What to Eat in Birmingham

The Alabama Farmer’s Market on Finley Avenue is a real Birmingham gem. It’s actually open 24/7 according to their website (and I once called at 10pm-they answered!). But this post isn’t about the farmers market-it is about the Taqueria.

This Taqueria is one of several hole in the wall authentic taco places that I’ve found in the Ham that Mr Foodie and I absolutely adore. I was excited to share the experience with a friend who just moved back to the Magic City with her husband. I’ve met several people lately who are rediscovering Birmingham, or like us, discovering it for the first time. And this is a place that I find many people don’t even know is here-the definition of a hidden gem.

As far as I can tell, the Taqueria caters predominately to workers at the market. Spanish is the main language spoken inside between employees and customers, and employees are friendly to people like me whose Spanish is limited to one semester of college education.

The atmosphere is no-frills- this place is all about the food. Here is what the outside looks like:

The menu is simple but has all the most important staples:

It was Sunday and they were out of my favorite item (tamales), which I’ll just have to blog about some other time. So instead, we decided to try a few new things. This place has just a few tables inside and out. The inside tables were taken and it was a nice, cool day, so we sat down outside.

First, horchata, a homemade milky drink with cinnamon and sugar. A delicious way to start the meal-it was nearly gone 10 minutes later when our food began to arrive. Absolutely delicious.

Then, the food. First, huaraches, a corn tortilla covered in meat (in this case carnitas or pork), cheese, and avocado. Eaten with a fork and knife. Hearty and delicious.

As if that wasn’t enough, I had a pastor (also pork!) taco on the side. I was in heaven and a little overstuffed.

Mr Foodie had the pastor and chorizo tacos. I stole a bite of his chorizo. I ordinarily don’t like to eat chorizo – if I can’t understand what’s in it I typically stay away. But for the sake of the blog, I took one for the team and had a bite. I have to admit, it was absolutely delicious.