In May, Mexico City’s Tacos El Califa de León, in the downtrodden San Rafael neighborhood became the first Mexican taco stand to win a Michelin star. One of the things that makes its selection remarkable is that the taqueria is the antithesis of most Michelin starred restaurants. It’s not elegant and its tables aren’t set with immaculately pressed white linens. There are no sterling place-settings or fine china. Instead, the taqueria has no tables or seats. It’s standing room only with space for only a handful of guests and a metal counter on which they can balance their plates.
Fittingly, the taqueria is all about tacos. There’s nothing else on the menu, only four options: bistec (seared steak), chuleta (thinly sliced pork chop), costilla (fork-tender beef) and the taqueria’s signature creation, the gaonera (whole steak). These four proteins are sliced thinly and prepared with lard on a plancha (grill) and seasoned with coarse salt and a squeeze of lime. While the chef is preparing each taco, handmade corn tortillas are being made alongside the grill. It’s all prepared to order. Tacos are served with your choice of two salsas.
Michelin stars are a badge of honor, an honor coveted by chefs around the world. As you may have surmised, Michelin is named for Michelin Tire founders Andre and Edouard Michelin who compiled the first Michelin Guide in 1900 with the aim of creating a demand for automobiles—and therefore, a need for more Michelin tires. Stars were first awarded in 1926. Earning a Michelin star–whether one star or three–is a huge honor and a rare accomplishment. The Michelin Guide now covers 37 countries across Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. Michelin reviews restaurants in select U.S. cities, including Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver and San Francisco.
Michelin stars are determined by anonymous reviewers, known as “inspectors.” Inspectors are required to visit a potential Michelin caliber restaurant several times during different seasons and at different times. They eat both lunch and dinner and visit both on weekends and during the week. A one-star rating means a restaurant is considered “very good in its category” having a quality menu and prepares cuisine to a consistently high standard.” That definition for a one-star Michelin rating may sound rather prosaic and might lead you to think any restaurant can earn a star. Such is not the case. The number and caliber of restaurants earning even one star is exclusive.
Upon hearing of a humble Mexico City taqueria earning one Michelin star, naturally I wondered if we’ve ever had tacos good enough to even be considered for a star in New Mexico. That’s a very hard question to answer. For one thing, Michelin doesn’t have a presence in New Mexico. For another, most of the taquerias in New Mexico offer street food variety tacos–even those taquerias with brick-and-mortar stores. I recently had a discussion with my friend Lynn Garner about the quality of tacos in Albuquerque. Most, we agreed, are made with less than premium proteins. You’ll find tacos with fatty, sinewy bits just about everywhere. That doesn’t make them bad tacos. They’re still delicious and still make us very happy.
Many of the tacos we’ve encountered in the Duke City are replete with ingredients seemingly in place to mask the “less than premium” proteins. (Frankly the reason French chefs created so many transformative sauces was to mask the flavor of proteins well past their expiration date). At least, Lynn and I agreed, they’re not the hard-shelled, ground beef, lettuce and tomato tacos popularized by Taco Bell. Though Lynn grew up with that style of taco, I didn’t encounter Taco Bell until 1977 in Biloxi, Mississippi. I wasn’t sheltered. My mom made excellent tacos with a chile piquin salsa that will make your socks roll up and down.
When my Corrales compadre, the extraordinary photographer Bruce Terzes told me about Rio Tacos I was rather skeptical even though Bruce has never let me down. His recommendations tend to be on point. Still, I was half expecting “the usual” Duke City taco. When Bruce first told me of Rio Tacos, owner-chef Fernando Rios was plying his craft out of a food truck. Like a devoted groupie, Bruce followed Rio Tacos wherever it went–to parks and breweries throughout Rio Rancho, Corrales and the West Side area. He was beyond excited when in April, 2024, Rio Tacos launched a brick-and-mortar shop on Alameda (just west of the wonderful Oak Tree Cafe).
