Taqueria Autentica, Bloomfield – Review

by Alice Magdziak • February 17, 2012 • Essex, Food, NJ Olé • Comments (0) • 2735

When a Mexican restaurant, called Tia Maria, closed on Broad Street in Bloomfield it made this strip of road slightly less perfect. Broad Street still had its diner and ice cream classic Holsten’s, a pizza place, bagel shop, sushi and chinese, a deli and Italian and Greek restaurants. When Taqueria Autentica decided to come in from the cold and park their taco truck on Broad Street with a brick and mortar store, the stars were brought into alignment again and all was right with this North Bloomfield dining area.

We had been swooning over their fresh, artisanal tacos for quite a while at the Montclair Farmers Market and in Newark where they parked their truck over the last few years. But, now we don’t have to go running around to wherever they’ve parked. We can visit any time we want! (except Monday, OK they’re not open on Monday, we can accept this…)

Taqueria Autentica brings in corn tortillas from Tortilleria Nixtamal, in NYC, which are made from fresh masa & contain no preservatives. They use locally raised, hormone & antibiotic free chicken from Goffle Road Farms in Wyckoff. Their house-made chorizo has no preservatives or unnatural ingredients. Did you read that? House. Made. Chorizo. Are you ready to head to Bloomfield yet? Plus, they have USDA Prime skirt steak, all natural pork and source local, organic produce and dairy when possible.

You simply have to go if you love tacos and tortas. I haven’t even told you about the tortas, yet!

Ever since I had my first torta in Chicago many moons ago, I’ve been a fan. Lightly grilled bread with delicious stuffing of meats and cheeses. Yum. Whenever I see tortas on the menu, I know what I’m going for. Taqueria Autentica did not disappoint.

The torta with carnitas was crispy on the outside and while the meat was nice and crispy, too, the rest of the fillings filled in the crispness with a creaminess that is enhanced by the warm sandwich. The creaminess comes from black bean paste, pickled jalapeno peppers, queso fresco, chopped white onion, salsa and avocado. Besides a carnitas filling, you can also get pollo, nopalitos or zucchini. My mouth is actually watering right now.

We tried every taco on the menu that night. You can see some of them above. Here’s more.

We had Carnitas which came with caramelized orange peel and salsa verde; Pollo with pico de gallo and crema Mexicana; Carne Asada with more of that delicious salsa verde; House Made Chorizo with black beans, chipotle crema; vegetarian Zucchini with corn, poblano, tomatoes, crema, queso fresco; vegan Nopalitos which is tender cactus with black bean paste, poblano, caramelized onion, pico de gallo; and, another vegan option, Hongos which was mushroom sautéed with herbs and spices, with salsa verde.

They also have tosadas and small plates of things like salmon and steak. Yes, we need to get back and try those, too. And, you should definitely go check out this great restaurant!

Check out all the pics from our evening at Taqueria Autentica: