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I am ashamed to say that I have lived in Denver for six years and have never had an 'authentic' taco, up until just the other day. Sure, I've had Chi Chi's, Chipotle, Taco Bell (ugh). And I can make a killer plate of what I call tacos. But none are 'authentic'.

So I was feeling adventurous, and went to a genuine Mexican taqueria. The place was empty of customers except for a couple of Mexican laborers enjoying a late lunch. The place was hot as hell... no air conditioning. I went up to the counter and asked for four soft shell tacos. She pointed out that soft shell was all they sold (hard shell tacos are unknown in Mexico). She then asked "what kind" and pointed up to the menu.

It was all in Spanish, and after a few clueless moments, the nice lady gave me a cheat sheet with English translations.

I ordered the beef tacos ('tacos asada' I now know they are more properly called). The tacos were $1.50 per, and each consisted of two tortillas (about the size of a hockey puck, or maybe a bit bigger) chopped beef, with some cilantro and maybe something else... I don't recall. I found some hot sauce, dosed them, and sat down to eat.

Not bad. Next time, I'll ask for no cilantro (I'm not a fan of the herb).

This taqueria was an indoor place. In Denver, and other south-western and western cities, taco trucks are common. I'll have to brush up on my restaurant Spanish and give them a try. I found this webpage which reviews Denver taco trucks, and has hi-res pictures of the menus, so I can learn how to read the menus. Some of the stands sell what I will call "varietal meat" tacos, so I had better be safe rather than sorry.

Anyway, at this taqueria, they have a drawing on their window of some sort of what must be a cooking device, but I can't figure out what the heck it is? Here's a picture of it. Does anyone know what that thing is? I'd ask the proprietor, but I don't want to either 1) insult their artist for not being skilled enough to able to convey the function of what was painted or 2) illustrate my cluelessness.