Los Chilitos co-owner Ileana Myhill Perez with some tequila and authentic tacos

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Los Chilitos Taco & Tequila House

When a Mexican restaurant bills its food as “authentic,” this typically means it’s similar to the cuisine served to tourists at Mexican resorts or at Midwestern American taco stands. It’s not inherently good or bad, it’s just not the same as the food Mexicans eat at restaurants that cater to the home crowd. “Authentic” is a relative term. Anyone who’s eaten at a Oaxaca City barbeque hall where the meat smoke is a second-hand meal in itself, or at a Mexico City diner where middle-aged women in starched aprons serve cheap and amazing tortas, knows that Mexican food and drink is cheddar-cheese free and diverse as it is delicious. Calgary’s Mexican eateries offer a limited number of truly authentic dishes.

Enter Los Chilitos Taco and Tequila House on 17th Ave. S.W. Open just three weeks, it bills itself as an “authentic Mexican pub,” and can accurately be termed a taquería. This small, neat terra cotta-coloured converted house holds a couple dozen patrons inside, but has a two-level front deck that will serve about the same number in summer.

Visiting on a Friday evening, the place was almost at capacity and tacos were on sale two for $5. My guest and I started with two micheladas ($6.95) — beer (Pacifico and Dos Equis respectively) combined with lime juice, tobasco and Worcestershire sauce and poured over ice. They were refreshing, lightly spicy and very easy to drink. The micheladas went nicely with our totopos (tortilla chips) with guacamole ($6.95) appetizer. The guacamole was beautiful — fresh and creamy with equally fresh diced tomato. As a side, we also ordered a Chilitos salsa sampler ($3) that included small bowls of pico de gallo, verde, arbol and chipotle salsa.

Our two carnitas (tender pork) tacos arrived hot and fast, as would our entire meal. These were authentic Mexican-style tacos, no argument. The soft taco shells were served open, with a pinch of warm, lightly seasoned, shredded meat, cilantro and a thin stick of pineapple, which subtly complemented the meat. The shell was moist, but a bit too much so on the bottom.

The choriqueso ($9.95), shredded chorizo sausage covered with queso blanco (melted white cheese), was served in a shallow dish. With it, a landmine-shaped caddy kept three corn tortilla shells warm. The meat was a bit plain, so this was a good dish with which to try out the salsa sampler. We filled the shells with meat and scooped the individually unique salsas and the remaining guacamole onto each bite.

Torta ($12.95) is another truly Mexican dish. They’re served with various meat fillings such as chicken, shrimp or ham and eggs. From several meat choices, we went with tinga (shredded chicken cooked in chipotle tomato sauce). Heaven’s just a tweak away; the meat was mild and smoky and topped with lettuce, tomato and chipotle mayo, but the rustic white bun was a bit soggy. The beans and rice served on the side were standard fare. I’d love to see the inside of the sandwich grilled, with pickled veggies alongside as is often done in Mexico.

For desert, we looked to the lengthy tequila menu. My guest went with Patron Respisado ($6.95) while I ordered the house brand, Tequila Corralejo ($9.95). Following the menu’s advice, we ordered sangrita chasers ($1.50); sweet, sour and spicy drinks, unique to each tequila house, that often accompany fine tequila in Mexico. The sangrita recipe, our waitress explained, is that of the owner’s Mexican grandmother. Exactly as described, this bionic tomato juice proved a perfect, civilized foil to the tequila’s burn. I’ll never drink tequila any other way.

Los Chilitos is a hopping taquería that does indeed serve authentic Mexican dishes and a great selection of that most Mexican of drinks, tequila. With a tweak to the moisture and a notch up on the meat seasoning, we’re off to the bull fights.