Downtown taco impressions: Mazunte Centro

Mazunte Centro is the second restaurant and third business coming from world traveler and former teacher Josh Wamsley. It resides downtown on Main Street in a spot vacated by Lala's Blissful Bites which, like Mazunte, has another location in Madisonville.

When I first stepped foot in Mazunte's original Madisonville location more than five years ago, my impression was that the Mexican restaurant was a secret known only to a handful of souls lucky enough to stumble upon its wonderfully authentic tacos and other Oaxacan-inspired eats.

But I wasn't naive. While I've for years enjoyed Mazunte's special brand of authentic fare, I was cognizant of the fact that it wasn't owned by a little Mexican grandmother or family who'd saved up and worked at sharing their cultural heritage with the masses. It was instead created on a whim by someone who, comparatively speaking, came from means and privilege and was decidedly not Mexican.

The owner's narrative that Cincinnati lacked authentic taquerias before his arrival on the scene in 2012 seems disingenuous at best given the many such taquerias dotting the Cincinnati landscape long before his restaurant was ever conceived. What was this random local "taco place" that annoyed him so much, anyway? Taco Bell?

Cultural appropriation aside, there's no question Mazunte's food is quite good and that it has left its mark on Cincinnati. It's ragingly popular among especially those with means, so much so that we often steer away from the place in search of last-minute alternatives because the crowds are just too damn overwhelming and awful. The downtown version will likely be no different: I'd love to be able to eat lunch there from time to time, but the prospect simply isn't realistic given its size.

The familiar downtown shotgun-style layout of the interior is well conceived for the most part; the wood stool and wood-lacqured tables and countertops look very similar to those at the Madisonville location. People arrive down a "chute" along the southern wall leading to the first of two registers, sending patrons snaking around counters until they reach the cashier at the very end.

Guacamole in a plastic tub

We grabbed one of the available menus stored in recessed nooks along the wall as we stood in line. The menu is similar to that of the Madisonville location, with notable exceptions. There are ingredients and dishes you can get here that won't be available in Madisonville, and vice versa. Exclusive Mazunte Centro items include Mexican sandwiches (tortas) and Mexican pizzas (tylayudas); birria, a dark-red beef stew; and exotic taco fillings like mushrooms and beets; cochinita-style pork; beef tongue; shrimp and roasted zucchini.

Mazunte Centro is essentially the more expensive sibling of the original location. Tacos here seem especially smaller and pricier given the surprising nickel-and-dime upcharges you won't know about until after you've picked the applicable taco(s) containing the applicable ingredients because those upcharges aren't explicitly listed on the menu. The $2 upcharges also apply to tortas, tylayudas and anything else using the same proteins.

The restaurant's frustrating "grab-and-go" a la cart style of side items makes things even pricier. For example, at the Madisonville location, guacamole came with chips and cost $4.75. But at Mazunte Centro, a small plastic tub of guac costs $4.50, but it doesn't come with chips. You have to separately order either a five-pack ($1.50) or a ten-pack ($2.50). You're paying at least $1.25 more for the same thing.

Three very small tacos

One very large cochinita torta

And it's wasteful. Even if you're eating inside, Mazunte Centro still serves the guac in a plastic container instead of their usual ceramic ones. Given how good their guacamole is (hint: it's one of the best iterations in the city), you can imagine just how much discarded, unrecycled plastic that translates to over a short time.

Sure, Mazunte's salsas are unique, vibrant and fresh. The tortas are huge, toasty and pressed almost panini-style. The tylauydas are quite large and easily feed two people.

Mazunte's flavors are unquestionably good, as always. But the execution of their latest iteration left me unusually aggravated. The crowds, surprise upcharges and wastefulness made Mazunte Centro one of our biggest disappointments of the year.