Sabor

I've actually eaten at this establishment twice now and both times the food was awesome.  One day, I was driving down 9th Avenue and the side of the building caught my eye.  Sabor' Tamales Tacos Salsas, a tan and brown building on the corner of LaRua and 9th Avenue, about 3 blocks north of Cervantes.  I put a post on Facebook about the new restaurant and had quite a few comments but no one had eaten there yet.

I took my intern there for her going away lunch and I had a combo platter of steak tacos and chicken tamales.  It came with black beans and rice and a side salad.  There is a great salsa bar there with a green salsa, a red salsa and a pico de gallo, plus a ton of toppings for your tacos.

There is no table service, you place your order at a counter and they bring it to you.  But that's still easy enough.  Quick in and out for lunch.  They also have a vegan and a gluten free menu!

The steak tacos were made with a great braised beef (I'm guessing chuck roast by the texture), and the corn tortilla was pan fried, but still pliable.   They serve it with 2-3 pan fried corn tortillas and there is enough meat to do the extra tortillas. There was still a small amount of grease on the tortilla, but easy enough to pat off with a napkin.  I added some salsa verde, a nice tart salsa made from roasted tomatillos, garlic, and I'm guessing some green chilies (I'm sure there were other things in the salsa verde, but those are the ingredients that I picked out from tasting).  It was really flavorful beef, with no spice to it at all.  Just good, slow-cooked beef with great seasoning.  No taco bell flavors here!

The chicken tamale was really good too.  The chicken was also braised and I picked out some onion, garlic and maybe some poblano pepper in the flavors. The tamale was so light and just not like what I've had anywhere locally.  I chatted with the cook and they hand roll each tamale and it's made with masa and bacon fat.  You can't go wrong with bacon fat!  Tamales can get very dense, but these were light and almost fluffy.  The came in a banana leaf. 

The black beans and rice were definitely made with love.  Some pork fat, onions, peppers, garlic, and just the right amount of salt, a whole bowl-ful on top of some long grain rice.  These were yummy!

I also had a small salad of the day.  It reminded me of what we call redneck salsa with black-eyed-peas, bell pepper, onion, an roasted corn in a light vinaigrette.  I had a bite but I was stuffed. 

For a hungry guy, the portions aren't huge.  You may want to order some extra tacos or tamales ala-carte, but it was plenty for me.

One other thing I tried was an agua fresca.  I remember these from when we were stationed in Panama.  You could go into 7-11 and get a fresh fruit water.  That's basically what it translates from spanish--fresh water.  It's fresh juice and water, chilled.  I questioned the waitress to make sure that there is no additional sugar added and there's not.  $1.99 for a 24 oz. melon agua fresca.  They also have mango but try the melon first!

Now let me say that you will not go and eat at Sabor for the atmosphere.  It's basically white walls with some paintings on the wall (they are beautiful and are for sale!), and the seating is like basic diner seating, square tables and non-descript chairs.  However, if you don't need atmosphere, I highly recommend a stop for lunch or dinner.

UPDATE:  7/1/13  I drove by there last week and it's now a BBQ joint.  Too bad because they had some great food.