Gulfton location of a Houston-area chain offers solid tacos, spectacular tortas, and other Mexican specialties.

5800 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77081
(713) 839-8226
Website

8am–10pm, 7 days a week (breakfast served until 11)

Sometimes you stumble upon great things when you are on your way to somewhere else. For instance, you might be thinking the answer to a tough day is to bliss out on frozen treats and an optimistic millenial soundtrack at Nu Ice, but you hear “ahem” from some sensible voice in your head, warning you to eat real food before dessert. So, you drive further west out from central Houston to the part of Bellaire Blvd. that runs through the working-class, mainly Hispanic community of Gulfton, and join the queue at Tacos La Bala.

Tacos La Bala is an outpost of a local chain, offering tacos, tortas, and assorted combination plates at prices so low that we checked them again to be sure. La Bala on Bellaire invited us out of a grey, drizzly day into a spacious, well-lit interior. On this initial visit, however, we experienced a twinge of discombobulation as we ordered at what appears to be a walk-up window inside a restaurant—it’s even fitted with a tiled awning. After we ordered from detailed menus in both English and español, we received one of those radio-activated buzzers that make you jump out of your skin when your food is ready. We ordered a small assortment of tacos ($1.70 each), a cochinita pibil torta ($5.15), and two beers ($3.35 domestics, $3.99 Mexican imports), and received them all in a hurry from the busy kitchen.

Tacos: All on corn tortillas, our tacos were trompo (AKA al pastor), deshebarada (shredded beef), and barbacoa (slow-cooked beef face). Although the doubled-up tortillas were of the bagged variety, they were fresh and chewy and suffered nothing from being lightly fried in oil. All tacos came dressed with cilantro y cebolla. While we did not observe an actual trompo in the open kitchen, and the meat did not have a shaved appearance, these tacos satisfied and proved well-served by a judicious amount of pineapple. Bites of the deshabarada pulled away ropes of tender beef. The barbacoa dripped unctuous grease and more rich beef flavor, but came across a bit too mushy, lacking the textural variety we savor in this taco filling. For $1.70, these tacos rate more than middling but not the best in town. The torta, on the other hand, is a whole other ball of masa de pan.

Torta: While theses tortas do not follow the prescription of the owner of Las Tortas Perronas—La Bala does not use telera rolls and does include lettuce—this unassuming torta proves miracles sometimes come in a red, plastic lunch basket. Juicy, tender chunks of achiote-marinated, braised pork nestle inside a bolillo split down its side and stuffed like a pita or a suckling bread pig. Toppings include shredded lettuce and cilantro, thinly-sliced tomatoes, and cotija cheese. Each bite delivers on multiple levels: chewy, creamy, porcine, and spiced to your taste with a choice of three table salsas: an emulsified verde, a citrusy verde, and a smoldering, cinder-red roja. This sandwich is so enjoyable that while eating it, you tune out the sights and sound around you, and it’s only after you take the last bite that you begin to hear the restaurant’s televisions again. But we did not relish sharing one; so we returned a few days later and ordered ourselves one each of the same.

Interestingly, there were several differences between the sandwiches we received on our first and second visits. On our second visit, the tortas came generously smeared with refried black beans and topped with avocado slices, the bolillos were lightly toasted, and a slice of melted white cheese, present on the first visit, was missing. Most likely, this can be chalked up to the kitchen dealing with a Sunday lunch rush on our first visit, but we wondered if we had somehow received different menu items. Checking the menu, the sandwiches we received on the second visit were as-described, with beans, avocado, and no white cheese. In any case, the sandwiches were delicious on both visits, and we assign all the tortas cinco estrellas.

Una advertencia: A sign by the counter warns against Tacos La Bala impersonators con poca imaginacion selling out of food trucks, while implying that imitation is the highest form of flattery.