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Good Taste: Loco for caldo 'tlalpeño'

Part of the charm of Loco Pez has been its menu's unapologetic Fishtown winks to Americanized Mexi-dishes that prove gringo can be bueno, too.

Caldo de res beef stew with soft tortillas and all the fixings at Loco Pez in Fishtown.
Caldo de res beef stew with soft tortillas and all the fixings at Loco Pez in Fishtown.Read moreCraig LaBan / Staff

Part of the charm of Loco Pez has been its menu's unapologetic Fishtown winks to Americanized Mexi-dishes - hard-shell tacos, oozy bean "Volcano" burritos - that prove gringo can be bueno, too.

But over time, some more authentic Mexican flavors have found their way onto this hipster haven's menu, partly through the soup pots of the kitchen's Mexican cooks.

A couple of weeks ago, sous-chef Sara Ramirez's homey staff meal of caldo de res beef stew opened enough eyes that it was swiftly moved front and center to the public menu.

Smart move.

This soul-satisfying bowl of slow-steeped short rib broth filled with chickpeas, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and a bobbing little round of corn on the cob is classic rustic Mexican cooking. But Ramirez also gives it the spicy tlalpeño twist unique to her native state, Morelos, which draws an earthy, smoky heat from the addition of chipotles en adobo.

Add the side fixings of chopped onion, cilantro, and lime to brighten the broth. And then soak it up with a tightly rolled tube of the soft tortillas which, coincidentally, have just begun being pressed in-house recently, too.

- Craig LaBan
Caldo "Tlalpeño" de Res, $10, Loco Pez, 2401 E. Norris St., 267-886-8061; locopez.com.