gerardo's drive-in

gerardo's drive-in
609 patton nr. irvington

my second stop for lunch today was gerardo's drive-in. i have to admit i was a tad full leaving asia market. i couldn't stop eating because the food was so good, but my lunch companion was game to follow through with our plan. gerardo's was a short drive away on the other side of 45 near irvington. we didn't get there until about 3 pm. we arrived at a mexican convenience store. the "deli' was in the back of the store. their condiments bar was put up but they seemed happy to serve us. the menu was hung on the wall, but i knew exactly what i was ordering. click on the photo of the menu to enlarge.

i came for barbacoa. i had the lamb version at hugo's last week. it was too lamby and not quite unctuous and greasy enough. i was looking forward to this, but the barbacoa looked like it had been sitting out for awhile in the steam table. a huge tray of carnitas still boned filled me with more hope. mmm.... carnitas!

then we spied some huge hunks of chicharrones on another tray (why didn't i get a photo?). they looked like thick, huge slabs of deep fried bacon. the older man behind the counter told us to try some when he saw our eyes pop out at the sight of them. he instructed us to heat them up in the microwave in the dining area. hey, what's better than deep fried fat?

split the lunch plate w/ 2 meats and the obligatory rice and beans. we came for the barbacoa and carnitas based on robb walsh's review of the place last year. the older man behind the counter was happy to give us both corn and flour tortillas. we also asked for some fresh onion and cilantro and they gave us a boatload of it. we were given 3 salsas. the green one was fantastic!

all the food was about room temperature except for the warm tortillas. in hindsight, we probably should have nuked everything in the microwave sitting in the dining area. the carnitas did have a good crispy texture which was what i was looking for even if they were cold. my friend and i both decided we would come back again during prime lunch hours. btw, barbacoa is only served on friday, saturday, and sunday and i hear the place is crazy on weekends.