Barbacoa means barbecue in Mexican Spanish. In Mexico City you find seasoned lamb sealed in maguey leaves cooked in the coals of a fire. In Texas, cow heads became the most popular meat for barbacoa because the ranch hands were given cow heads as part of their pay. If you ever saw the movie Giant, you might remember Elizabeth Taylor fainting when the vaqueros unwrapped the burlap bag containing the head that had been buried under the coals.
There are a couple of old-fashioned barbacoa pits left in Texas–a restaurant called Vera’s in Brownsville has one. But modern health department regulations have pretty much put an end to authentic pit barbacoa. At Tex-Mex restaurants and taquerias, cow heads are now cooked in the oven with a baño Maria (water pan) or in a jacketed steam kettle like they have at Gerardo’s,
Gerardo’s Drive-In Grocery on Patton sells the best barbacoa in Houston. “Gerardo’s, Barbacoa, Vi, Sa, Do” reads the sign out front. Which means that barbacoa is available on Friday (Viernes), Saturday (Sábado) and Sunday (Domingo) only.
Owner Jose Luis Lopez was born in Michoacan. He opened the store in 1977 and named it after his infant son. Today Gerardo Lopez is all grown up and he works in the store too. The grocery offers a few raw vegetables and some raw meats along with the soft drinks and the chips, but mostly people come for the barbacoa, the carne asada, the chile rellenos and the other prepared foods.
On Saturday morning, Gerardo’s is a street party.
Gerardo’s is the mecca of barbacoa, I love this place. Sr Lopez and his son Big Louis would always hook me up with Mexican soda bottles.
Please try this place, it is authentic!