Papi's Birria Tacos, a food truck located in Haberfield, Sydney, is gaining popularity for its exceptional birria tacos. Twenty-four-year-old Lawrence Diaz opened the truck in August, specializing in slow-cooked, spice-infused beef tacos served with a rich consomé for dipping.
The birria, a common form of slow-cooked spiced beef, is prepared with around 30 ingredients including various chilies, spices, and a blend of meats cooked for 16 hours. The consomé, made from the cooking juices and marinade, is a key component of the dish. The tacos themselves are generously filled with the tender meat, cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, and Monterey Jack), and garnished with onion and coriander.
Besides the birria tacos, Papi's offers other Mexican dishes such as a birria cheese melt, chicken quesadillas, and a substantial burrito. There are also weekend specials, such as the carne asada taco. The menu is complemented by a selection of Jarritos Mexican sodas.
The food truck creates a lively car-park atmosphere. Diaz is considering expanding with licensed, brick-and-mortar locations in the future.
Twenty-four-year-old Lawrence Diaz opened Papi’s in August. It specialises in birria, which can mean many things in Mexico, including a type of goat stew, but its most common form globally is slow-cooked, spice-throbbing beef folded into tacos. A cup of consomé made from the meat’s cooking juices and marinade is served on the side for sipping and taco-dunking.
Like “girl dinner” and beer-tanning (don’t bother Googling it), birria became wildly popular on TikTok a few years ago. Your guess is as good as mine as to why, but the theatrical, messy process of eating the tacos probably has something to do with it. Diaz is a bit late to the viral party, but his dedication to the craft means Papi’s is cuts above Sydney’s birria imposters who capitalised on the trend with cheat-code recipes during COVID times.
Birria consomé (one “m”) has as much in common with France’s clear, clarified consommé as Master of Puppets does with Tubular Bells. Diaz uses about 30 ingredients for Papi’s consomé, including dried ancho and guajillo chillies, white pepper, caraway, tomato and onion. A blend of ossobuco, rib and chuck is cooked in the shimmering broth for 16 hours; plus-sized tortillas kiss the copper-red liquid before hitting the grill, where they blister and crisp and become ladles for the tender meat. There is mozzarella, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese; there is diced onion and coriander.
Each taco is almost a meal unto itself, and you’ll want a liberal squeeze of lime to puncture the richness. The primal consomé, with its secret shreds of flesh, can also be jerry-rigged with instant ramen (very much a dish made to be eaten at the source). Sitting at one of the folding tables at sunset, you might feel like you’re at a car park in downtown Los Angeles, or Austin, Texas. An Esky is on hand for help-yourself Mexican soft drinks.
Other highlights include a hunky birria cheese-melt on brioche, chicken quesadillas of requisite crunch, and a soft, resilient burrito that’s one of the thickest I’ve ever seen that’s not in Guy Fieri’s hands. That carne asada taco featured juicy scotch fillet marinated in ancho chilli, salt and pepper. It was a weekend special, but Diaz expects it will return after he tries his hand at al pastor (pork) and tacos de tripas (calf intestines).
Papi’s is open until 11pm on Saturdays, and this late at night, on the way home from the pub, I’ve found the consomé to be at its thickest and most hypnotic. (There’s also a lot to be said for ordering the nachos to go, and eating them on the couch with a midnight screening of Drive to Survive.) In February, Diaz launched a taco truck in Carlton to service Sydney’s south, and he’s considering licensed, brick-and-mortar sites in Five Dock and Marrickville. I’m all for utilising unloved servo car parks, but margaritas and birria sounds ace, too.
Vibe: Car-park taco party on the edge of town
Go-to dish: Birria taco pack ($20); cheese melt ($14); birria ramen ($18)
Drinks: Assorted Jarritos Mexican sodas, no BYO booze
Cost: About $40 for two, excluding drinks
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