On any given Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, you’ll see Taco Invader business owner/chef Gilbert Arangure slicing up carne asada in the parking lot of Kakaʻako-based Howzit Brewing. The biz has popped up at this location since last October and specializes in Tijuana-style tacos, according to Arangure.
“Imagine all the regions of Mexico, and people have migrated to the border, which is called Tijuana,” Arangure explains. “My dad migrated to Tijuana; it’s like a melting pot of all the different regions of Mexico combined into one.”
Arangure, who worked previously at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Vintage Cave, says this venture is something he’s always wanted to do. After a trip to Mexico last year, he decided to quit his corporate chef job and pursue this dream.
As for the business’ name, Arangure says it pays homage to where he grew up.
“It’s a nostalgia of where I grew up in East L.A., playing Space Invaders, listening to the Beastie Boys, growing up in hip hop and breakdancing,” he says. “It’s also, too, being Mexican and having that whole essence of my culture; that’s where the whole eclecticness came in. You have all these different parts that come together into one, like Voltron. It’s that whole concept of culture, ethnicity, and all these different chef jobs that I have worked and it’s put into one.”
On Mondays and Tuesdays, the business showcases tacos, mulitas and quesadillas. Customers can take advantage of a Taco Tuesday special; tacos are $3.50 each instead of $5. Tacos come on a five-inch corn tortilla (from Raiz Tortillas) and include your protein of choice, onions, cilantro, salsa and guacamole.
“When you say street tacos, this is really what they’re doing — they grill the meats on site, they do their own marinades, they slice their own meats,” Arangure says. “Everything gets done in front of the guest; it’s not pre-made. I marinate and slice my own meats; I make my own salsas and seasonings. We try to be as fresh as we can.”
Protein options include carne asada (seasoned beef), adobada (marinated pork) and pollo (seasoned chicken). A vegan chorizo ‘shroom — chorizo spices and mixture of Shimeji and button mushrooms — is also available. Taco plates include two tacos with your choice of protein (you can mix and match proteins), beans, rice, tortilla chips and a beverage.
“At taqueria places in East L.A. where I’m from, whenever you order a taco, it comes with all the fixings — cilantro, onions, guac and salsa,” Arangure says. “Most taquerias put onions and cilantro on top, but I put them on the bottom for my taco. The taquero is the chef; he really knows the proteins that are going into the taco, he depicts what’s going to go into the taco based on how he thinks it should be eaten.”
The most popular meat is a toss-up between carne asada and adobada, according to Arangure.
“The adobada is more chili-based; it’s a little bit more spicy,” Arangure says. “It’s all these different dried chiles with pineapple juice, garlic and vinegar, and the secret to mine is I add chorizo. Then I puree it, make a paste and the pork is sliced thinly. My adobada comes with all the fixings except for guac, but it has pineapple on it.
“This is carne asada,” he adds, showing me the meat that he’s currently slicing. “The whole point of this is that it has to be grilled and it has to have this smoky flavor; this is important.”
Once customers get their tacos, they can dress it up with a variety of housemade salsas from Taco Invader’s salsa bar. Yellow is habanero pineapple, red is roasted roja — similar to a chile de arbol with dried chiles and roasted tomatoes — and green is chile verde, according to Arangure.
“The green one will go with either the chicken or the beef, but it’s a lighter spice level,” he says. “The red one will go with any of them; it’s just a higher spice level.”
Similar to the tacos, quesadillas ($14) include a protein with all the fixings in a 12-inch flour tortilla. They’re folded in half on the grill and are completed with a crispy cheese skirt so “you get the gooeyness but also the crunchiness,” according to Arangure. If you want something unique, check out the mulitas, which feature two tortillas filled with meat, cheese, onions, cilantro and guacamole.
Meanwhile, on Wednesdays and select Fridays, Taco Invader offers burritos, nachos and fries to change things up. The protein choices on these days are slightly different; customers can choose from beef barbacoa, pollo (grilled, seasoned chicken) and pork carnitas, or slow-braised pork.
“I do a version of carne asada, but I braise the beef instead; it’s a little different, but it’s got the same flavor profile,” Arangure says. “It’s all my grandma’s, my mom’s and my aunt’s recipes, and people are really enjoying it.”
Whatever you order, be sure to add Arangure’s housemade horchata ($4). The creamy drink features his grandma’s recipe.
Taco Invader is doing a pop-up at fishcake in Kakaʻako on Feb. 22. The biz will feature a prix fixe menu, Arangure says.
“I want to showcase what I can do with tacos in a more progressive level,” he says. “For example, I’m going to do a tako al pastor, or octopus al pastor. It’s kind of all the stuff that I’ve done at the fine dining restaurants I worked at in the past, but with a more rustic kind of appeal.
“My whole goal of Taco Invader is eventually branch out; it can be all these different entities,” he adds. “That’s the whole trickery of the taco — you use everything you have, and you can form it in so many different ways.”
CONTACT
Taco Invader
Pop-up at Howzit Brewing Kaka‘ako
330 Kamani St., Honolulu
Instagram: @tacoinvaderhi
Open 4-9 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
