We are not going to tell you our margaritas are the best on Whyte Avenue. We are going to tell you we squeeze every lime by hand, we use 100 percent agave tequila in the house pour, and the only thing from a bottle is the tequila. The classic is lime, agave and Tromba blanco, shaken hard and served on…
We did not design the room for Instagram, but we are not going to pretend it hurts. Here are the five spots our guests photograph most. One: the neon TACO REPUBLIC sign over the bar on Whyte. Two: the birria consommé pour at the table. Three: the pink and green tile behind the downtown counter. Four: the patio in July,…
Every week someone at the bar asks which taco is the best one on the board. Chef Mateo refuses to answer, so we polled the staff. Birria won on comfort: six hours of braising, a crispy cheese edge and a cup of consommé do a lot of work on a January night. Al pastor won on craft: marinated pork shaved…
Taco Tuesday at the Republic is the only standing appointment I keep. Two-dollar street tacos, a cold Pacifico and the whole Avenue in one room.
A Whyte Avenue regular since 2021
Taco Tuesday runs all day at both locations: two-dollar street tacos on corn tortillas, any protein, no limit. Trivia starts at 7 pm on Whyte and the downtown spot runs a build-your-own nacho special until close.
From October 31 to November 2 the kitchen steps away from the regular menu for a short Day of the Dead run. Here is what Chef Mateo is planning. Pan de muerto baked in house each morning. Mole negro over braised chicken, a two-day recipe we only make once a year. Tamales de rajas wrapped and steamed in corn husks.…
Street food is meant to be eaten standing up, outside, in a crowd. Edmonton makes that difficult for about five months of the year, so we had to improvise. The answer was heat, light and noise. Both rooms run warm, the music runs loud, and the open kitchen puts the griddle where you can see it. In winter the consommé…
Dessert is where our pastry cook, who would prefer not to be named, gets to show off. The churros are piped and fried to order, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with cajeta, the goat milk caramel we cook down in house. The tres leches cake soaks overnight in three milks and comes out with a torched meringue. For something…
This started as a staff meal and ended up on the fall specials board. Here is the version you can make at home. Halve a pound of Brussels sprouts and roast them hot with a little oil until the edges blacken. Cook four slices of thick-cut bacon until crisp and chop. For the salsa, char four Roma tomatoes, half an…
Authentic is a loaded word, and we use it carefully. A taco in Mexico City is a corn tortilla, a cooked filling, onion, cilantro, salsa and lime. That is the whole list. What is usually not there: shredded cheddar, iceberg lettuce, sour cream and hard shells. None of those are wrong, they are just a different dish, and we make…
Our guacamole has four ingredients: avocado, lime, salt and white onion. Everything else is optional, and here are three variations the kitchen stands behind. Classic: mash two ripe avocados with the juice of a lime, a quarter cup of minced white onion and a good pinch of salt. Leave it chunky. Smoky: add a charred jalapeño and a spoonful of…