When waking up with a pounding headache on Saturday morning three things typically come to mind:
1)What in the hell happened last night?
2)Has anyone seen the bong?
and
3)I need something to eat NOW!
This particular Saturday was certainly no exception. After being out until the wee hours of the morning and waking up to 3 of my friends passed out in random, yet clearly uncomfortable positions (it’s like they were purposely trying to injure themselves). Now it looks like the only thing left to do is to medicate and then figure out something super tasty to eat.
Once I was able to wade through the sea of air mattresses that had become my living room, I was able to secure my spot on the couch, quickly turn on a recorded episode of The Simpsons and pack up a piece of “Ghost OG” that I had gotten the previous afternoon at The Denver Kush Club, or DKC as it is more commonly referred to by its loyal patrons, I knew things were starting to look up. Upon opening the jar, the smell alone allowed me to forget about the hangover and teleport to a much happier place. The Ghost OG smelled just so overwhelmingly musty and strong that it woke up one of my friends from across the room. His head popped up from where I assumed his feet should be and he said, “Dear God dude, what in the hell is that amazing smell?” to which I replied, “Dude, how did you possibly fall asleep like that?” Anyways, I thought for about ten seconds about properly cleaning out the tube, but that 30 foot walk to the kitchen quickly put an end to such a ridiculous idea, so I just decided to go in as is.
I packed up the bong to the brim with this Ghost Kush and my eyes were literally starting to water before I even touched a lighter to it. The taste was immensely strong and musty, which I had been prepared for due to the insanely strong smell, but was still surprisingly smooth. The potency? Crazy! My eyes instantly got heavy and any resemblance of a headache drifted away and I thought to myself “Uh oh, this one might be so strong that it hinders our ability to have a reasonable discussion on where to eat,” but this was not the case. The Ghost Kush made me sooo instantaneously hungry that I just started shouting out suggestions to my still half asleep friends. “Chinese? Sushi? Burgers? Cheese Steaks?” I was on a roll and every one of these things made my mouth begin to water, but only a few mumbled groans came from my friends. Until...I said Mexican. They both popped up as if someone had broken the bong. After a very brief discussion on where to go, El Taco de Mexico over on Santa Fe and 7th seemed to be the unanimous decision.
It’s hard to miss El Taco (as the burrito heads around town refer to it) due to its great reputation and neon yellow paint adorning the outside of the building, so after a couple more rips of the Ghost Kush we made our way to this magical land of Green Chili and Horchata and we knew that salvation from the night before was just around the corner.
Upon entering El Taco we were greeted by the familiar smell of green chili and other spices as well as the sound of every type of meat you can think of going down on the flat top. And I literally mean this place serves everything from beef tongue and cheek meat to the tamer cheese enchiladas and carne asada tacos, but we came for the legendary “chili relleno burrito” and the perfectly sweet and spicy pastor tacos. Another thing that I should mention about El Taco is that the kitchen staff, which is who takes your order and cooks and delivers it to you, is comprised of about 4 to 5 Hispanic women, of which I have never seen one smile no matter how well you tip them. So don’t feel like it was anything that you did because that is just how they run their business. And honestly who cares that they look like they are training for the Royal Guard at Buckingham Palace when they are dishing out the most amazing Mexican food you can find anywhere in Colorado.
So we ordered a couple of Chili Relleno burritos smothered in green chili and then stuffed with rice, beans, and a chili relleno pepper that was battered in something that I can only describe as a pancake-like consistency and jam-packed with oozing cheese. We also got a round of the pastor tacos, which were absolutely amazing. The pork was prepared by slowly simmering it in spices as well as something that gave it a mildly sweet flavor, but believe me it was mostly heat. The food came out almost instantly, and we sat on the outside patio eating in silence, with the only comments consisting of half ideas like “Wow. Burrito. Good.” or “Dude, I am definitely never drinking again.” One thing was for certain though, the Chili Relleno burrito was about the size of a football and I was still able to down the whole thing. The green chili was perfectly spicy and the pepper inside was definitely the best relleno I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
So thank you El Taco for doing what you do. And I hope that this article will put a smile on just one of the lovely ladies’ faces that slaves over that hot flat top all day so that the hungry (and often stoned) customers can get their much needed fix.
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El Taco De Mexico | 714 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204, (303) 623-3926
