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# Bite Of The Day: San José Teruel On Church Avenue
- URL: https://bklyner.com/bite-of-the-day-san-jose-teruel-on-church-avenue-ditmas-park/
- Published: 2014-08-27T17:26:50.000Z
- Updated: 2014-09-29T23:21:47.000Z
- Author: Anna Gustafson
- Tags: Mexican, San Jose Teruel, #API-Imported

![san_jose_teruel](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel1.jpg)

At first glance, San José Teruel (1804 Church Avenue) looks like any other bodega – a tiny store tucked between a deli and a pizza place, its windows crammed with signs for soda, a Mexican flag, and photos of a dozen or so sandwiches brimming with meat and cheese.

It was a place we’d passed by a million times before, often en route to [Fisherman’s Cove](/blog/business/fishermans-cove-on-church-expands-with-seating-a-breakfast-menu), and we ended up going in there recently because the line at the [Tacos El Dorado](/blog/food/what-are-you-having-for-cinco-de-mayo) food truck was a million people long.

And this hole-in-the-wall? It turned out to be some of the best Mexican food we’ve had in the area.

![san_jose_teruel_4](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_41.jpg)

Greeted with narrow aisles exploding with spices and candy upon entering the shop, you travel beneath a sea of brightly colored pinatas to the back of the store, and stand before a giant sign advertising the kitchen’s offerings: tostados, quesadillas, tortas, flautas, burritos, tacos, and more.

After wavering between our options, we settled on a chorizo torta.

“With everything?” the man behind the counter asked.

“Yes, with everything,” I said as he nodded approvingly.

![san_jose_teruel_torta](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_torta1.jpg)

That was the right call, as the torta (which was massive and fed two people for dinner) was delicious – a gloriously sticky mess filled with lettuce, tomatoes, chipotle sauce, pickles, and, of course, chorizo. We also got a large horchata – which, again, was more than enough for two people – and the cold rice drink was perfectly sweet.

![san_jose_teruel_2](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_21.jpg)

As we waited for our food, we sat in a small dining area situated next to the kitchen – a place with a ceiling that exploded with hanging gourds and more pinatas, their red and yellow tassels swaying over the patrons – a mother with two small and sniffly children, a woman reading by herself, a man in a large cowboy hat.

![san_jose_teruel_eating_room](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_eating_room1.jpg)

It is a place filled with paintings – of religious icons, of landscapes, of warriors donning feather headdresses and carrying women, and, in the very back, a large Virgin Mary statue stands, surrounded by dried corn and flowers.

![san_jose_teruel_6](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_6.jpg)

It is, like so many of the places along Church, a tiny world in and of itself – a place neither from here nor there, a hole-in-the-wall filled with remnants of a home left behind.

![san_jose_teruel_gourds](/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/san_jose_teruel_gourds.jpg)

After getting our food, we went to pay at the front counter, where a teenager rings us up.

“First time here?” he asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?” I ask.

“Because you were looking all around. When you’re here long enough, you don’t notice it all.”

And, with that, we gave him the $10 it cost for the torta and horchata and made our way through the rush hour crowds.