Rio Tacos is family-owned-and-operated (true to the taquerias name, by the Rios family). You’ll interface with Fernando’s family–wife, children, sister-in-law–during the course of your meal. You won’t find a more genial family running a restaurant. They’re polite, kind and very proud of the family restaurant which Fernando hopes to continue growing. Fernando is like a proud ambassador for Rio Tacos. Everything he recommended was wonderful–even items I would otherwise not have ordered.
Befitting its rather small space, Rio Tacos has a limited menu. Protein options are familiar–carne asada, al pastor, barbacoa–as well as unique: chicken adobada and potato soyrizo (a pre-cooked, soy-based plant-based meat alternative that is surprisingly spicy and flavorful). The menu includes a la carte tacos as well as a three taco plate (beer-battered shrimp, beer battered fish and tacobirria). Also on the menu are burritos, chilaquiles, torta, mulitas, quesadilla and a stuffed baked potato. Three desserts (made on the premises) are available as are horchata and jamaica, aguas frescas taking America by storm.
8 June 2024: As we perused the menu, Fernando made an audacious statement in declaring the chilaquiles the best we’ll ever have. They’re not New Mexican chilaquiles,” he explained, “they’re Mexican and you’ll love them.” Usually only politicians make such bold proclamations and they usually wind up being fabrications. Not so at Rio Tacos. The chilaquiles were outstanding without being overly complex. They were constructed with a paper bowlful of creamy salsa chips topped with cilantro, pickled onions, shredded pork (or another protein of your choice) and cotija cheese topped with a mild avocado salsa.
8 June 2024: I have always considered carne asada boring…so much so that I feel sorry for my Kim when she orders carne asada because other taco choices are too piquant for her. The carne asada tacos at Rio Tacos blew me away! The difference between these and other so-called carne asada tacos is that Rio Tacos actually grills them on a charcoal brasier (a large metal container in which coal or charcoal is burned). Other restaurants may call their tacos “carne asada” which means grilled meat, but they don’t actually grill the meat. They salt meat and throw it onto a flat top. This is not grilling. It’s criminal! Rio Tacos’ carne adovada tacos are charcoal kissed, inheriting the charcoal’s smoky flavor not unlike barbecued meats sans sauces.
8 June 2024: On a list of proteins, chicken ranks near the bottom for me unless it’s fried. Okay, I wouldn’t kick chicken tinga tacos or some chicken wings off my table, but even with copious amounts of salsa, chicken tacos tend to bore my taste buds. At the recommendation of Fernando, I ordered Rio Tacos’ chicken adobada taco, which is garnished with chopped onions and cilantro. Adobada means marinated. Marinade doesn’t necessarily have to be piquant to be delicious. Rio Tacos’ family marinade isn’t, but it’s got a wonderful flavor and the chicken is also charcoal-kissed for a superb flavor. The salsa at Rio Tacos isn’t especially piquant either, but it’ll get your attention with flavor galore.
8 June 2024: When they’re not overly piquant, my Kim’s favorite tacos are al pastor (a traditional Mexican taco made with seasoned and marinated pork). The name al pastor translates to English as “shepherd style,” in tribute to Lebanese people who immigrated to Mexico and brought with them their famous vertical spit-roasted cooking method. On display at Rio Tacos is a vertical spit roast Mexicans called a “trompo” because it resembles a sponning top. Shards of pineapple, cilantro and pork are encased in a housemade corn tortilla (which Fernando hopes to make available for purchase by the dozen). These tacos are not only beautiful to look at, but absolutely delicious. The sweet, citrusy flavor of the pineapple contrasts with the savory, well-seasoned pork.
12 June 2024: Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The best baked potatoes in the world are baked by Mexican restaurants. Yeah, I’ve said it time and time again, but it bears repeating. Ive pondered just why it is Mexicans baked potatoes so well. Could it be wrapping them in aluminum foil, a process which helps them cook faster (aluminum conducts heats then traps it)? Aluminum foil also keeps the potatoes hotter when they’re removed from the oven and it gives them a softer, steamed skin. Could it be that Mexican restaurants don’t rely on copious amounts of bacon bits, sour cream and a heaping helping of butter?
