Avanza’s Parking Lot

The parking lot at Avanza is a wonderland of yummy surprises. On a mission to locate food carts along Federal Blvd., our guide Cherie C., flipped a you-​turn to score whatever was lurking within the popular cart marked as Burros Elotes. Hoping the gnaw on a delicious cob of roasted corny goodness, I was slightly disappointed to discover that they were out of the roasted corn. Boohoo! Instead, I settled for a bizarre combination corn cup. In a sequence of «Holy Shit — You’re really putting that into a cup of corn,» I stood by as the Elotador (I made that word up) first dashed a generous serving of parmesan and glopped a load of mayo into the Styrofoam cup. Next came a heaping scoop of yellow corn, followed by a dusting of chili powder, a squeeze of lime juice and a dollop of butter for good measure. What did I think of this peculiar dish? Pure genius!
As we strolled over towards the buildings, I spied an elderly woman slinging tamales out of a cooler. Without a lunch plan for the week, I knew exactly what I needed to do. So I dusted off my Spanish and inquired about her tamales. Today she had red chile pork tamales — and offered a sample. Sold! Oh wait, «Cuanto cuestan?» 6 for $ 5. Okay, okay — sold. The tamales were soft, supple, and filled with porky goodness. I challenge anyone to feed themselves like this in a Whole Foods parking lot.