Chichen Itza

This is an update of sorts. The first time I visited Chichen Itza, I found the lowest Greenville taqueria/panaderia to be an awful place serving terrible tacos. That was 2011, and Greenville Avenue was just beginning its slow creep to revitalization. Now the neighborhood is on the upswing: Coffee shops, beer bars, restaurants, a bike shop, heck, even a trendy grocery store and food truck park. It was the latter, the Truck Yard, that drew me one weekday afternoon. Unfortunately, the taco truck I had traveled to see was a no-show. Chichen Itza was the only other taco option nearby. So Chichen Itza, it was.

What I encountered was world’s away from the detritus I stomached during my initial visit. It was decent fare in pliant, un-oily yellow corn tortillas. The chicken milanesa (a breaded and fried chicken cutlet) was even admirable. It held moisture, wasn’t cold—all of the fillings were warm—but it was teetering on the precipice of too salty. If the chicken surprised by not being dry, the beef barbacoa did the same for lacking juice. Meanwhile the lengua was a simple take, shredded and earthy.

It was a pleasant lunch washed down with salty, effervescent Topo Chico, that days latter surprised me even more when a short article published by arts magazine THRWD about punk rock shows at East Dallas taquerias featured Chichen Itza. The piece included a photo of Orgullo Primitivo’s business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back drummer performing in front of the restaurant’s image of the temple in the eponymous Maya city.

While I stand by my initial assessment of Chichen Itza’s tacos, it’s clear that the quality has improved. It should be recongized as such. The Chichen Itza of today is better. And I for one am pleased that I returned.