Tamale Wizard

After having the BBQ tamale and strawberry pecan tamale from Indios Carbonsitos, I was hungry for more unique tamales. When I first heard of Tamale Wizard and saw the menu, I thought it would be a must stop on my tour of authentic Mexican joints. Man, was I surprised when I walked in the door and saw a bunch of Gringos behind the counter! I thought I had just been dooped, but after talking to the guys, they are just a bunch of Gringos that share my extreme affinity toward Mexican food (but are much better at making it than I am).

A little background on the culinary genious that is Tamale Wizard. The propriator's son told us that he (the son) learned how to make tamales by cooking with his ex-girlfriend's family. His dad owned a food cart and began letting him sell his interesting takes on this Mexican classic. They got started as a food cart, then a food truck, now a restaurant. The rest, as they say, is history.

What you see to your right is as follows:

Mallory's plate (top of photo): black beans, green chile and cheese tamale (topped with jalapeno lime salsa), smoked pork tamale (topped with mango banana salsa).

John's plate (bottom of photo): black beans, smoked pork tamale (topped with mellow habanero salsa), sweet potato and black bean tamale (no salsa), and green chile and cheese tamale (topped with jalapeno lime salsa).

All of the food was amazing! I was a bit hesitant to try the sweet potato and black bean tamale, even though I pretty much love everything that is made with sweet potatoes blindly, I just didn't know how it would work as a tamale. I was pleasantly surprised with it, as we both agree that it was far and away the best tamale that we tried. The mellow habanero salsa was very good, it had the flavor of the habanero, but is very mellow, as the name states. The best salsa was the mango banana. I am just a sucker for that sweet flavor on the spicy tamale, I guess that is what growing up around KC BBQ has done to me.

We walked in late on a Friday night and they were sold out of almost everything. Most people would have been offended by this, but I take that as a sign that they have good food. I would much rather have food from a restaurant that is nearly sold out over a restaurant that has not sold a thing.

One big takeaway that I got from our visit to Tamale Wizard (aside from noting that they had a full collection of Mexican drinks and Boulevard beers) was that they have multiple vegetarian menu items. I am not a vegatarian, nor do I care if a place has vegatarian options ("why then would you notice that?" you ask?). I noticed that the black beans, sweet potato and black bean tamale, and green chile and cheese tamales were all vegetarian selections because that means that they were able to make these delicious tamales while making them slightly more healthy by omiting the lard that you get in a lot of tamales.

 

Indios Carbonsitos - Best Burger in KC

The first time I talked to Adrian, from Indios Carbonsitos, was on twitter @INDIOSCRBNSTOS. The first time I met Adrian was later that night, under the 12th street bridges, by the haunted houses. In my search for the great street taco in KC, I had come across Adrian's unique breed of what he calls MexIQ. What caught my eye was his street tacos, but what peaked my interest was the BBQ tamales, I had to try them. I packed my wife up in the Civic and told her we were going out for date night. She didn't exactly expect a food truck under the 12th street bridge, but boy is she glad we went!

When we got to the food truck, I had to try the BBQ tamales (Adrian even makes his own BBQ sauce, both hot and mild). My wife wanted the pulled pork quesadilla. While I have not been a huge fan of quesadillas since I have become a Mexican food snob, the pulled pork in the quesadilla just set it off. After talking to Adrian a bit, he told us that he added the pulled pork quesadilla so that vegetarians could order it sans the swine (he is such a man of the people).

We talked to Adrian for a while, telling him about our surprise trip to Guadalajara and how it lead to a culinary awakening. He told us about how Mexican people loved to BBQ and how it is the perfect fusion. He then insisted that we try the Torta Ahogada, it is a Mexican sandwich made with braised pork, avocado, and pickled onions that has been either topped with (or dunked in) chili sauce (depending on how you order it, but ahogada literally means "to drown" en Espanol, do it!). The creaminess of the avocado mashed up with the hot chili sauce is the perfect pairing, it is like Yin and Yang. We finished up with a strawberry pecan tamale. I was a bit sceptical, a sweet tamale? Oh man was I in for a treat! We now have a favorite dessert, strawberry pecan tamales, it is the perfect blend of masa and the sweet strawberries topped with an awesome glaze. We now order the strawberry pecan tamale every time we visit Indios.

