Mexico City is—no surprise—the promised land of tacos. Every neighborhood in the megacity is full of stellar taquerias, many specializing in totally unique, proprietary styles available nowhere else.
One particularly beloved hole-in-the-wall, Taqueria El Califa de León, got an unexpected honor this year: a Michelin star. For 56 years, taco fans have made pilgrimages to the spare, standing-room-only storefront among street stalls to eat gaonera (a specific cut of steak, sliced thin) and other grilled meats atop freshly made tortillas. The taqueria’s ingredients are so good and their preparation so dialed-in, Michelin wrote, that the house green and red salsas are barely necessary.
For two shining weeks this month, Washingtonians will be able to taste those Michelin-starred tacos—or at least an approximation of them—without flying to Benito Juarez International Airport and taking the Metro to the San Cosme station. An El Califa de León pop-up is coming to two locations of Tacombi in the DC area this month. On December 10, the collaboration begins at Tacombi’s Bethesda location. The following night, it moves to the chain’s Crystal City location.
“When we started Tacombi back in the day, a lot of it was inspired by traveling around Mexico and eating tacos,” says Tacombi founder Dario Wolos. “Taquerias like these, they’ve gotten into doing one or two things really well, and they’ve done it for a really long time.”
The Tacombi pop-ups—only one night each—feature renditions of El Califa de León’s entire simple menu: gaonera, chuleta (pork chop), bistec, and costilla (beef rib) tacos, with the distinctive cuts of meat sourced from Pat LaFrieda and fresh tortillas from Tacombi’s brand, Vista Hermosa. A flight of all four tacos will cost you $22.
The pop-ups—supervised by El Califa de León taquero Mario Hernández Alonso—are first come, first served. But a pair of El Califa de León-style tacos (costilla and chuleta) will be available at both locations through December 26.
New York City already got a taste of El Califa de León at a pop-up this fall, along with Chicago and Miami.
Can a pop-up recapture the magic of the hectic Mexico City stall? Wolos says he wants to inspire foodies to visit the original location someday.
“We hope that people will go and taste this in Mexico City,” Wolos says. “It’s hard to replicate the terroir, the feeling, the sights and smells that you get from being there.”
