Geraldine Mendoza and Teresa Padilla never thought they were going to open a restaurant during the pandemic.
From selling Mexican food out of a house, to an expanded pop-up— the women opened their brick-and-mortar, Taqueria Xochi on U Street, after business boomed from selling dishes such as cemitas—sandwiches from Puebla, Mexico.
"I guess the pieces just fell into place in a way for us to have all the support of people liking the food," Mendoza said.
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Taqueria Xochi offers an expanded menu with their most popular item being "quesobirria." A combination of the words "queso" and "birria," quesobirria brings a cheesy experience to "birria," a traditional Mexican meat stew dish.
"It’s like a crispy taco, you’re going to have a little bit of cheese in there, then you have the consommé, which is the broth that the protein is cooked with, and then you have all those flavors," Mendoza said.
Chef Teresa wants to keep the food as authentic as any food customers would eat in Mexico.
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"If you go to a taco stand in Mexico City, you’ll find the same tacos, how we plate is the same, we try to keep it as simple but try to keep all those flavors in there as well," Mendoza said.
News4’s Eun Yang is hosting Food Fare, exploring restaurants in the DMV. Where should we go next? Tell us on Twitter or Instagram.
