TORTAS AND BEYOND
The Great Airport Road Food Truck Quest showcases variety, from rolled ice cream to Mexican shrimp cocktail
In this town, you can easily drop $250 on a dinner for two. But $250 is also about what it cost me to sample a meal or two recently from 17 stops along what I call The Great Airport Road Food Truck Quest — my attempt to check in at every food truck along this busy south-side corridor.
One by one, over the course of a halfdozen or so trips up and down the road, I asked: What should I get? At many trucks, the recommendation was tacos, and so I tried mouthful after delicious mouthful of carne asada and barbacoa and birria tucked into corn tortillas and sprinkled with cilantro and onion, discovering the way marinades, preparation techniques and presentation can set each plate apart.
At other trucks, the friendly face at the window suggested something different, and I happily went along for the ride. Nothing I ordered was entirely new to me, but as I perused the menus, I began to realize many of these food trucks go far beyond typical offerings of tacos, burritos and tortas, with specialties and hard-to-find dishes.
A few offer breakfast items (think burritos and chilaquiles). Some include less-common cuts of meat, and seafood, too, even with a few appearances of coctel de camaron, or Mexican shrimp cocktail.
You’ll occasionally find sincronizadas, quesadillas made with ham and cheese; and traditional sopes, made with a fried masa base and savory toppings. There are burgers and flautas and nachos, salad-type options and house-made drinks, even a few desserts. The menus reflect influences from across Central America.
I was recommended the torta cubana at two food trucks, and I’m glad to have tried them both. Not only are torta cubanas different from Cuban sandwiches — with roasted pork with cheese, mustard and pickles — these two sandwiches were slightly different from each other. That’s because these tortas are typically built with a variety of meats, not a set lineup of ingredients.
At El Querentano (look for the small white sign elevated on orange stilts near the roadway) my massive torta ($12) came with pork, sausage, ham, tomato, lettuce, cheese and jalapeños along with a spicy red salsa. Foil wrapping kept
the crisp, toasted bread and its filling piping hot. El Querentano has one of the most expansive menus along Airport, with nearly a dozen kinds of tortas and tacos alongside gorditas, tostadas, sopes and shrimp.
Just down the street at Taqueria Argelia, a white truck bearing a circular green and red logo and cute anthropomorphic drawings of a dancing pepper and taco, I had my second torta cubana, also for $12. Here the torta is stuffed with breaded cutlet, ham, sausage, chorizo, lettuce, tomato, onion, chile, avocado, cheese, mayo and mustard. It came with a wonderful, mild avocado-based salsa.
I also had a torta at the small, bright-blue Rigo’s Gorditas & More, which shares a lot with Compas Tacos. The man at the window suggested the suadero torta ($10), a thin cut of beef that he likened to brisket. The oblongshaped bread housed toppings including the hearty beef along with lettuce, onion and a creamy sauce, and came with fries, salsa and ketchup. (A reminder that tortas are typically for the very hungry or those willing to save half their sandwich and toast it up later. Or try half a torta and half an order of tacos from two nearby trucks and share with a friend!)
For a lighter option, I headed down the street to the original Fusion Tacos truck, which also has locations downtown, at Santa Fe Place mall and at Santa Fe Brewing Co.’s headquarters. Lots of people swear by the birria tacos here, but the truck also has a “fit” menu of customizable bowls, smoothies and such.
I went for the chicken bowl ($8, there’s also steak, salmon or fish), to which you add your choice of rice, beans, veggies and avocado or feta. It made for a satisfying lunch the next day; in fact, the truck offers a week’s worth of these meal-prepped bowls at a discount.
El Burrito Taco, a sweet pale yellow truck I found parked near Airport’s intersection with Cerrillos Road, also offers a few less-frequent options, including a lineup of pupusas ($3), handmade griddled patties typically made from cornmeal and stuffed with a variety of fillings. My pupusa
— hot, cheesy, hearty — came with its traditional baggies of bright red salsa and lightly pickled slaw. An order of perfectly crisp chicken flautas ($12) was served with seasoned rice, beans, griddled pepper and toppings on the side including sour cream, guacamole and salsa.
The Sanchez Tacos truck, part of a fleet in Santa Fe and the Albuquerque area, was one of the toughest to find parked and open — but so worth it. I had the recommended quesadilla asada ($12), and I may never go back to meatless quesadillas again. It was, in a word, glorious: griddled cheese melted into a huge mound of finely diced meat, tomato, onion and cilantro with a tangy, spicy green salsa on the side.
Sanchez usually parks next to Ultra Ice Cream, a small red truck with a smiling cartoon cup of rolled ice cream for a logo. Rolled ice cream involves quickly moving around a liquid base on an ice pan until it solidifies in a thin layer, which is then scraped into photo-worthy rolls and placed vertically in a cup. Ultra lets you create your own concoction with a wide list of add-ins, or you can choose from suggested flavors that range from cinnamon toast to strawberry shortcake.
I brought my kids for this one, and they were thrilled with their choices of caramel apple and birthday cake (both $7). As an added bonus, there’s a small, child-friendly step stool out front so they can watch the magic of the ice cream-making unfold through the window. I opted
for the red chile and chocolate, which had a mild heat and refreshing depth of flavor.
And with that, The Great Airport Road Food Truck Quest came to a sweet end. What did I learn? Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations; you won’t look silly. Don’t be afraid to try something new — but when in doubt, try tacos.
Remember you’ll likely be
waiting in a parking lot or gravel lot, and check your footwear and headwear accordingly. Keep in mind that truck locations and hours shift, so call ahead if you’re in a hurry or have your heart set on a particular place.
But most important, know that while you might discover your can’t-go-without quesadilla or new favorite birria tacos, there’s plenty more worth exploring,
on Airport and beyond. These are the essential local small businesses; support as many as you can.
In a few weeks’ time, I spread some 250 bucks around 17 of those small businesses. And I can assure you I came out richer for it. Now that my quest is done, I can’t wait to start all over. Name the time and the truck; I’ll meet you there.