La Cafeteria

Has it ever happened to you that you go looking for one thing and end up at something else that is different and amazing? It happened to me today when I went looking for a restaurant, only to find out that they went out of business long ago and there is a new eatery at the same location. That’s how I found La Cafeteria.
First thing you will notice when you enter the complex is a red banner announcing $ 1 tacos! $ 1 tacos — seriously! Like cafeteria, they are only open for lunch from 10 am to 3 pm.
I was greeted by the owner/​manager Marco! There were no other waiters. He pointed me to the menu and started to show me all the vegetarian options in their menu. Lest he knows that I eat anything that walk, crawls and flies.
La Cafeteria has simple Mexican menu with Fajitas, quesadillas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas. And also few items that I haven’t seen in other Mexican or taco joints. Like Pork Pibil — pork marinated with orange/​grapefruit juice and habenero pepper!(unfortunately they didn’t have that but Marco suggested that i come back and try that).
They have two tables with four chairs each if you decide to eat your lunch there. Also two small tables with two chairs each outside.
Back to the $ 1 tacos — you have four tacos to choose from.
1) Potato & Chorizo
2) Rice & mole
3) Bean & Cheese
4) Rice & guacamole
Not much meat in the tacos — figures, for a $ 1.
I ordered the following,
1) Shrimp Taco
2) Carnitas & Chicharrón taco
3) Arrachera taco
4) Cuba — Mex Sandwich
The shrimps in the taco was small kind but it goes well with the chipotle mayo lettuce. I could taste the smokiness of the chipotle in the sauce.
Chicharrón is basically fried pork rind. Again, it complements the carnitas well in the tacos. Arrachera taco had marinated steak, Chicharrón, chorizo and salso verde. It had a nice balance of spice and tangy.
Cuba — Mex sandwich is basically torta with ham/​roasted pork, chorizo, black beans with melted asadero cheese. I don’t quiet know what is cuban about it — perhaps the usage of ham. Nevertheless, if you ignore the lingos, the sandwich itself was quite big, tasty and filling.
While I was waiting for my food, I had a chance to chat with owner Marco. He was happy to take me to ‘Employee only’ and show around. He explained that their main business is not selling food but making tamale. They have over ten different tamales, all made in-​house and sold in farmers markets, and soon in Whole Foods as well. There were pictures of him featured in articles for winning best tamale contest in 2011(also featuring was a picture of him with GA Governor for his win).
Still food is good here, most of the ingredients are made in-​house, local business, very friendly owner and priced very cheap! These are enough factors for me to frequent the place. Too bad they aren’t open for dinner though.
4 Stars.

I got sucked in by their sign that advertised $ 1 lunch tacos. If you want meat on your taco, it is $ 2. Clearly false advertising, or bait and switch– you decide. The dollar taco is a rice or potato taco. What a joke. Food was nasty. FAIL.

For what it is — inexpensive tacos — you can’t go wrong. They have 3 tiers of pricing on tacos based on the ingredients with the cheapest being $ 1. They have other food too but I come for the tacos! This location is where Zocalos in Midtown builds all their salsas, molé, etc. Its open for lunch on Monday through Friday from 10 – 2 at the moment but perhaps their hours will expand in the coming months. There’s a couple tables and chairs out front but basically a takeaway place. The ingredients are all fresh and the people are friendly. Highly recommended for an inexpensive yummy lunch.

The $ 1 TACOS banner finally hooked me into the Plaza Del Sol parking lot. My expectations weren’t high, but this neighborhood is full of food surprises.
Surprise! Of the good kind!
The place is tiny — only two tables inside and two outside.
From the $ 1 menu — the sautéed mushroom taco is quite tasty. The meaty tacos cost more, but are well worth it. The Pork Pibil taco — slow cooked pulled pork marinated in grapefruit and orange juice. No typo there. Very tasty! The carnitas y chicharron taco, the shrimp taco, the arrachera taco are all excellent. The Charro Beans are great.
There is a good bit more on the menu that I have not gotten to yet — the Cuban sandwich appears to be popular. They also make a bunch of different salsas — the chipotle salsa is my favorite
La Cafeteria is lunch only, Monday thru Friday, I think until 3PM.
TRY IT!

For most of my adult life I’ve prided myself on having an amazing sense of direction (think GPS, not goals or purpose). Sure, I use Google Maps every once-​in-​a-​while. Who doesn’t?
Last week I got lost trying to find the Chamblee Post Office. I’ve been there several times before and it was frustrating to end up driving parallel to I-​285 when I felt like I should have been on a road that would intersect it. I was lost and the self-​affirmations I was telling myself were distracting enough to keep me from asking my car and phone to find our location and get turn-​by-​turn directions.
20 minutes later I was back where I started. Hunger was only making things worse and I wanted to find something quick to eat. As I was driving past Plaza del Sol (for the second time in an hour) I saw the most amazing sight. A big red banner that said $ 1 tacos!
It’s not a big deal, but you should know that only their vegetarian tacos are $ 1. Meat are about a dollar more. I tried the potato and chorizo since it was only a dollar. I Also got a grilled steak with cilantro on a corn tortilla. Both were good and I was comforted when I saw the owner’s picture when he received a Best of Georgia prize in 2011.