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El Taco challenge Luchador
$10
BY ASHLEE CLARK THOMPSON | PHOTOS BY ANDY HYSLOP
If anyone can turn around the seemingly doomed dining spot at 938 Baxter Avenue, it would be the Martinez family. Fernando, Christina and Yaniel Martinez have left a trail of inventive restaurant concepts throughout the city, which includes Mussel & Burger Bar, Cena (the Italian restaurant in the basement of M&BB) and Guaca Mole. This crop of reliably good restaurants has secured this family’s spot as a major player in the Louisville dining scene. Maybe, just maybe, this culinary powerhouse of a family will make one of their newest concepts work in this unlucky Highlands spot. El Taco Luchador Taqueria is the latest occupant of a narrow space that has been home to a ramen shop, a grilled cheese restaurant and a cupcake bakery in the past few years. The restaurant now bursts with pastel paint and illustrations of masked luchadores, the Mexican wrestlers from which the restaurant gets its name. There are even a few mannequin heads that don the signature vibrant luchadore masks and glare at you as you eat your meal. The Martinez family borrows successful flavors from their other enterprises but homes in on tacos and tortas with just a few sides and desserts. Judging from the everpresent crowd and the family’s other successful ventures, Taco
Luchador seems promising enough to break this address’ curse. The restaurant is squeezed into a block more popular for lively beer-fueled weekend nights than thriving restaurant ventures. Tacos and sandwiches, however, are a good way to start an evening at the bars.The dining area is tight on a good day.There are only six tables in this narrow shoebox of a restaurant, plus four outside tables on nice days. Customers deal with the limited seating, though. I usually see a handful of customers carrying out to-go orders and at least a couple of folks milling around while they scan for the slightest hint of a finished meal from the lucky ones who scored a table. But there’s a reason that folks are willing to get uncomfortably close and take a chance on maybe or maybe not getting a table — the food is darn good. There are nine different kinds of street-style (read: small) tacos that are $3-$3.75 each. Depending on your appetite, a taco trio makes for a satisfying meal. I always go for at least one veggie taco ($3), which combines sweet plantains with savory refried black beans, roasted corn and poblano peppers for a surprisingly balanced and flavorful selection. It’s hard to go wrong with a fish taco ($3.75) that comes with a thick slice of beer-battered cod with a chipotle aioli and pickled cabbage. The chicken mole