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Have finally gotten to 7 Estrellas a couple times. I think the first time many of us heard about it was in the Fearless Critic guidebook, where it was proclaimed better than any Mexican in the city of Portland. Despite the high praise, I might not have ever gotten there if Adem Ayem hadn't been in the same plaza. I think there is clearly better taqueria food just up the road at Sanchez, probably Salvador's, and maybe even La Fuente, but there are some good dishes and one stand-out, plus some secrets that can really improve your meal.
First key is checking out the taco and torta board near the entrance to the kitchen. All your taco meat options are there, plus torta options, and even some extra Tex-Mex options. If you just looked at the menu, you might have a hard time finding these classic items. The menu is a ridiculously option-heavy eyesore with everything from chicken nuggets to burgers to tamales to shrimp to combo platters to nachos to club sandwich to bbq pork sandwich to burritos to hot dogs. They must have a giant freezer. Lots of Tex-Mex and as much standard American fare as Tex-Mex. I almost walked out just looking at the menu. On first visit, though, I kept it simple, ordering tacos, both typical and fried.
Got birria, carnitas, and cabeza. The birria is de res (beef) not de chivo (goat). I wasn't sure which was the cabeza and which was the birria. I would guess that the cabeza is the beef in the orange sauce, but neither was clearly what I expected of them. They were both decent, though, each tender, not dried out, and with enough flavor. The carnitas was weird. It was in thin crisped slices, not very succulent and not fork-tender. It tasted good, but it was just odd. I wouldn't find out why until the next visit.
So here comes the second key to getting a good meal here: ask for handmade tortillas. There was no indication that you could. The tortillas that came with the tacos above were pretty crappy commercial tortillas. However, as I was paying, I saw a large tortilla press and so I asked about handmade tortillas. I think the answer was "claro que si" (of course). Still haven't tried them, but they have to be a big step up from the ones they buy in.
Better were the tacos dorados, crispy-fried tacos. People think of these as Tex-Mex, but they're very traditional in parts of Mexico. They were the most common street food I saw in Guadalajara. But these are a Tex-Mex version, but a pretty good one. In Mexico, tacos dorados are often sealed shut with toothpics before being fried. They have little more than meat inside. This, instead, is much like what I grew up on: a tortillas fried until delicate and crunchy, filled with meat, cheese, shredded greenery, etc. I got asada in one and lengua in the other. Each were solid, though the asada was a little dry and the lengua could have been more flavorful. But the lengua was probably my favorite meat of the day. I imagine if you wanted your tacos made Guadalajara style, toothpicked closed before frying, they'd do it. They sure seemed fried to order and they seem willing to please. I bet others from Jalisco state ask for the tacos more traditional. Based on these, I'd be willing to try their flautas, fried taco rolls usually served with guacamole and sour cream for dipping.
I'm not sure how Fearless Critic came to the conclusion these are the best tacos in Portland, especially Portland Metro, except by a small sample size, though. The meats are pretty inconsistent compared with a dozen or so alternatives. And I want to know if they did anything special to get the perfect tortillas they describe. Did they ask for fresh tortillas? Did someone offer? Did they have access to a regular with the inside dope? Was I unlucky and they lucky? Inquiring cabezas want to know.
Besides tacos, the review in Fearless Critic recommends the torta ahogada (just "hogada" on the menu, but the former is correct). "Ahogada" means smothered. Camarones ahogada is shrimp smothered in a chile-lime puree. Torta ahogada is a Mexican sandwich smothered in red chile sauce. I've only seen these at places specializing in Jalisco food, especially with cooks from Guadalajara. Flynn had seconded the Fearless Critic recommendation, saying it was the best torta in the area and easily their best item. This is definitely the best I've had in a while and one of the few around Portland. For its cousin, the panbaso, a chile dipped and grilled sandwich, the standard filling is chorizo and potato. For a torta ahogada it's beef or pork. I asked for whatever the guy making it thought was best. He went with the pork.
This pork was the same as the carnitas from last time. It was still good. It almost seemed like thick slices of ham in bacon-sized hunks. Not like any carnitas I'd ever had. And that's because it wasn't carnitas. The cook, owner, and father of the girl waiting on me asked about my meal and I asked about the meat. It is ham. At least, it's a roast leg of pork, pierna, cut into slices still with the slivers of fat connected. It worked especially well on the sandwich with the heavy dose of chile sauce. The sandwich also had avocado, onion, tomato, and sour cream, I believe. A real mess.
I'd be interested to try the menudo and pozole on the weekends, plus a few other dishes, but I don't feel the need to go out of the way for this except on the rare occasion I get an irrepressible craving for that torta. Best Mexican in Portland? No. Worth a stop? Yes.
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