feel free to comment about your favorite dishes. Here’s my new favorite dish at Los Pedros: shredded chicken huarache:

Fried masa on the bottom, and meat, cheese, and sour cream on top (that’s what that stringy looking line is-at first I thought it was some kind of cheese wiz-the horror-luckily it was not). Filling and delicious. Mr Fooodie and I split one of these and had one taco each. The perfect $10 dinner for 2.