Cambios

Had lunch today at one of my favorite spots; el Palenque is a restaurant and butcher shop on Remount Rd, in the heart of North Charleston's spanish-speaking community. I hadn't been there in a few weeks, and I was a little disappointed to see that they had replaced their very cool graffiti style painted sign ("Restaurante y Carniceria", "Tenemos mariscos") with a much more conservative one. But the tortillas and chorizo were fresh and the cabeza, which I had never tried before, was delicious. El Palenque's aguas frescas are always good, and intense heat of the afternoon made the agua de melon especially refreshing.



On the way we stopped by our most long-running favorite, Las Lupitas, but found them still closed for renovation..

Last week I spotted two women selling sopes and boxed lunches out of the back of an unmarked van parked at a construction site on the College of Charleston campus. It's not exactly a taco truck, and prepared meals aren't quite as exciting as items made to order, but it was the first time I had seen what seemed like authentic Mexican food being served downtown. I stopped to talk for a minute, and they told me they would be there every day, but I haven't been able to go back and try it out yet. Maybe I'll make it by this week.