Tres Chivos

MÉXICO 🇲🇽

That first time you walk by a machetes vendor in Mexico City, and especially Los Machetes Amparito in Colonia Guerrero, it is an eye-popping experience that demands sitting down immediately no matter how hungry you happen to be. That 55 year old institution cooks and displays its colossal machetes, up to 70 cm (over two feet) in length right up front for all passersby to see and smell.

Machetes are similar and evolved from quesadillas, but kept thin and extruded to sometimes crazy length beginning to resemble the blade of their namesake. In Mexico City, their birthplace and really the only place they remain common, they are always made of a corn tortilla and often filled with stewed meats called guisados. White Oaxacan cheese works not only to round out the tastes, but to keep it all together.

The oblong handmade corn tortilla found here at Tres Chivos, a slim little restaurant in Sunset Park that otherwise does not stand out from the crowd, clocks in below 40 cm but it is still the only version in town. For $8, the machete de tinga (above) is a real bargain as it can almost satisfy two hungry bellies. It has a nice ball of guacamole served on top it, is accompanied by a salad, and can be ordered in chorizo and carne asada versions as well.

With green, white, and red papel picado overhead, upbeat Norteños coming from the jukebox, and many types of Mexican beer available, the atmosphere here is fun and festive and lends itself to eating antojitos with a few drinks. What few photos can be found through their online presence seem to showcase this side of the restaurant, with happy hours that see it get busy in the evenings as groups of guys order buckets of bottled beer.

The nachos al pastor ($12, above) are also well-executed and pair nicely with those cold beers (or a margarita). Ingredients can be found throughout the dish, deployed in many layers so the chips at the bottom have plenty to carry.

On a follow-up visit and racking the brain and Google to figure out what "TXM" on the menu could possibly stand for, it was learned that this simply meant "Tex-Mex," somewhat of a disappointment if truth be told. That being said, the next time a mood strikes for a quesadilla or burrito wrapped in a fluffy flour tortilla, the TXM side of the menu might have to be investigated further.

Instead a large plate of enchiladas verdes ($12, above) was ordered. Four corn tortillas wrapped with chicken inside and smothered with their tomatillo salsa were decent but proved that sticking to antojitos was probably the best route when dining here.

Order another beer, wait for another song to get loaded into the jukebox, and maybe that hunger will come back soon enough to order another machete.

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SUNSET PARK Brooklyn
5717 5th Avenue

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