Potato Tacos (tacos de papas)

Has anyone heard of these being offered in the Chicagoland area or is this a LA specialty??? They were written up in the LA Weekly as one of J. Gold's top ten eats of 2006 and they sound just awesome.

Potato Tacos

The tacos de papas at El Atacor #11 are magnificent beasts, thin corn tortillas folded around bland spoonfuls of mashed spuds and fried to an indelicate, shattering crunch. The barely seasoned potatoes exist basically as a smooth, unctuous substance that oozes out of the tacos with the deliberate grace of molten lava. The glorious stink of hot grease and toasted corn subsumes any subtle, earthy hint of potato, and guacamole-drenched tacos de papas evaporate so quickly that you are thankful they come 10 to an order. I have seen families of five sit down to five separate orders, 50 tacos in all, and afterward there wasn’t a crumb or a spatter of sauce to be seen.

This is sometimes the vegetarian special at Irazu. Super delicious the last time I had them. You might also want an oatmeal shake and yuca con mojo.

I certainly do.

Irazu Costa Rican Restaurant

www.irazuchicago.com
1865 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-5687

Oddly I'm pretty sure they at least used to be on the menu at Hackney's on Printers Row.

mousec wrote:I have seen families of five sit down to five separate orders, 50 tacos in all, and afterward there wasn’t a crumb or a spatter of sauce to be seen.[/b]

Long live type 2 diabetes...

That sounds great!

Sometimes for a super easy meal, I stuff chipotle mashed potatoes into corn tortillas, fold them over, and fry them like quesadillas.

It's so darn quick and easy for how delicious they are. The smoky, spicy, soft potatoes contrast nicely with the crisp tortillas.

This is obviously a healthier variation than the one described above! I'm excited to find out if they are being served in Chicago. I'll have to keep my eye out at Irazu.

El Cid (both locations) has potato tacos that are
quite good. Kind of smashed potatoes along with
some roasted tomatoes and onions.

Also, the cafeteria attached to Danny's Market on
Western Ave. just north of Armitage has them too.
I've never had them there but a lot of their other
food is quite good, so I would suspect them to taste
just fine.

I haen't seen potato tacos around regularly but el gallo on montrose has potato gorditas which are very nice (I think annieb first mentioned these a long time ago on CH)

Zacatacos on both 59th and 71st and Pulaski have potato tacos.

Are the potato tacos at El Cid and Zacatacos mentioned above fried like the ones in the article? Tortillas stuffed with filling and then the whole shebang placed into the fryer?

kl5 wrote:Are the potato tacos at El Cid and Zacatacos mentioned above fried like the ones in the article? Tortillas stuffed with filling and then the whole shebang placed into the fryer?

I just came back from lunch at Zacataco's on 59th. They are indeed deep-fried.