Samuel C.
Yelp
There is a whole string of Mexican/Central American food trucks up and down North Lamar between 183 and Braker.
They serve the local Mexican and Central American communities.
This is one of the most popular food trucks of them all.
You come here at night and there are crowds underneath the colored lights.
You go to some of the other trucks to find a dark empty parking lot. The cook is very very happy to see you and get some business.
Some of the "deserted" trucks are pretty good. There are a bunch of fine food trucks on North Lamar waiting to be discovered.
But whenever the crowd tells you where to go, it is generally a good idea to listen.
You will not go wrong eating at Casa del Sabor.
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Casa del Sabor is a uncompromising Mexican truck.
They serve all the part of the cow - not just hamburger and bistec.
On weekends they have both menudo and birria.
Of particular note is that they have pambazos ... tortas grilled in a chile-ed oil
and stuffed with potato and meat.
Potatoes in a big bread sandwich?
Not what an American would have served.
But if you want a filling hearty lunch, potatoes in a sandwich will definitely do it.
Their pambazos fall apart with the bread unable to hold the weight of all the filling.
Normally that is a horrible terrible sin in sandwich making.
At Casa del Sabor, pamabazos that fall apart are a good thing.
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Riddle: When is It Good For Your Sandwich To Fall Apart?
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Answer:
When the filling is so good, you don't want to lose it in the bread and
The bread is so good you don't want to be distracted by filling.
So your collapsed sandwich turns into two dishes both of which are superior dishes on their own.
Bread grilled in chili oil?
Sign me up for this item.
Bistec and potato with homemade jalapeno sauce?
Sign me up for this one too.
I happily chowed down my two course lunch.
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Note that if you order a pambazo, that a pambazo can absorb a lot of spice and you will never notice it.
They have a mild and a super firey jalapeno sauce.
Have no fear. Go for the jalapeno.
Once it mixes with all that bread and all that potato, the jalapeno sauce will be civilized enough ... thank you very much.
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If you want the fun and the crowds, come at night time.
At lunch time, the place was strangely deserted ...
Although to be fair, the City of Austin was doing its once-a-decade patching of the potholes in Lamar Boulevard right in front of the food truck.
But the crowd picks up as the afternoon moves on.
By one thirty there was a substantial line in front of the kitchen. It was time for this social distancing Yelp reviewer to move on.
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One last note. Casa del Sabor is next to a title loan company. They do their car inspections and talk business right in front of the restaurant.
So if you have ever been curious about that aspect of life, and don't want to hock your own car, order a big meal from Casa Del Sabor and hang around for a while.
You can get a huge education from lingering and eating your tacos.
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Thumbs up all around for Casa del Sabor.
There are still a lot of North Lamar food trucks out there that I have yet to try.
But judging from what I see and what I have eaten, I will bet you Casa del Sabor makes a helluva lengua taco.
Which all by itself is a reason for a return trip.
