La Palmita

I went here with the hopes that this was the reopened Taqueria Juarez, but was sadly disappointed. I had a large menudo with flour tortillias and coffee for breakfast. The menudo was nothing like what the Juarez served– it was very bland, and even adding all of the chopped jalapeño peppers that came with it, there was little spice or flavor. The new owners have a very limited menu, which is fine, if the food is worth it. The menudo was not bad, just really, really bland. It only came with one tortillia, clearly not home made like the Juarez had. Maybe I was expecting too much, maybe there was some nostalgia for the pre-​Ike Taqueria Juarez. I wish the new owners luck, but will probably not go back.

A decent home-​cooked meal, but is it a restaurant, a home or both?
Prior to Hurricane Ike, it was «Taqueria Juarez», and that name is still in faded paint on the side of the building (even Google Maps shows this). I guess Juarez name was changed due to the bad image of late.
Location is not good for a restaurant: off the mainstream path in the still-​not-​recovered-​from-​Ike area between The Strand and 14^th street. It’s on the outside, looking in. It’s across the border, so to speak.
The pink-​painted building (with some folk art here and there) is an expanded home half-​converted into a restaurant.
It’s lunch on a Saturday (they close at 2pm) and it’s desolate in the area. Nor cars, no people to be seen. But there are «Open» flags on the curb.
Thinking the gated garden entry is for the restaurant, I try to enter, but oops! It’s locked and for the house not the restaurant! So, I enter the plain door.
A tourist guy walking by, pauses, follows me in, looks around and puzzlingly asks «is this the Original Mexican Café? The owner politely tells him it’s around the corner and up the street a couple of blocks. The guy rushes off, relieved.
The menu is pretty limited, but they have daily specials. Fajitas on Saturday, so I order chicken, and an unusual drink for me: Sin Alcohol Sangria in a bottle (for non-​Spanish speakers: ‘sin’ means ‘without’).
Chips y Salsa: chips are homemade and a pleasant change. But, salsa is watery (solids are at the bottom), warm and medium hot. Average taste, not special.
In this Mom & Pop «little restaurant that could» restaurant-​home, Mom cooks while Pop handles the counter and tables. When my food is served, Mom, Pop, child, and Grandma return to the living room table area where they are engrossed in an episode of ‘Law and Order’ on the TV, while I eat my meal in the former dining room area of the house.
The chicken fajitas were quite good. The cook came out of the kitchen mid-​meal and asked me how I liked them. She was smiling, because I think she knew she did a good job.
When not talking to the customer though, the enthusiasm seems gone from the family. Maybe the dream of owning a restaurant has faded. Or times just so tough it has worn them down. Or, maybe it’s just Saturday near closing time.
The fajitas are 3 star but the rest of the experience is 2 star. If you like the adventure of eating in a small mom & pop & grandma home-​like atmosphere, then you might try this place.
P. S. I hear that the breakfast & tacos are popular with some folks from UTMB.