Tacos Arandas El Amish

Order the tacos and they land the way street tacos are supposed to: small, doubled up on two corn tortillas, meat and a squeeze of lime and not much else in the way. That is the whole proposition at Tacos Arandas El Amish, at 2012 Broadway in Fort Wayne, and it is a good one.

This is a Mexican taco stand, not a sit-down dining room with a long story to tell. What it does, it does in the traditional style, and the fillings are the reason to make the drive.

The Tacos Are the Point

The kitchen builds its tacos on two corn tortillas, the standard street format, and the fillings run through the classics: carnitas, carne asada, lengua, and al pastor. If you have never had lengua, this is beef tongue, slow-cooked until it is tender, and it is the kind of order that separates people who eat around this town from people who stick to the safe column of the menu. The carne asada and al pastor are the easier sells for a first visit, and the carnitas hold their own next to either.

Each taco comes with a side of lime, radish, and cucumber, which is the correct way to serve them and a small sign that the place is paying attention. The lime brightens the meat, the radish and cucumber cut the richness, and none of it is decoration.

Beyond the Taco Order

The menu does not stop at tacos. You can also get burritos, tortas, and fajitas, so a table that cannot agree on one thing has room to spread out. A torta if you want something you can hold and finish; fajitas if you want a plate to share.

To drink, they pour aguas frescas and natural fruit smoothies alongside Mexican sodas. An agua fresca is the move here, especially against the al pastor, and the Mexican sodas are there if you want the bottle.

Who It's For and Where to Go

This is a fast, honest lunch or an early dinner, counter-order food done in the traditional way rather than a place you dress up for. Solo, you can get in and out on a plate of tacos and an agua fresca. With a group, the burritos and fajitas give everyone something.

There are two of them. The Broadway spot sits at 2012 Broadway, 46802, close to the center of the city, and a second Tacos Arandas El Amish operates out in Harlan, still inside the greater Fort Wayne area, if that side of the county is closer to you.

Fort Wayne is not short on taquerias, and if you are working your way through them it is worth lining this one up against Taqueria Flores, Los Tacos Paco, and Santos Tacos. Each one makes the case a little differently. What Arandas El Amish gives you is the plain, correct version: two tortillas, real fillings, lime and radish and cucumber on the side, and something cold to drink with it.