There’s nothing quite like authentic Mexican tacos made with love and attention to generational storytelling. Chofi Taco y Birria — a family-run Mexican restaurant located at 1706 Summit Avenue in Union City — is a shining example of what happens when food lovers decide to tell a specific story through their menu + are passionate about sharing that story with their community. The menu is specific to the flavors of Puebla, Mexico, with a few personalized touches. Whether you’re craving something classic like tacos, quesadillas, and nachos — or something more unique like birria and consome, Chofi has you covered. This decor, much like the food, is bright, inviting, + feels like being welcomed into someone’s very happy home. Read on to learn about Chofi Taco y Birria, located at 1706 Summit Avenue in Union City.
About Chofi
Owners Patrick + Kimberly Flammia used to work in fine dining establishments in NYC but decided that they wanted a place of their own where they could make the food they wanted. They decided to name the restaurant Chofi after their oldest daughter, Sophia (Chofi is her nickname). The restaurant is a more intimate space with bright colors + an open view into the kitchen. Transparency + integrity are important pillars of Chofi, and that’s also apparent in the menu and its ingredients.
Read More: A Guide to Authentic Mexican Restaurants in Hoboken + Jersey City
The Menu
Chofi is a Mexican restaurant that showcases flavors specific to Puebla, Mexico. Kimberly Flammia is from Puebla and created the menu to honor her grandmother’s recipes. Every item on the menu is based on a dish that she made with her grandmother in Mexico. For example, the vegetarian taco (which is Kimberly’s favorite dish on their menu) has all the flavors and ingredients from a soup that her grandmother taught her to make.
While Chofi’s menu consists of tacos, quesadillas, nachos, + other Mexican classics, it also has lesser known birria tacos and consome. For the birria tacos, Chofi takes the tortillas, dips it in the beef broth, + sears it to lock in the flavor of the broth without creating a soggy taco. Then the cooks fill the tortilla with the seasoned beef, cheese, + other goodies. The consome is a small serving of the broth of your taco’s protein. There are different kinds of consome depending on what kind of tacos you order. For example, if you get the beef tacos that have been slow-roasted for 7 hours, then the consome that goes alongside those tacos will be that rich beef broth.
All of the drinks served at Chofi are made in-house and have all-natural, easy-to-understand ingredients so you know exactly what you’re drinking. Also, if you love horchata but are sensitive to dairy, Chofi’s horchata is dairy-free + made with rice water. It still has all the flavor of horchata, but the rice water makes the drink lighter + more refreshing than the dairy option.
See More: Puebla de Noche: Authentic Mexican Cuisine in Montclair
The Ingredients + Their Partners
La Milpa is the company that Chofi uses to get all of its corn. The tortillas + chips at Chofi are made with 100% Mexican corn to keep the flavors as true to Kimberly’s grandmother’s recipes as possible. Also, because corn is gluten-free, those with gluten sensitivity don’t have to worry about the tortillas here. Many other options are gluten-free as well, though be warned that the carne nortena and mole pablano have a gluten-containing ingredient (though there’s no cross-contamination).
All of the chile peppers + sodas are bought from a Brooklyn-based company called Barrio which sources all of its goods from Mexico. If you have cultural ties to Mexico or you took a trip + fell in love with a drink there that you haven’t seen since, you might be able to find it at Chofi.
All of Chofi’s meat is sourced from Niman Ranch, a collective of small, independently-owned family farmers. The farms that are sourced through Niman Ranch are all 100% hormone-free + certified humane.
To keep up with Chofi’s latest happenings, you can follow them on Instagram. Stay in the know with @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok.
