Tacos de Cabeza on Grant Road is exactly what it sounds like: a truck dedicated to the many subtle wonders of the cow's head regions. Aka, the kinda place to get your tongue on some lengua, or compare the texture of cachete cheek meat with paladar "roof of mouth."
But cabeza, or the meat of the face, is pretty standard around here. This place goes deeper. As far as I've seen, Tacos de Cabeza is the only business in town with sesos on the menu. That's brains, folks: glorious gray globules of custardy meat funk cooked overnight in big pots and then steamed into a livery pate.
Rosalinda Arzate, who runs the business' two trucks with her husband Carlos Salas Olaiz, says they go through about 30 cow heads a day. They get them from a USDA-certified supplier out of Phoenix, and are very specific about making sure the product is always 100 percent clean. (They have very favorable ratings from the health department, she adds.)
Sesos are a breakfast food in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, where Arzate's husband is from. They're a delicacy, Arzate said, and some people believe eating them makes you smarter. I was smart enough to realize that they taste infinitely better with a squirt of spicy orange habanero salsa. But I wasn't smart enough to realize that putting them down for a minute won't fix anything. At the end of the meal, you're just gonna have a plate of cold brains ...
Weird fact: The truck also sells eyes and lips, but the couple can't bring in any from their supplier right now.
Locations: I checked out the truck at 250 E. Grant Road, on the south side of Grant just east of Stone. They also have a truck on the northeast corner of South 12th Avenue and Nebraska Street.
Phone: 520-312-9328
Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. (Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day.)
Payment: cash only
