Anthony M
Google
A must visit for lamb barbacoa if you happen to be in Texcoco (or if you're in Mexico City or Puebla and have the time and inclination for the drive / Uber trip, it's really worth it). If you're tourists like us, you've probably seen the videos on YouTube. Believe the hype!
Sunday is supposedly the day to go but we visit on Saturday arriving at about 11am. We were able to find a table with relative ease. You have to buy everything individually (we already brought paper plates and napkins) so my tip is to get all your other bits before you get the lamb do it doesn't go cold. We bought 2 salsas, 2 small bags of onions and coriander, a portion of corn tortillas (received 12) and cutlery from the other traders that are easy to find.
As for the barbacoa... wow. We had a kilo of boneless meat ("sin huesos") which cost 538 pesos (about £25 or $30 US at the time of writing) and they take cards. I believe you can order it by the quarter of a kilo as they weigh it and the local in front of us got 3/4 of a kilo. There was a small line of people which moved quite quickly. You get in the line to the left hand corner of where the barbacoa pits are to pay first, you'll get a ticket and then line up to collect your meat.
We asked for it "sin pancita" or "without stomach" as we weren't brave enough to try that. You'll essentially get lamb leg and shoulder in chunks that fall apart/shred with minimal effort. We weren't fans of the consommé, as you're essentially drinking lamb stock with bits of onion and pepper floating about.
The gent serving also gives you a sample of the meat with a bit of salt when packaging it for you. It doesn't need the salt, the meat is truly phenomenal and you'll most likely add salsa when you construct it. We finished the final few bites of lamb on their own.
The kilo of barbacoa and 12 tacos from the nearby stand was enough for 3 hungry guys. If you have room for anything else, the place has other meats and traditional Mexican foods. There are a few desert stands and some stands selling Piña Colada, which we annoyingly missed as we were too focused on the barbacoa.
Other than that there are mariachis wondering about if you want to pay for some songs while you eat, there is some entertainment for children and a parking lot if you're driving. All in all, this is a must visit if you love lamb barbacoa.