The Federal Experiment

In search of the most authentic Mexican on the most authentic street in the city

By Allyson Reedy

Special to Metromix

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Welcome to The Federal Experiment, where I drive down Federal – the Mecca, Tenochtitlan and Hanoi for various ethnic cuisines–in hopes of finding the best foreign food I’ve ever eaten at small, undiscovered restaurants. The more rundown the restaurant, the better my chances of eating an unforgettable meal, I figure.  I’ll be looking for bars on the windows, a distinct lack of English and a paint job older than my mom. Oh and preferably Telemundo or soccer on the telly. Too picky? Not on Federal.

I speak white suburban high school Spanish. This means I know how to say “How much for a bottle of water?” but not “Go light on the tripe in my menudo, please.” Damn you Highlands Ranch High School. I guess it’s not their fault – they probably don’t actually expect their students to speak to an actual Mexican.


But Spanish be damned.  For the inaugural episode of The Federal Experiment, I’m searching for Mexican food so authentic that they speak Nahuatl. Driving north beginning at Belleview I passed the rows of boxy brick houses, used car lots, pawn shops, an oddly placed bonsai store and, perhaps scariest of all, $1 a scoop Chinese restaurants. I press onward.

When I found a place with enough Spanish vocab on its windows and signs to send me into pop quiz anxiety mode, I figured I should stop. After driving through a neighborhood with roads reminiscent of my stay in Costa Rica, I saw instructions graffitied onto the side of an abandoned shed, “Taqueria parking only.” Show time.

Walking in to El Taco Veloz there was no mistaking my husband or me for the Mexicans who filled the surprisingly cheery and bright restaurant. April in Colorado – Marilyn Manson has seen more sun than our arms and legs.

A dry erase board advertised menudo ($4.99) as the daily special, and my husband gamely ordered it, in spite of the fact that his knowledge of menudo begins and ends with a pre-pubescent Ricky Martin. Warning: if someone has never eaten meat outside of Grade A beef and all-natural chicken breast, a bowl full of tripe (cow stomach tissue) may not be the best choice. 

The soup was rich and flavorful, but I just couldn’t get my American mouth to enjoy something so chewy. I would have preferred more spice, but maybe they went easy on it out of consideration for our whiteness. 

I ordered a carnitas burrito ($3.50), and it consisted of tortilla, carnitas and cheese. No chile or salsa like I’m used to. Yeah, yeah I know – if I want Colorado-style green chile I should stick to Santiago’s or Brewery Bar, but a little zing would have complimented the perfectly roasted pork nicely.

If tripe and carnitas aren’t your thing, they’ve also got beef, chicken, tongue and snout. No, the rest of the world doesn’t pull out the tenderloin and use the rest of the cow carcass for glue and hot dogs. Get used to it.

Overall this wasn’t the orgasm-inducing Mexican experience I was anticipating. I guess that would probably have to involve Oscar de la Hoya and a blow-up pool of enchiladas, but I digress. Sometimes to discover something great you have to break out of your chain restaurant comfort zone and try something scary.  Kind of like the first time you put on fishnets. I’ll be back, Federal.

El Taco Veloz
400 Federal Blvd.
Denver, CO 80204
303-825-2882