Could it be the ingredients with which Mexican baked potatoes are stuffed so generously? At Rio Tacos, a football-sized stuffed baked potato is stuffed with butter, cheese, cilantro, onion, salsa and your choice of protein. When constructed with all these toppings, the baked potato is more than meal-sized. It’s humongous. Rio Tacos doesn’t top your potato with the usual shredded Cheddar. They use Monterey Jack, a sweet and mild cheese that melts well. On your baked potato and other menu items, the cheese is melted into a “frico” (crispy melted cheese) skirt that’s fun to eat. It’s Fernando’s favorite cheese. Barbacoa is an outstanding protein on the potato, lending its sweet and rich meatiness to every bite.
12 June 2024: More than any restaurant we’ve visited, Rio Tacos showcases crispy cheese skirts as a platform for other ingredients. One example is an entree called “Crusted.” Crusted–that’s the entirety of its name. It’s not crusted cheese or crusted tortilla. Just Crusted. The Crusted is akin to an open-faced taco. At the very bottom (the canvas upon which the open-faced taco is made) is one of Rio Tacos’ housemade tortillas covered in a crispy cheese skirt. On top of that are onions, cilantro, avocado salsa and a lime. Texturally, that crispy cheese skirt is an absolute delight though you probably have to be a turophile (connoisseur of cheese) to like it as much as I did. Obviously the crispiness prevents you from folding the “Crusted” like a taco. Instead you’ll eat it like a slice of pizza. You’ll love eating it.
12 June 2024: Bruce Terzes, my Corrales connection, sure knows how to torture me. Instead of sending me a photo depicting quesabirria tacos in all their glory, he sent me a photo of an empty plate after he had devoured three quesabirria tacos at Rio Tacos. If his intention was to motivate me to finish my long overdue review of his favorite taqueria, he was successful. If you’ve already had nearly every single quesabirria plate in the Albuquerque, you owe it to yourself to try Rio Tacos version. One of the things that makes it distinctive is just how prominent the cheese “skirt” is. That cheese is caramelized to the point where it extends far beyond the corn tortilla. If you love crispy cheese, you’ll love the cheese skirt. Once you get past that skirt, it’s all moist beefiness. The accompanying consomme is aromatic and delicious, a wonderful dipping sauce for a superb quesabirria taco.
8 June 2024: Three desserts adorn the menu. For my Kim, there’s no need to look further than pastel tres leches, the fabulous cake made with evaporated milk, heavy whipping cream, and sweetened condensed milk. Ideally, those milks should leak out with every press of your fork, rendering the cake extremely moist and tender. Though Rio Tacos serves its desserts on plastic “bowls,” the tres leches cake is as good as you’ll find anywhere. You can have the usual fountain drinks and even Jaritos beverages with your meal, but a better option is one of the two aguas frescas. Horchata, the rich and creamy rice-based beverage that’s especially refreshing when summer’s wrath is raging.
I don’t know if Rio Tacos would be competitive in the Michelin world, but I do know that it serves some of the most extraordinary tacos you’ll find in New Mexico. Fernando is understandably very proud of the humble Mexican City taqueria’s recognition. For now what he wants most is to make his guests happy. Recognition will come as a result.
Rio Tacos
4545 Alameda Blvd., N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(818) 471-7959
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 8 June 2024
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 24
COST: $$
BEST BET: Chilaquiles, Al Pastor Taco, Carne Asada Taco, Chicken Adobada Taco, Horchata, Pastel Tres Leches, Quesabirria Tacos, Stuffed Baked Potatoes, “Crusted”
REVIEW #1402
Gil, so glad you finally made it to Rio Tacos. I know you had quite a list of old places to revisit along with some new places here at home. Your out of state travels have also kept you busy. I figured you might need a bit of a nudge to get it done. Obviously my timing was perfect as you book-ended our last visit with this review!