Mi Calvillo’s street food-inspired menu offers a taste of Mexican home-cooking

For the first couple of months of the pandemic shutdown, I was able to satisfy most of my cravings without leaving the comfort zone of my home turf in and around Cary.

But I hadn’t been able to find a way to score tacos, which rate right up there with pizza and burgers on my list of frequent cravings. I knew of a couple of good taquerias not too far from home, but I hadn’t been able to determine whether they offered contact-free takeout.

Then, just as I was hitting peak craving, I got an email from a reader raving about the food and curbside service at Mi Calvillo in Durham. I published his comments in the Takeout Tales section of this column, and decided Mi Calvillo looked like a good reason to venture into Durham.

I was a little concerned about negotiating the pickup on an always-busy Ninth Street, but the helpful woman who took my order on the phone was reassuring. If I wasn’t able to park near the restaurant on Ninth Street, she said, I could park in the lot across the street, then call the restaurant with a description of my car, and she’d find me.

That turned out to be unnecessary. When I got to Ninth Street and called to tell her I was parked several storefronts away from Mi Calvillo, she said the space directly in front of the restaurant was open, and she’d hold it for me. In no time, I was parked in that space and a young woman in a face mask was placing the food in the back seat where I indicated.

It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to make it all the way home without reaching into the back seat and grabbing one of those tacos.

They were well worth the wait, their generous fillings spilling out of still-warm corn tortillas that were tender but sturdy enough to survive the half-hour drive home.

From a list of 14 options, I had ordered four tacos, each with a different filling: steak (asada), cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), lengua (beef tongue), and higado (liver with sautéed onions). The lengua was, as it often is, my favorite. But I would happily order any of the others again. Probably will, come to think of it.

I’m also looking forward to exploring the rest of the menu, which includes a selection of entrees and street food-inspired antojitos. Suegra, for one, which I ordered out of curiosity (the name translates to “mother-in-law”), turns out to be a quesadilla made with corn tortillas and stuffed with cheese, onion, red salsa and cilantro. An entree called camarones “Calvillo” (grilled shrimp with onions, peppers and mushrooms) primed my palate for further exploration of an entire section devoted to seafood.

Turns out the friendly young woman who took my order is Valeria Lopez, the daughter half of the mother-and-daughter team that runs Mi Calvillo. Her accommodating attitude and upbeat personality make Valeria a natural at running the front of the house. (She just graduated from Hillside High, a pandemic-altered experience she describes as “a drive-through graduation, pretty nice actually.”)

Meanwhile, her mother, Esmerelda Lopez, does the cooking. She worked for eight years in the kitchen of La Cocina in Morrisville before setting out on her own. But Valeria Lopez says her mother “has always loved cooking” for her family. The food she mostly cooks at home, like what she cooks in the restaurant, is the food of her family’s hometown of Calvillo in central Mexico.

And here I was, worried about a half-hour drive from Cary to Durham.

Mi Calvillo

748 Ninth St., Durham, 984-219-1642

facebook.com/Mi-Calvillo-390659095075791

Takeout Tales

I have invited readers to share their restaurant delivery and curbside pickup and experiences. That invitation still stands. Just email me at ggcox55@gmail.com, with a description of your experience. I’ll publish as many as I can (edited as needed for brevity and clarity) in this space.

Vidrio

Martha S. reports on her delivery experience from Vidrio in Raleigh.

“We ordered the fresh lettuce salad, wild mushroom bianca pizza, chocolate buttermilk cake, and coconut rice pudding (amazing rice pudding!). It was a wonderful meal. It was delivered by DoorDash and arrived later than we would have liked. Partly our fault for ordering at 6 p.m. on a Sunday evening when the DoorDash drivers were very busy.”

Crawford & Son and Bloomsbury Bistro

Arthur S. raves about two fine dining favorites in Raleigh.

“I have ordered twice from Crawford and Son and Bloomsbury Bistro. Each time was flawless with them bringing the meal to my car. I really liked Bloomsbury Bistro’s vegetable potpie (which was slightly sweet due to some butternut squash) plus their savory tandoori chicken. I really liked Crawford and Son’s chicken cassoulet which was an unusual presentation that I had not experienced before.”

Note: Crawford and Son recently reopened its dining room and discontinued curbside takeout.

Sandy G. seconds the vote for Bloomsbury Bistro, and adds a few more recommendations.

“We have had some outstanding dinners from Sono, Agora, Angus Barn and Bloomsbury Bistro. At first I was reluctant to do takeout sushi. However, the sashimi and the other sushi from Sono was fresh and outstanding. Chef Kim was behind the sushi bar making it himself!”