Mi Mero Mole New taco joint says stew you

People argue that it's hard to find exciting Mexican food in PDX, but they've apparently never been in the Rose Garden when the Blazers are threatening to score their 100th point. Chaluuuuuppppaaaa!!!! Giving you exciting South-of-the-border grub that's even better than free Taco Bell: Mi Mero Mole.

From the food guru who put the Zuke in Kenny and Zuke's, Mole’s a Southeast taco shop ready to fill your estomago via tacos jammed with traditional stew & stir-fry guisados in an interior that's “industrial Mexico City”-ized with raw pallet-wood panels and brushed steel chairs, plus a massive mural by two top p:ear artists depicting doomed Aztecs, who still look infinitely better than Steve Fisher. The menu’s crux is said changing-weekly guisados, which’re culled from an ever-growing list of 45+ unique variations that load handmade masa tortillas with rajas con crema (roasted poblanos & onions in a super-rich sour cream sauce), sliced hot dogs in spicy tomato sauce, or cochinita pibil w/ achiote-/sour OJ-marinated pork that’s been smoked in banana leaves, which most people aren't as high on as smoking the peel. MMM's enlisted the help of local startender Jacob Grier to swing some decidedly South American cocktails including the Senor Brown, mixing smoky mezcal with green apple soda; the Horchata Borracha w/ silver tequila and Kahlua; and a fiesta-starting Negroni featuring Aperol, vermouth & tequila called El Chingroni, which is apparently not a comment on Jay Leno's monologues.

While tacos are the thing during their current soft opening, look for the menu to soon include soups featuring heirloom Rancho Gordo beans, and tamales made with house-rendered lard, which is only available at the Rose Garden whenever Glen Davis plays there.