Neighborhood panaderia offering pan dulce and tacos on house-made flour tortillas. We sample breakfast and lunch tacos and some cookies.

4120 McKinney St, Houston, TX 77023

(713) 224-1575

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6:30am–6pm Mon, Wed–Fri; 6:30am–5pm Sat–Sun; Closed Tuesdays

Visited on September 24, 2018

La Reynera’s weathered yellow storefront with its faded, hand-painted lettering is your first clue that this Eastwood panaderia has paid its dues and put in many years serving baked goods in addition to tacos, tortas, burritos, and gorditas. This small bakery and taqueria serves most of its food to go, but also provides a tiny counter with stools for a lucky few. On our first visit to La Reynera, we grabbed supplies for a picnic in MacGregor Park, but on the car ride over, we greedily raided our bag of goodies before getting any photos, so we were obliged to go back for a second try since we reveled in what we had the first time.

Tacos: Arriving around brunch time on a Tuesday, we decided on a mix of breakfast and lunch tacos: two papas con chorizo (potato and Mexican sausage, $1.50), one lengua (tongue, $2.75), and one deshebrada (shredded beef, $2.50). We decided against corn since La Reynera makes their flour tortillas in house; they are fluffy, but chewy enough to withstand ample, stewed fillings, pre-made and served from a steam table. These tacos are very much on the wet side, so beware that they do not travel well, a lesson we learned when we pulled out a white sack stained in red oil at the park.

An unctuous marriage of meat and starch, the papas con chorizo, full of potato flavor and warming spice, ranks as a must-get taco. When you try these breakfast bundles dripping scarlet oil, your brain might cluck, “this chorizo is too greasy” or “these potatoes are overcooked and mushy,” but your brain has it all wrong, and maybe you should listen to other parts of your body for a change. You need these tacos, pronto. The lengua, stewed with tomatoes, onions, and green pepper until extremely soft and tender, is also delicious. Again, a critical voice might take issue with the peel left intact on the tongue, but just close your eyes and chew. Unsurprisingly, the texture of the beefy deshabarada is tougher than the lengua, which might make you wish it had received a few more knife chops, so that taking a bite would not entail getting all the filling at once. Yet another trifle. Rest assured: these are major-league comfort tacos. Although salsas seem redundant with fillings this flavorful, the tacos come with small tubs of a thin, tomato-based salsa roja, and a spicier verde. We will be requesting the green sauce on all future visits.

Pan dulce: On our original trip to La Reynera we purchased a wonderfully fresh ojo de buy, but these were not in the bakery case on our more recent visit. Instead we purchased a small cuernito and a yellow polvorón (shortbread cookie) dusted with pink granulated sugar. As on our first trip, the baked goods had a notably fresh taste. The cuernito dough was enriched with ground pecans, and the shortbread cookie was rich, sweet, and crumbly. We forgot to take note of the prices, but since our entire order of four tacos and two cookies came to a bit over $10 with tax, they are a steal.

After two visits, we agreed that La Reynera, based on the freshness and quality of the pan dulce, was one of the best Texas panaderias we had personally visited. With the excellent taqueria and its homey delights thrown into the mix, this place becomes a destination as far as we are concerned. Menudo and barbacoa are available on the weekends, so we may be making a special trip back soon to try these, or maybe a torta.