Taqueria Acapulco serving Mexican street food in downtown Bloomington
Taqueria Acapulco, a restaurant offering Mexican style street food, opened on March 11 at 107 N. College Ave., Suite 2, which was the former location of BloomingThai.
The restaurant is owned by the same people who operate La Bonita Restaurant and Market at 1709 N. College Ave., but the downtown restaurant has a different menu. Signature dishes include pescadillas, which are three deep-fried tortillas filled with a tilapia mix, mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cotija cheese, sour cream, avocado and radish; and bolillos rellenos, made with bread stuffed with mayonnaise, Oaxaca cheese, cream, vinegar jalapenos and a choice of meat (ham, picadillo de pollo, pork loin or bazo).
The tortillas are homemade, according to general manager Freddy Gamez. He said the pescadillas have been the most popular the first week. He also recommended the quesadilla machete, with has a "mega" corn dough quesadilla with onion, cilantro and cheese stuffed with either chorizo with potatoes or fajita mix.
Taqueria Acapulco also creates quesadillas that begin with an 8-inch corn tortilla, mayo, cabbage, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream and green salsa. Meat options are spineless prickly pear with chorizo, seasoned shredded chicken, potatoes with chorizo, mushrooms with chorizo and shredded chicken with potatoes, onions, tomatoes and carrots. Sopes — an 8-inch corn tortilla shell topped with lettuce, sour cream, cheese and either red or green salsa — have many meat choices, including steak and ham. Burritos, gorditas, chalupas, tacos and tamales are on the menu as well.
Drinks include bottles of Mexican Coke, as well as Jarritos, pineapple juice and orange juice. Customers can sit at one of the 10 tables, get take-out or order using DoorDash.
Hours are 11 a.m.-midnight Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-2:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday. Gamez anticipates the restaurant will add beer and possibly other alcoholic beverages to its menu in the future.
Aver's Pizza competing in international pizza competition
Aver's Pizza and its founders, Kris Kaiser and Brad Randall, will compete in two different pizza categories at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. Thousands of pizzeria professionals from around the globe convene in Las Vegas March 19-21 to talk, share and compete.
Kaiser is competing in the non-traditional category at the International Pizza Challenge. He'll make The Whole Enchilada pizza, which has a green chili sauce that begins with a cream of mushroom base topped with chicken, onion and cheddar cheese and finished with a drizzle of red enchilada sauce and green onions. This pizza was created using a recipe from a favorite dish of Kaiser's family. His original plans to enter the pizza in 2020 were delayed until now.
Randall will compete in the plant-based competition. His entry will start with Aver's regular pan-style pizza crust. The entry will be Aver's Cuban Black Bean pizza with vegan cheese substituted for the mozzarella that's normally used. The pizza has a spicy-hot cilantro pesto sauce, onion, fresh tomato slices, seasoned black beans and cheese.
"I'm hoping that the nice presentation of a pinwheel of sliced tomatoes and spiciness of the ingredients will make this pizza stand out from the other competitors," Randall said in a news release.
Aver's Pizza locations are at 1837 N. Kinser Pike and 317 E. Winslow Road. Online orders can be placed for both locations at www.averspizza.com.
FARM offers Easter brunch on March 31
FARMbloomington will offer a special, two-course brunch on Easter Sunday. The downtown restaurant at 108 E. Kirkwood Ave. will be open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Cost will be $29 for adults and $19 for youth age 12 and younger.
Starters include: an Avgolemono Greek Easter soup with chicken, lemon, rice, egg and dill; spring fruit and berries; FARM's Good Life salad; and a yogurt and granola parfait with fruit and honey. Entrees will include a mushroom and egg scramble; a vegan tofu scramble with roasted tomatoes and kale; Shasuka baked eggs; Canadian Easter poutine; French toast casserole; the Classic Farm breakfast; steak and eggs; smoked salmon scramble; and bacon and egg pizza.
FARM will also have special cocktails, coffees and beverages and will have a special dessert and ice cream menu as well as Easter candy for children. Reservations are suggested; go online to www.farm-bloomington.com.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Taqueria Acapulco opens, Aver's Pizza competes, FARM Easter Brunch