We have had the tacos, tamales, quesadilla, torta, and just about every item on the menu at Indios, but the best, by far, is the Indios Burger! No comparison, this is not only the best burger in Kansas City, but the best burger I have had anywhere! I don't know how he makes the burger itself, but he puts it on a bun with an awesome combination of sauces, a Mexican weenie, melted cheese, fresh veggies, and a slice of grilled pineapple. The burger is juicy. The flavoring is perfect, I don't know why he serves it open faced (other than to show it off, because there is no need to add anything to it). The Mexican weenie adds a great flare, but the item that sets the whole thing off is the sweetness of the grilled pineapple.

The claim has been made (by an ex-Jack Stack employee) that Adrian's brisket is better than Jack Stacks. He gave me a taste of it when we were at his truck on a slow Sunday. The next week, I had to have Jack Stack to verify the claim. The lady that made the claim was not only not crazy, but very correct. Adrian has the best brisket in town! His torta ahogada would also go toe to toe with Oklahoma Joe's Z-man and Carolina for the title of best sandwich in town.

I honestly cannot say enough about Adrian as a chef or as a man. He is a family man to the core. Wherever you see the Indios Truck, you can almost bank on there being a slew of family members in toe. Whether the kids are taking orders, kicking a soccer ball around, taking the photo of my seen to the right, or attempting to light things on fire, the his family is a huge part of his business. The craziest thing about Adrian is how he finds time to work a 9-5 job, do maintenance on his truck, and smoke all of his meats, all in time to work in his truck all weekend. He knows my wife and I by name, he remembers our orders, and knows what items on the menu we have and haven't tried. He carries a full line of Mexican drinks: Mexican Coke, Jarritos, Horchata, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Agua De Jamaica. He can also be credited with broadening my search for finding the best Mexican street food in KC, to finding the best street food period. Which is ironic, as I think Indios Carbonsitos is the best , most creative, and most awesome street food I have ever had! Thank you Adrian!

Reyna's Mexican Bakery

If you are jonesing for some authentic Mexican pastries, Reyna's is your place! Reyna's has all sorts of wonderful and delicious baked goods, most of which I have no idea what they actually are or what they are called. This trip I got a conical shaped pastry filled with pineapple paste (pictured to the right), a Mexican sugar cookie, a cookie (for lack of a better description) looked like the sun (it had a yellow center and lines pointing out radially, as rays of sun would), and some of their famous salsa.

For anyone who is a rookie to Mexican pastries, be prepared for them to be harder than American pastries. This is just the style, they are not old and stale. Most other countries have harder pastries that have less preservatives than American pastries.

Be sure that you have a napkin handy when you dive into one of their cookies, as the sugar is on it so thick that you will get it all over your face, plate, table, and floor. That's also how the cookie crumbles. Pun intended.

Next time I am going to stop by on a Saturday and pick up a tamale or two to go with this awesome salsa!

Los Alamos Market y Cocina

I ride my bike by Los Alamos Market y Cocina all the time and see the interesting metal sculptures outside. They have little metal men in sorbreros, metal flowers, chimineas, and usually pinatas too. They have a board out with the daily specials on it (It's usually tamales). I have always wanted to stop in and try it, but they close a little early, so by the time I am ready for dinner they are closed. I was finally able to give it a try one weekend that I had a slow saturday and it was everything that I had hoped for.

Just looking at the outside of the market and restaurant, you can tell that they served authentic Mexican food inside. Upon entering, you see the glass door to the beer cooler straight ahead, 2 or 3 aisles of Mexican specialty food items to your left, and a counter to your right. I asked the man behind the counter where I placed my order, he pointed me to the back. When I got to the back, I saw 6 hispanic women cooking, laughing, and just enjoying making good food. The woman that took my order was very helpful, it took me a minute to decide, but she was very patient. I finally decided on the Tamales El Jefe. That is beef tamales covered in more beef chunks and some kind of Mexican gravy (for lack of a better comparison). It came with beans and rice and the lady told me that I could go get whatever I wanted to drink out of the cooler. I chose a grapfruit Jarritos (which is my favorite flavor of Jarritos) and it went perfectly with the tamales el jefe (it really goes perfectly with everything). Sitting at the tables with the Mexican themed tables cloths, the pinatas hanging from the ceiling, and watching the cooks work thier magic had the perfect ambiance to accompany my Mexican meal. As I was finishing my meal, all of the lights went out because they had overloaded the breaker, it was just like Mexico! When the lights went out, one of the regulars at an adjacent table yelled out "Everything's free!", everyone had a good laugh. They even poked fun at the young man who went downstairs to flip the breaker, making sure to ask him if he was scared before he went down. I had a great time and will definately be going back!