East Harlem taco tour

La Lomita Del Barrio

Crossing Third Avenue, we hit La Lomita Del Barrio (209 E. 116th St., 212-289-8138), a ramshackle Mexican grocery with shelves of fruit out front. The odd varietal of chayote squash (pictured over there on the right—squint and you'll see it) looks like alien porcupine avocados.

Inside, Mexican groceries clutter the narrow room, and two women are busy behind a four-seat counter up front—one mans the griddle while the other methodically shapes gorditas by hand.