Midtown Lunch

Up until a couple of months ago, there was a place called Shorties Deli Cafe on Church St. (btw. Leonard & Franklin) that was a taqueria masquerading as a generic deli selling the usual bagels and sandwiches. Those in the know went there for the burritos or tacos, but if you were simply walking by it wasn’t blatantly obvious that Mexican food was available within. Thankfully, whoever owns the place figured out they were doing a disservice to the delicious food served inside and changed the name to Burro Borracho Taqueria. Now when you walk in, there is no pretense that this is anything but a place selling Mexican food.

Since I’d already sampled the tacos, this time I went for a torta ($6.50) with the tortas borrachas filling which is “Puebla-style shredded pork” avocado, pico de gallo, Tecate beer (!) and jalapeno rajas. That’s a lot going on in one sandwich!

It was a messy affair, with a bunch of crema (I think. It didn’t taste like mayo), a slice of white cheese and tomato and lettuce added to the above ingredients. The jalapeno rajas wasn’t immediately apparent, but it may have gotten lost in the mix. “You like it spicy?” the counter woman asked after I ordered. Why yes, yes I do. That merited the inclusion of a super-hot habanero sauce in the bag as well as an additional container of crema and some of that glorious green sauce.

The pork was the star of this show. It had been simmered with the beer and was nice and juicy so the bottom of the roll was soaked in meaty liquid just enough so that it wasn’t soggy. The many vegetables also lightened up this very meaty sandwich.

This torta was good, but couldn’t compete with the tacos, (which they’ve raised the price on, by the way, to $2.75-$3 each). There are so many other things on the menu for under $10 that I want to try, so you’ll likely see more posts about this place. I’m coming for you burritos, huaraches and mole enchiladas!

Burro Borracho Taqueria (formerly Shorties Deli Cafe), 251 Church St. (btw. Leonard & Franklin), (212) 219-3299