ANA-MARIA: All right.

So this is where the magic happens.

This is where we make the tortillas.

SETH: All right.

And these are flour tortillas, not corn.

ANA-MARIA: That's right.

All flour.

SETH: What flavor is a homemade tortilla going to give you over you know, store bought?

ANA-MARIA: Well, unless you want your taco to tastes like a flip flop, then that's basically this is what you got to do.

SETH: Enough said.

And so what are the steps in this process here?

ANA-MARIA: First, when the team comes in, they have to make the masa, and so I can't tell you what goes in the masa or I'd have to kill you.

So after the masa's made, then they start to portion them and roll them into balls, which are then weighed out.

And then the last step is we're taking the balls and we're putting them in our tortilla press, which par cooks the tortilla, spits it out into the plancha, and then we finish cooking them off and they're ready to be made into tacos.

SETH: All right, so this is a labor intensive process right here.

ANA-MARIA: Yes.

It's a labor of love.

And that's exactly why we do it, because it is really the most pillowy, malleable, chewy, uh, perfect vessel for a breakfast taco.

SETH: Love that.

And I'm almost afraid to ask, how many of these tortillas are you making like, every week?

ANA-MARIA: So anywhere between 5,500 and 6,000 tortillas go out a week.

SETH: That is amazing.

ANA-MARIA: Thank you.

SETH: I cannot wait to try one of these.

ANA-MARIA: All right, well let's take these tortillas and then Gus can make us some tacos.

SETH: That sounds awesome.

All right, we come bearing fresh tortillas, Gus.

GUS: All right, let's do it.

ANA-MARIA: Nice and hot, straight from the plancha.

SETH: So what's the signature taco that you're putting together today?

GUS: So we're going to do our bestseller, which is the 956 taco.

SETH: The 956.

ANA-MARIA: So the 956 is my area code in McAllen, Texas in the RGV where I grew up.

SETH: A little shout out to home.

ANA-MARIA: Little shout out.

Always.

SETH: I love that.

So Gus, how do you put this thing together?

GUS: So we're going to take our homemade tortillas, so we'll lay them down here.

And then first things first, we do a little bed of refried beans.

So we make our refried beans fresh in house every day.

SETH: Got a little lard in these things?

GUS: Definitely got a little leftover bacon grease in these for sure.

SETH: That's nice.

ANA-MARIA: TexMex staple.

GUS: And then from there we hit it with some cheesy scrambled eggs.

SETH: Nice.

ANA-MARIA: Looks, fluffy.

GUS: I feel like a place that scrambles their eggs well, that's an important thing.

From there we do fried potatoes.

Did a little dollop of fried potatoes in every one.

ANA-MARIA: You're going to skimp on Seth's potatoes.

SETH: Oh, don't skimp on the potatoes.

I need.

GUS: There we go.

SETH: That's the amount of papas I was looking for there.

ANA-MARIA: Yeah, papita.

GUS: And then bacon.

So full slice of bacon on every taco.

And then lets hit it with a little queso.

So this is our house-made queso drizzle, makes it a little bit decadent.

SETH: I know people in Texas are really particular about their queso.

ANA-MARIA: Yeah.

So our queso has the best ingredient in the world, Velveeta.

SETH: Of course.

ANA-MARIA: And then we mix it in with Monterey Jack cheese and then three different chilies, serrano, poblano, and guajillo.

SETH: So you get a little kick in your queso as well.

ANA-MARIA: Yeah, that's right.

SETH: I like that.

And Gus, did you ever imagine you'd become a taquero here in Washington DC?

GUS: Absolutely not.

But here I am.

I'm completely married to the lifestyle at this point.

SETH: You've really taken to it, I can see.

GUS: Would you like to try one?

There we go.

SETH: Love to try one.

ANA-MARIA: Thank you.

SETH: All the work that's gone into this, all the care, all the love.

ANA-MARIA: Really heavy.

GUS: Yeah, no.

If it doesn't feel like something in your hand, then it's not right.

SETH: Yeah, no, we're talking a substantial taco right here.

All right, here we go.

ANA-MARIA: Mmm.

Never gets old.

SETH: That is just first rate.

My goodness.

The tortillas, they had that little bit of chew.

They're so soft and pliable.

And all those ingredients, I mean how can you go wrong?

A little crunch from the papitas.

I like that a lot.

GUS: We definitely go for like the contrast and the textures.

SETH: And I'm seeing some more beautiful salsas right here.

ANA-MARIA: Yeah, so these are our house salsas, just like the tortillas.

It wouldn't be a legit taqueria if you didn't make all your salsas from scratch.

For every order, you're going to automatically get a cilantro crema, then a charred tomato, which is a classic roja.

And then we have our a la carte salsas.

So this is a creamy avocado tomatillo, which is on the medium side.

And then we have our habanero salsa, which is on the spicier side.

SETH: Let's give it a little spicier kick today.

Why not?

Which one's your favorite?

ANA-MARIA: So my favorite is definitely the habanero.

But I would say the cilantro crema is a very close second.

SETH: I'm sure you're not going to go wrong with any of these salsas.

Well, now I understand what all the hype is about.