After a night of libations, there is definitely a food many people gravitate to: tacos. Or menudo, if it’s been a particularly rough night. Though, of course, Mexican food can be enjoyed at any time.
José Ralat, the taco editor from Texas Monthly, said he recently visited a Lubbock taqueria — Jiménez Tortilleria y Taqueria — that will take the edge off a hangover.
“This is the third-generation restaurant from this family, and they’ve always had guisados, which are substantial, slow-cooked, homey dishes that are really the backbone of breakfast,” Ralat said. “What’s special about this place is that they go crazy with it. And part of it is inspired by one of the sons’ love of partying.”
Ralat said the perfect hangover food has to be hearty and fatty, “and preferably messy, because you need to reactivate all of your faculties.”
For the uninitiated, Ralat said guisados include any number of ingredients.
“It literally means dish or filling. You can eat it without a tortilla, but tacos de guisado have guisados in tortillas,” he said. “That being said, if you’re going to eat a guisado, there will be tortillas. So the inclination is to automatically make a taco.”
In Mexico, guisados are usually served with rice, Ralat said.
“That helps soak up the sauce. And as I pointed out in this article, these tacos could benefit from rice in some instances because these things are heavy,” he said. “Ultimately, if you’re not careful, you’re going to require a fork and knife.”
Jiménez Tortilleria y Taqueria has also partnered with a Lubbock brewery called Good Line.
“Good Line is owned by some guys from Austin who moved to Lubbock, and they connected with the family over a love of partying and beer,” Ralat said. “Eventually they got together to make a corn lager using tortillas. And that went so well that they decided, let’s bring in tacos. And so every Sunday they bring in tacos for sale, and they sell out, usually within two hours.”
The owner of the taqueria also takes a different approach to breakfast tacos, Ralat said.
“He prefers a fried egg over scrambled eggs,” Ralat said. “So it’s not your typical breakfast taco, but it is just as fulfilling. It’s just as comforting — and runny.”