I was staring at a picture on the wall: a rendering of a street in an unnamed city. The orange hues were reflected in the puddle on the cobblestones, and mountains lilted along the horizon in the back of the image. I wished I could jump Mary-Poppins-style into the picture.
It was cold, drizzly and gray outside in Chattanooga.
The picture was hanging in Taqueria La Antigua Guatemala. For 12 years, the women running this restaurant have been serving succulent tacos with bites of sharp onion, bright lime and handfuls of cilantro donning every plate like verdant confetti. Plates of tender carne asada over yellow rice and creamy beans and a cooler of ice-cold drinks will welcome you here. I had several paper bills crumpled in my wallet, having visited several spots to find an ATM to secure cash before visiting. Inside the small building, wires crisscrossed across the door frame as we ordered at the kitchen. I had just discovered this gem of a taqueria thanks to a new colleague who also kindly ordered and chatted with the women who ran the restaurant in Spanish.
While tacos abound in the Scenic City, with everything from bulgogi to jackfruit, there are solid options for Mexican street style tacos. These style tacos are usually served on soft corn tortillas with a grilled meat, onions, cilantro, lime and sometimes a salsa. Tacos have evolved over the centuries. They were a staple for silver miners in Mexico during the 1700s, and written record of tacos pre-dates that — back to the 1500s. And anthropologists believe it was around even before then, known by the Aztecs as tlahcos.