2009 East Seventh, 482-0215
Tue.-Thu. 10am-10pm;
Fri.-Mon. 9am-11pm Let’s say you just bought an old warehouse and decided to renovate. Your
business, a Spanish language video store, only occupies about a third of the
available space, so you decide to open a Tejano record store next to the tape
racks. When that’s done you still have a lot of empty floor space, so
you acquire two dozen rolling chairs, a couple of booths, and proclaim yourself
a sovereign snack bar specializing in octopus cocktails and goat’s head
barbecue. No. Really.
At the Eastside’s Acapulco Video, that’s just what happened. The
taqueria itself merits mention because of its abnormally high DQ (Dali
Quotient). Imagine the surreal crossbreeding of a fluorescent
psycho-mercado and Mexican roller rink and you’ll get the general idea.
Food-related words don’t appear on any external billboards, so finding the
place requires either good word of mouth or a sign from god. The menu,
presented on handwritten posters in Spanish, runs toward obscure Mexican
dishes. Three kinds of barbacoa, including cabrito (goat), appear
daily for the brave of tongue. If you play it a little safer, try carne
guisada en chile verde, preferably in gordita form. Acapulco’s fresh, plump
corn gorditas beat the taco format hands down. Wash it down with a cool,
cantaloupe agua fresca and abandon the English language
altogether.
The snack bar’s ambiance varies widely depending on the day’s big
screen video presentation. If you’re lucky, you’ll get an understated Mexican
drama. If you’re not, you’ll watch the director’s cut of Kong Gets a
Bypass. Salvador would be proud. — Pableaux
Johnson
This article appears in December 8 • 1995 and December 8 • 1995 (Cover).