Gambill's Taco Casa brings the heat, flavor | Review (2024)

Last Thursday was an opportune, and an unfortunate, time to pay a visit to Gambill’s Taco Casa.

Opportune, because of the two specials available that day — tacos filled with smoked honey bourbon brisket, or with smoked pork belly, and served in what the restaurant calls “Classico” style, topped with raw chopped onions, cilantro and wedges of grilled pineapple.

The chunks of brisket had spent a bit of time on a flat-top grill, giving each piece a charred surface or two. By itself, the beef was rather dry, but wrapped up in the blue corn tortilla that is a trademark of Gambill’s tacos with the still-juicy pieces of pineapple, the dryness of the beef wasn’t noticeable.

The pork belly, conversely, needed no augmentation — it had been transformed into what could only be described as “meat candy,” unctuous and flavorful on its own or as part of a healthy bite of a taco.

The unfortunate aspect of this is that Thursday was the last day these special ingredients would be available.

Owner Hunter Stone Gambill, who was working behind the counter Thursday, said the next special would be beef barbacoa, his take on the slow-cooked, highly seasoned Mexican version of pit barbecue.

Gambill’s Taco Casa is a new incarnation of Taqueria Escondido, the taco joint that Gambill originally opened in a space next to his Oklahoma Distillery Co. at 1724 E. Seventh St. It opened in 2020, and while successful, ultimately was shut down as Gambill and his team focused their energies on two other concepts, Gambill’s Pastaria and Gambill’s Jewish Deli.

When the house at 1927 S. Harvard Ave., which has been everything from a hair salon to a tea house to chef Nicole LaFortune’s restaurant Table 20, became available, Gambill saw it as the perfect spot to relaunch his taco concept — in part because the building is next door to Gambill’s Pastaria, and he and his family live in the nearby neighborhood.

“The idea was — like the pastaria — for this to be a neighborhood restaurant,” Gambill said. “We want it to have a casual atmosphere, where people feel comfortable, but at the same time, we’re serious about the food and drinks we serve.

“It’s why we do things like make our own blue-corn tortillas,” he said. “Lots of places made their own flour tortillas, and they can be quite good. But corn tortillas are a bit more labor-intensive — and the taste and the texture, to me, is worth that extra effort.”

The regular menu offers three types of base fillings — pork and chicken, both of which are marinated and cooked on a vertical roaster called a trompo, from which servings are carved to order, along with grilled jackfruit for those wanting a vegetarian or vegan option. And these can be served in four different styles.

As previously noted, the Classico features traditional toppings of onion and cilantro and are $12. The Mexi comes with a relish of pickled cabbage and peppers with cilantro and Mexican crema. Candied jalapeños and caramelized onions top the Tex taco, while house-made kimchi and a sriracha aioli adorn the Kimchi taco. Each of these are $14.

All tacos come two to an order and are accompanied by tortilla chips and three roasted vegetable sauces — a mild rojo, or red sauce; a tangy tomatillo-based verde sauce; and a fiery orange salsa made from an emulsion of arbol and guajillo chilis.

“Big and bold flavors are what we try to offer in everything we do,” Gambill said, and the tacos certainly deliver. The pork and the chicken are loaded with assertive flavor and spice, and the toppings for the Tex and Kimchi tacos pack a fiery punch.

Tacos come well-filled with ingredients, and the blue corn tortillas do an excellent job of containing everything. They are sturdy without being tough, with a mild yet distinctive flavor that allows the rest of the ingredients to come through.

We also tried the roasted poblano queso ($10), which came with a generous mound of crisp, lightly salted yellow corn tortilla chips. The queso itself had a nice, smoky flavor and a mild heat, both courtesy of the roasted poblanos.

We also tried the Queso Kimchi Pastor hot dog ($10). A frank is split lengthwise and grilled, placed on a bun and topped with your choice of chicken or pork, the house-made kimchi, and lashings of the queso and some of the orange salsa.

It would take a more confident diner than myself to try to pick this tubed meat creation up and take a bite, so we availed ourselves of the plastic cutlery to hew it into manageable bites. Some engineering was needed to gather as many of the elements as possible onto a single plastic fork, but it was worth the effort. Varieties of spice again were the dominant features here, from the kimchi, the salsa, the crumbles of roasted pork — even the frank itself seemed more peppery than conventional hot dogs.

Gambill’s Taco Casa offers canned sodas ($2) and iced tea ($3), along with six Mexican-inspired, house-brewed beers ($5-$7), and a wine-based drink designed to mimic the flavor of a margarita ($9).

Because, as Gambill said, “There really isn’t a good late-night spot in this part of midtown,” the restaurant offers what it calls Sunset Specials from 8 p.m. to close, with special prices on individual tacos, beers and other items.

The Harvard location is called Gambill’s Taco Casa because the building started out as a private home. Gambill said the original location at Seventh Street and Utica Avenue is in the final stages of renovation and will open as Gambill’s Taco Bar, which also will include an indoor playground and arcade for the younger set. A third location in Norman is also in the works.

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