Tacos Doña Lena are Houston's birria specialists - Review - Houston - The Infatuation

"Tacos Doña Lena is a technicolor fantasy world you must be a part of. The birria-focused, electric-orange restaurant—filled with papel picado banners and family photos framed in flowers—in Lazybrook is even better than the Spring Branch original, thanks to their margaritas with a perfect tequila, lime, and sugar ratio. The menu has every known birria concoction, from consomme-drenched tacos, crispy machetes, and gorditas stuffed with refried beans to beefy bowls of ramen topped with a fried egg. Split the hulking combination plate with a special someone (and by someone, we mean yourself), load up on quesabirrias, and don’t be ashamed to drink the consomme straight from the bowl. photo credit: Quit Nguyen photo credit: Quit Nguyen photo credit: Quit Nguyen photo credit: Quit Nguyen Pause Unmute Food Rundown Margaritas Unlike the original Spring Branch location, this one serves margaritas. And while these are the standard lime, the flavors hit a sweet Goldilocks balance. They’re light on the sugar and citrus and heavy on the refreshing factor. photo credit: Quit Nguyen Salsas Before the food arrives, someone brings six different squeeze bottles of equally delicious salsa to your table, arranges them from mild to the spiciest, and explains the taste of each one. It’s a small gesture that will keep you from dousing your birra taco in fiery La Mocoso Habanero when you’re really a mild tomatillo person. photo credit: Liz Silva Street Tacos If you’re all about the birria, go straight for the street tacos. Other meat options exist, but birria is what Doña Lena does best. For these tacos, stewed beef gets stuffed into tortillas drenched in consomé, and every plate arrives with even more consomé. photo credit: Quit Nguyen Machete Shaped like the handheld tool that bears the same name, this huge crispy taco is a mash-up between a taco and a quesadilla. It’s massive, full of meat and cheese, and just another incredible way to eat birria. photo credit: Quit Nguyen Quesabirria The ratio of cheese to meat can make or break a quesabirria, no matter how much chile-rich consomé the tortillas are marinated in. Tacos Doña Lena’s quesabirria is about fifty-fifty melty cheese to birria. Dip into the hot cup of consomé on the side to keep the cheese gooey and rich. photo credit: Quit Nguyen Birria Ramen We think about this ramen often, even on Houston’s hottest days. The pairing of birria and Doña Lena’s earthy, chile-spiked consommé is a thing of genius, even more so because it’s smothered in cheese. photo credit: Quit Nguyen" - Chelsea Thomas