¡Ay! Dos taquerias en Ambler
El Jefe opened around July 4, and El Limon followed two weeks later.
Ambler, a tiny Montgomery County town with a minuscule Mexican population, saw the debuts this month of two taquerias about a block apart.
El Jefe (9 N. Main St., 215-367-5892), a colorful quick-serve BYO with seating area, replaced Rosey's BBQ. Puebla natives Rene H. Zepeda, who also runs La Villa Mexican Grill in Skippack, and Israel Morales offer their home-state favorite, cemitas poblanos, as part of a straight-up menu of burritos, tortas, flautas, tostados, picaditas, and tacos. Figure $2.25 for a taco (served with radish, cucumber, and lime) up to $16.95 for steak alambre. (See photos here.)
Ambler's relative newcomer, which opened this week, is a branch of Conshohocken's El Limon, which took over the former Sherwin-Williams paint store at 38 E. Butler Ave. (267-460-8949) with a roomy but casual waiter-service restaurant. The Dominguez and Carvajal families, from Michoacán, have been open in Conshy for nearly three years and have been planning this location for a year now.
El Limon surely will make friends because it hands out free margaritas. Its prices are also considerably lower than those at El Jefe, which already has experienced grumbling on Facebook.
See El Jefe's menu here. See El Limon's menu here.
Both open for lunch and stay open until the wee hours on Friday and Saturday nights to serve the bar crowds.
The new 34 East Tavern is smack between both taquerias, and Food Network Star eliminate-ee Chad Rosenthal is about a month from opening The Lucky Well where The Shanachie was, at 111 E. Butler Ave.