Grub of the Day #25: El Viejito

A deeper look into El Viejito – The Huarache

Mar 02, 2023

As you may have noticed Tuesday, a bunch of us foodies got together for a Taco Tuesday meet-up at El Viejito. The meetup was hosted by Eddie from Pinole Blue and blogger Jenwiththecoffee. It was an amazing event that created an opportunity for local foodies, new and old, to get to know one another and enjoy what we like to do most of all, eat. El Viejito did such an amazing job, I owe it to them to talk more about what they offer.

They are a family-run restaurant, located off 47th and Broadway. The inside is spacious and full of color with beautifully painted walls, chairs, tables, and booths.

Complimentary chips and salsa are brought out first. The middle one was a habanero salsa that was spicy for chips but went excellent with my food. I mainly stuck with the red salsa which was a runny tomato-based salsa with great flavor.

Next, Eddie brought fresh Pinole Blue corn tortillas which allowed us to try both his tortillas and the meat available at El Viejito. The fried tortilla on the right was prepared with desebrada meat. It held together really well with each bite which I liked. On the left is a tortilla prepared with al pastor meat. The meat here is made with pineapples which Isn't common enough in Wichita. They were amazing! I ordered 4 to go just to show my in-laws how good they were.

For my main entree, I ordered a Huarache. Simply put, it was incredible. The main dish on their menu that features Pinole Blue masa and is topped with beans, cactus, tomato, onion, lettuce, cilantro, and your choice of meat. I recommend the pastor of course! This was also where I frequently poured that habanero sauce mentioned above. This meal had both texture and a depth of flavor. The cactus and hints of pineapple in the meat made it pop the most.

Lastly, I washed everything down with a traditional lime margarita. I mean I had to… everyone practically had one and I wasn’t about to miss out. I’m happy to report it was worth it. A delicious balance of alcohol and lime.

This experience was new to me being only in my first year of blogging but it was one I’m so appreciative of. Credit has to go to El Viejito for the outstanding job handling a group of our size. Service was top notch and the food blew me away. This is a spot all Mexican food lovers have to stop by and try. A true gem of the south side.

Here's a look at their menu.