photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A carnitas and an el pastor taco are shown at 9th Street Mexican Tacos.

My Spanish is spotty, but I think Cinco de Mayo means “five more tacos.” Actually, my certainty of that translation is somewhere south of cinco percent. (I think . . . although math is kind of spotty too.) But what I do know is that before, on and after May 5, I ate a lot of tacos.

I don’t think I was alone, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that a new taco shop has opened in Lawrence.

This one is a true local operation. The longtime owners of Burrito King have opened 9th Street Mexican Tacos, just a few blocks east of their Burrito King location. The location briefly served as the 9th Street Cafe, serving a variety of American food. Before that, it was a tamale shop, also operated by the Burrito King family.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

9th Street Mexican Tacos is pictured in May 2025.

Now, co-owner Angelina Cruz is resolute about her menu choice: “I just want to be the best at tacos.”

Actually, it is going to be a joint effort. Yes, the taco shop is going to do the heavy lifting. It will make the soft, corn tortillas from scratch.

“There are no crispy shells here,” Cruz said.

The shop also will prepare the variety of meat options that are available. That includes el pastor pork that is roasted on an open spit, carne asada beef that is grilled on an open flame, a mixed meat barbacoa slow roasted in an oven, grilled chicken, braised and shredded pork served carnitas-style, and something called discada, which is a mix of chorizo, sausage, ham, pineapple — and get this — a hot dog. While that sounds like an American touch, a hot dog is actually a somewhat common ingredient in a true discada recipe, it appears.

“We are straight, authentic Mexican tacos,” Cruz said. “We don’t want to do any messing around here.”

Speaking of messing around, once we get to the meat stage, you had better be ready to do some work.

“We put the meat on a tortilla, and let you top it off,” Cruz said.

The shop features a self-serve topping bar that lets you decide exactly what mix and what amount of toppings to put on your tacos. The bar includes six different types of sauces or salsas, including several tomato-based, a corn-based, an orange-based, and an avocado-based, among others. Also on the topping bar are chopped onions, radishes, fresh cilantro, and importantly, lime wedges. In many parts of Mexico, eating a taco without a lime wedge is like having a hamburger without mustard.

Another big part of a true Mexico experience often is fresh fruit, and the shop hopes to hit that note with house-made fruit juices. Currently, there’s pineapple, a strawberry lemonada, the hibiscus-based drink jamaica, and pepino, which is a blend of cucumber and fresh lime juice.

“I want to take people to Mexico without them having to get their passport stamped,” Cruz said of her philosophy of building the menu at the shop.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Juice selections are shown at 9th Street Mexican Tacos.

But the menu does include one section that may tilt your sombrero. Yes, hot dogs make another appearance. The menu has a trio of hot dog dishes. There’s the Mexican Spicy Dog that is topped with carne asada, salsa and cheese. There’s the Smothered Meaty Dog that comes with your choice of meat topping and a cheese sauce. Finally, there is the 9th Street Chili Dog. It comes with a five-meat chili that the menu flat-out warns in capital letters is spicy.

Despite hot dogs not being the most common sight at a taco shop, the fare does fit with the overall philosophy that Cruz has built the shop upon. While a taco is a simple feast in Mexico, a hot dog fills a similar role here.

“I just wanted to do something simple and good,” Cruz said of her decision to open the shop. “That’s the only way to do something like this.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The interior of 9th Street Mexican Tacos is shown in May 2025.