Hello neighbors! My
family and I have lived in Northampton for 8 years and are very proud to call
it home. We fell in love with the mature
trees and large lots, and have enjoyed our beautiful parks, active neighborhood
life, and friendly people.
Our family enjoys going out to eat and watching food shows,
and I dabble in cooking. What I particularly
enjoy is going somewhere I haven’t been before—I get a real charge out of
anticipating what some new place will be like.
I’ll bring the best of what I find to you here, starting with Tony’s
Street Tacos.
Tony Gomez and his wife Dora opened their restaurant on Root
Road (formerly Northampton Pizza) in October 2017. Tony is the chef, and Dora is the general
manager. Tony’s food looks and eats like
Tex-Mex, but it is actually from Mexico City, with American, Italian, and
Chinese influences. When I first
visited, Tony had me sample the brisket--it was wonderful, nice and tender even
in the lean parts, and well-seasoned.
Tony makes good use of the pizza ovens he inherited, cooking the brisket
in them for six hours before serving. I
had some cilantro rice and grilled onions with it on a taco. The shrimp
taco came with three nice plump shrimp and some very good slaw, with jicama,
cabbage, and other items to give it a good crunch. I ordered the special
Diablo sauce, which he made on the spot—it’s 99 cents extra and well worth the
upcharge. It’s a great combination of
garlic, asiago sauce and pico de gallo.
Tony came to the US in 1990, and got his start in Santa Cruz
restaurants washing dishes. He asked for
and received training as a prep cook, then in 1995 started working for the
Marie Callender restaurant chain, eventually moving to Texas to take a kitchen
manager position. They have been back
and forth between California and the Spring/Woodlands area, where Tony has
managed food service for Famous Dave’s barbecue, BJ’s Roadhouse, and PF
Chang’s.
On my second visit I had an empanada, a new item that will
be part of their expanded menu. It was
an absolutely delicious rendition. The
pastry crust was perfectly done—slightly flaky, very flavorful, and melted in
your mouth. Mine was stuffed with
chicken, very tender with a delicious sauce.
A queso fresco sauce topped it off.
They are well worth asking for.
Tony’s food has a master’s touch, and he has a lot of
experience teaching others to prepare food as he does. They have enjoyed tremendous success in
Northampton, and are planning expansion and franchising.
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