"When Tulcingo del Valle — named after a small town in the state of Puebla, Mexico — opened on 10th Avenue in 2001, it was one of the city’s early bodega taquerias, offering not only a full line of groceries such as fresh tortillas and prickly pear paddles, but also a modest menu of antojitos like tacos, quesadillas, and sopes. Now few remain, but Tulcingo del Valle has persisted and flourished. The menu has expanded over the years, still centered on southern Mexican fare. At its heart are the quintessential dishes of Puebla, among them the cemita. Tulcingo del Valle assembles a complete line of cemitas, including rarer ones like head cheese and Yucatecan cochinita pibil. The layered sandwich contained pinto beans, white Oaxacan cheese, crumbly sausage, potato cubes, a slurry of smoked chipotle chiles that left an afterburn, plenty of creamy avocado that partly stanched the burn, and, most important of all, papalo leaves." - Robert Sietsema