El Paso chef Emiliano Marentes' Taquería Elemi is being recognized by the New York Times as one of the country's best Mexican restaurants.
The newspaper recently published an article on the 41 greatest Mexican restaurants in America and included the El Paso restaurant. El Paso is the only Texas city on the list that the NYT specifically describes as one of the country's great taco towns.
The article praises Taquería Elemi for its al pastor, fresh nixtamal tortillas and tasty salsas. Taquería Elemi, Marentes' second restaurant, opened at 7729 Paseo del Norte on the far West Side of El Paso, without much fanfare in January.
Marentes, along with his first restaurant, Elemi, at 13500 Eastlake Blvd., has been recognized as a James Beard Award nominee
for several years.
The El Paso chef said he is genuinely surprised, incredibly grateful, and deeply proud to see their restaurant featured in The New York Times.
"Major publications so often overlook our city, so having the opportunity to represent our community in such a positive spotlight means more to us than we can truly express. We feel incredibly fortunate to be able to share a piece of our city, our culture, and our passion with a much larger audience," he said.
Marentes said the taqueria, which he co-owns with an amazing partner, Kenji Shigematsu, has grown and evolved quite a bit since opening in January.
"While many things have changed as we continue to learn and grow, one thing has never wavered: our commitment to the quality of our ingredients and the food we put on every plate," he said.
"We use heritage-breed pork, prime cuts of beef, imported chiles and ingredients from Mexico, and the same nixtamal program we practice at Elemi and grind fresh masa every day. Our tacos average around $4 each, but we truly believe they offer incredible value when you consider the quality and care that goes into every ingredient," he said.
He said they originally made tortillas in batches so the kitchen team could keep up with the volume.
"But our team felt strongly that we could do better. We made the decision to make each tortilla to order, because we believe something as important as the tortilla should be as fresh as possible when it reaches our guests," he said.
"And while everything we do is important to us, the true star of the show is our trompo al pastor, which we freshly stack every single day. Our cachetada de ribeye has become our most popular taco, featuring a freshly made tortilla, a crispy costra de quesillo, ribeye grilled on the plancha, avocado salsa, grilled onions, and fresh cilantro. It is a taco that really represents what we are trying to accomplish: great ingredients, technique, freshness, and a whole lot of heart."
Marentes also wants to give credit to chef Angel Castañeda, who leads the team and gets creative each week to bring something new to guests.
"We are still growing organically. We want to stay true to who we are, remain connected to our community, and continue putting our values into every taco we serve. We don't take for granted the opportunity to feed our city, represent our city, and hopefully make our community proud," he concluded.
María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @eptmaria.bsky.social on Bluesky, and @eptmariacg on TikTok
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso's Taquería Elemi lands on New York Times list of best Mexican food
