3312 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97214
by Brooke Jackson-Glidden Taqueria Los Puñales specializes in traditional guisados, and aims to be vocally and transparently queer. Two food service vets have opened a new, hyper-queer taqueria on SE Belmont, specializing in Mexican braises and stews, or guisados. Taqueria Los Puñales, which opened on Monday, is slinging tinga-filled, house-made tortillas in a space decked out in queer art and photos of RuPaul. In Spanish, the word “puñal” has a number of meanings — most literally, it means dagger, specifically one dipped in poison. It also can refer to a “handful,” the way a child can be a handful for a parent. And, finally, it can be used as a way to describe a homosexual man. Brain Aster, the co-owner of Taqueria Los Puñales, compares it to the word “queer,” now its own identity under the LGBTQ+-umbrella. David Madrigal, his business partner and friend of 20 years, is more direct. “It means f**,” he says. “But we’re reclaiming it. My dad has a tattoo of two daggers, and a taco is, literally, a handful.” ...
Categories: Mexican restaurant, Breakfast restaurant, Lunch restaurant, Takeout Restaurant, Taco restaurant