The Long Walk To Tacos El Idolo Yields A Massive Pork Cemita

Note: I wrote this before hurricane Sandy messed up the Financial District and its lunch options. And because I’ve been unable to work at my office due to lack of phone or Internet service I haven’t been able to confirm if this truck has continued to park in its usual spot. If nothing else, you get to read about a pork sandwich.

After a couple of failed attempts at catching Tacos El Idolo in its spot off of Whitehall St., (usually on Pearl St. but I think they’ve been on Bridge too), I finally caught up with them late last week after spotting a crowd of be-suited guys waiting on the sidewalk. The menu is similar to the Tacos Morelos truck that parks at Wall & Water everyday, but if you work at the bottommost reaches of the Financial District, Tacos El Idolo is the closer option. While I was tempted by the tacos (as I always am), instead I ordered a cemita and was not disappointed with what I got.

In the sandwich department, your options are a torta or cemita ($7 each). Besides different types of rolls, there are subtle differences in the fillings but I would imagine you won’t be hungry after eating either one.

You get your choice of a broad range of meats as filling, and when I asked the guy taking orders what he would recommend he was no help at all simply pointing at the list of what was available. While the pork ear sounded good in a taco, I wasn’t sure about a sandwich so I randomly blurted out “spicy pork” and was done with it.

What I got was the size of a baby’s head, and full of stringy white cheese, bits of pork, some mashed up beans, avocado and…and an entire chipotle pepper in adobo. Thankfully I spotted the pepper when I pulled the sandwich apart for the photo and did not bite into the thing. I love spicy food, but that’s just a bit much.

This was one tasty sandwich, and my only complaint was that several of the chunks of pork were nothing but fat, but with a sandwich this decadent it doesn’t really matter. Have a beverage with caffeine at the ready to consume after eating this.

Tacos El Idolo truck, corner of Whitehall & Pearl streets

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4 Comments

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    This truck parks near the West 4th St subway stop at nights and I go there all the time. The cemita is definitely one of the best things to order… if I’m up for some grease, I go with chorizo which is great. It’s a good deal for $7, one sandwich will fill you up easily.

    I really like the chipotle peppers they put in there, but I agree they can be a bit much in terms of heat since they leave them whole. It’d be perfect if they chopped them up and distributed them throughout the sandwich.

    Either way, this truck serves up awesome Mexican food. The type you can find in taquerias in other areas of the country (or the city for that matter), that Manhattan below central park is severely lacking

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    That looks pretty tasty, but the best thing on the menu at Tacos El Idolo is the carne asada quesadilla.

    They have a truck that parks half a block from my apartment, so I’ve sampled it all.

  • I concur with the quesadilla suggestion.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    OK, I guess the quesadilla is next up in the rotation!

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