After listening to dozens of South Park residents implore Mayor Mike McGinn, City Council member Sally Clark, and other city officials to provide city funding to replace the South Park Bridge last night (the 79-year-old bridge, which is four times more vulnerable to collapse in an earthquake than the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is scheduled for closure on June 30), I wandered across the vast playing field at the South Park Community Center, along a street of charmingly bedraggled single-family houses, and through the doors of Muy Macho, South Park’s best tacqueria.
Angela has sung Muy Macho’s praises before. I’ll just add that the lengua taco—tongue gently cooked for hours until it’s meltingly tender, topped with a surprising burst of runny egg—is easily the best in town. The whole pinto beans were forgettable, but the refried beans were perfect, topped with a judicious bit of cheese. (Take a lesson, Azteca). As I wrote for the Weekly back in (eek) January 2002, it’s tough to find good salsa in these parts, but Muy Macho’s delivers—particularly the orange salsa, fiery with habeneros, and the piquant, almost cooling salsa verde.
Next time I go back to South Park, my bus will have to get to the neighborhood via SR 99 or I-5, adding as much as half an hour to my trip. The bridge closure is permanent, and replacing it will take at least three years—once funding, which doesn’t currently exist, is found. But I’m already planning my next trip to Muy Macho. This time, on the advice of the owner—who was among the hundred or so folks at last night’s community meeting—I’m trying the posole, rumored to be the best in town.
