Taqueria Santa Fe ¡LA CASA DE LA BARBACOA! — Restaurant in Lexington

It was purely by chance that I stumbled upon this little hidden gem during my search for some good Sunday barbacoa today, and boy am I glad I put forth the effort to figure out exactly where in the little strip mall this place was hiding.

You won’t find it by signage, you’ll have to snake your way toward the far right side of the building and pay close attention to the doors, but rest assured that once you make your way into Taqueria Santa Fe and sit down to order, you’ll find your search for some fantastic authentic Mexican food in Lexington is over!!

I ordered the barbacoa. My girlfriend is from Aguascalientes, and on sundays her family often makes their way into town to purchase it by the half kilo from a street vendor. It’s probably my favorite meal that we eat when I visit them in Mexico, and every now and then I’ll get an itch to see if I can satisfy my longing for some of that tender, fatty, succulent seasoned meat. Today was just that kind of day, and I’m glad to say that I’ve struck gold with this place. It’s the real deal, and extremely reasonably priced. I got a pound of meat (plenty for two or three people), toasted corn tortillas, cilantro, onion, lime, some sliced radishes and salsa verde & rojo for about $12. That’s about $3-4 per person and believe me you will be thoroughly impressed with what you’re getting for that.

Speaking of the salsa, we’ve likely all had quite a few variations of salsa in our forays into Mexican cuisine. The Verde is excellent - consisting of tomatillo, onion, small chunks of avocado and a very pleasant light heat which very nicely balances out the other toppings in the tacos. It was truly excellent and didn’t disappoint like a lot of the creamier green salsas you’ll find at a lot of taquerias. This was much more akin to a home cooked salsa - and if you take a peek into the kitchen you’ll see that this appears to be a family operation. The salsa verde was exactly what I look for when I’m craving the good stuff.

But the for every bit I was impressed with the verde, the rojo came through even stronger. A word of caution - this stuff is authentic. Authentic means hot. Not Tabasco hot, this stuff will hurt you if you don’t respect it. But if you treat it with the respect it deserves, the rojo (which I suspect was made with chili pequin, one of my absolute favorite things to import from Mexico) will give your dish the PERFECT amount of kick to make your mouth dance and your tummy very, very happy. Do be careful though, as while it tastes very good regardless of your health, it is not necessarily a wise decision to consume it if you deal with gastritis. In fact, if you like it a lot, I suggest you take a little omeprazole a couple of hours before eating it whether you have gastritis or not because this stuff is some potent oil.

The tortillas are exactly what you want. Soft, lightly toasted corn wrapped in foil to keep them nice and warm. It’s funny that tortillas can be such a hard thing to nail sometimes but a good tortilla and a bad tortilla can absolutely make or break a dish. These guys know that and they’re definitely doing it right in that department as well.

Now, on to the barbacoa itself... about every place you visit will have a slightly different take on how they make their barbacoa, just like salsas. Some use a very tender, super fatty, greasy and finely pulled meat. Some are more dry, lean and chunky. This stuff was on the chunkier side but with nice big bits of fat, good moisture and excellent seasoning. Like I said before, when put together the whole dish balances out perfectly. Barbacoa is in and of itself a truly special dish, but great barbacoa lingers in your mind like a long lost friend. This is great barbacoa.

The staff are super friendly people, with warm, kind smiles that make you feel very comfortable and welcome. They have built an environment that feels like you’re visiting distant relatives. It is very much a family environment. They have a stage where it appears that they play music on the weekends and ample seating for a family...

The food prices on the menu weren’t correct, I find that a little odd. If prices change then update the menu. The a/c wasn’t working/ restaurant didn’t smell clean. There are boxes of stuff laying around, doesn’t look like or smell like a restaurant that I would ever step foot into again, I’m surprised that the health department hasn’t shut this place down, so many red flags. I asked for ice water in a cup, she brings me a cup w/ice and a bottled water that I’m sure was $2.50 or more. I almost don’t believe they have running water in the kitchen, IDK. Never ever be back again. Very $$$ for...

So happy with this restaurant. Normally i have to go out new circle or Versailles rd to get truly authentic Mexican im so glad i found a place closer to home. TRULY AUTHENTIC!!!!! I can tell everything was freshly made. The tacos shells were so soft. The steak perfectly seasoned and still had some fat on. Highly recommend. This was my first time their and i plan to...