In much of central Mexico, barbacoa has a set day and time: Sunday, early, with the smell of wood smoke and maguey leaves, steaming consomé and a line that moves slowly. That’s why it’s interesting to find it on a menu, at lunch or dinner, and in two very different formats.
What Is Barbacoa?
Outside Mexico, “barbecue” suggests a grill. Here, barbacoa means meat cooked slowly in an earth oven, wrapped in maguey leaves for hours. The result is tender, juicy meat that falls apart on its own. At Porfirio’s, the barbacoa is beef.
Barbacoa in a Cheese Crust: The Taco You Eat with Both Hands
Three tacos on cheese-crust tortillas, served with salsa verde and a traditional Tlaquepaque-style salsa.
The crust changes everything: first you feel the crunch of golden cheese, then the tortilla, and finally the barbacoa, tender and juicy. The two salsas play different roles. The green one adds acidity to cut the richness; the Tlaquepaque-style one, with its Guadalajara identity, gives the same taco a second character. The best approach is to try it with one and then the other.
It works as a quick main course or on a shared taco table.
Poblano Chalupas with Barbacoa and Bone Marrow: Barbacoa as an Antojito
Four pieces covered in green and red salsa, filled with beef barbacoa, topped with roasted bone marrow, fresh onion and cilantro.
Chalupas poblanas are among the most emblematic antojitos of Puebla: small tortillas with two salsas, meat and onion. The menu version respects that base and swaps the meat for barbacoa. The element that transforms it is the roasted bone marrow, rich and buttery, spread over each chalupa before eating. More marrow, less marrow, more green or more red: every piece is personalized.
It’s the ideal antojito for the center of the table.
How to Choose
- If you want crunchy: Barbacoa in a Cheese Crust, three pieces, with a nod to Jalisco.
- If you want rich and buttery: Poblano Chalupas, four pieces, with a nod to Puebla.
- If the table is big: order both and see how the same meat takes completely different paths.
To Go with It
- To start: the Jugo de Carne, with onion, cilantro, jalapeño and lime, recovers the spirit of the consomé served with traditional barbacoa.
- To drink: the Michoacán cocktail, with pineapple, lime and mango vinegar. Its acidity balances the bone marrow and the cheese.
- For the table: a Traditional Guacamole or some Tender Esquites.
Sunday barbacoa will always be irreplaceable, with its stand and its line. Having it on the menu doesn’t replace it: it simply gives barbacoa more days of the week.
