Carniceria Hispana

Carniceria Hispana is a grocery store/meat market/internet cafe/cellular phone store and restaurant. They also have one child's bicycle for sale, but I'm not sure if that alone is enough to add toy store to the list. One corner of the store is a small restaurant with a few tables tucked back in the corner. The menu consists of tacos, tortas, burritos, and tamales. We were there for a good thirty minutes and were the only non-Hispanics and the only people who spoke English the entire time. That is when you know the experience is authentic.

We ordered one carne asada torta, two carne asada tacos, and two lengua (tongue) tacos. Carne asada is thinly sliced beef coated with spices and grilled. A torta is a Mexican sandwich served on soft round bread. The carne asada torta had the carne asada, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, and pickled jalapeno.

The torta was not impressive. The meat was great but the sandwich was uneventful. The iceberg lettuce and unripe tomato did not add much flavor or texture to the sandwich. The pickled jalapeno was not crisp, the cheese had little taste, and the sour cream was excessive. I will admit that at first I thought the sour cream was mayonnaise and I have long had a fear of mayonnaise which probably turned me off to the sandwich at first. Overall, the sandwich really was uneventful except for the carne asada. The carne asada was delicious. The spice combination or marinade used on the steak gave it a great flavor.

The tacos were where Carniceria Hispana shines. The tacos are simple affairs. Two corn tortillas per taco, the meat, cilantro, and onions with a lime on the side to squeeze over top and some salsa verde to dribble over everything. The flavor combination was delicious. The meats had a nice saltiness to them that contrasted perfectly with the slight sweetness and the starch of the tortillas, the spiciness of the cilantro, the onion, and the acidic pop from the salsa verde and the lime juice. The carne asada as mentioned before was delicious. The tongue was also good. The tongue meat melts in your mouth as you eat it. It was my wife's first time eating tongue and she even approved. I find it hard to describe tongue other than that it has a very pleasant soft texture that melts in your mouth and a clean, light flavor. It is a sharp contrast to the chewy texture of the carne asada.

The tacos were delicious and I think we will return soon for some more tacos. They also had barcado and carnitas tacos which I would like to try. Plus at $1.99 each, the tacos were a good deal. Three or four tacos would be more than sufficient for a meal. Two may even suffice if you are not particularly hungry. Conclusion: Carniceria Hispana is an excellent stop for tacos but the torta does not come highly recommended.

Also, while the cooks, who also run the register, did not seem to be fully conversant in English, I had no trouble communicating my order to them. Some ethnic restaurants can come across as unfriendly when the preppy white guy comes in. You sometimes get the feeling like you are invading someone's turf. While we were definitely something of a curiosity here, the staff and the customers were all pleasant and friendly. In other words, go get some tacos and don't be intimidated by the look or feel of the place.

Carniceria Hispana

3258 Buford Highway

Atlanta, GA 30329

404-315-9400