Carnitas + Family: Taco Guy Dishes About His Father’s Spot Super Taqueria Las Salsas in Bridgeport

Would not share.

If last year’s article on Taco Guy was the first “movie,” Super Taqueria Las Salsas is the sequel that’s actually a prequel.

I’ll explain.

Taco Guy’s owner, Adrian Hurtado—who for this I’m going to use his middle name, Christtian, because that’s what he goes by if you know him—introduced a group of us to his father, Gil Salvador Perez Hurtado, back in March of 2023 at his dad’s restaurant, Super Taqueria Las Salsas.

Hurtado has been making carnitas the old school way for decades

Loin, shank, ribs, stomach. All of it goes in a simmering vat of pork fat at different times so they can all finish at the same time. The ribs, by the way, are outrageous if you haven’t had them. Crispy, fatty, salty, juicy.

Christtian, you see, wanted us to know where he came from, where he learned his hard-working ethic from, and to introduce us to carnitas, something that has been in the Hurtado Family since 1931 in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where their family is from, and is also the birthplace of carnitas.

“My grandfather, Salvador, started it, but in the restaurant industry, I’m second generation,” Christtian says.

And if you read the piece I wrote about Christtian’s Taco Guy a year ago, you’ll know that he was (and still is in many regards) a bartender, mainly because that working for Gil, wasn’t easy.

“He was hard to work with, and he was hard on us because he wanted things to be done his way,” Christtian shares. “We were not able to work together. But all the hard-working habits he instilled in me, have paid off. It’s a lot of history for him. A lot of waking up early, even back in Mexico. He doesn’t cut corners and he always told me that. He always worked hard.”

So, I’ve been more than once. Don’t sleep on the nachos.

When Gil came to the United States, Christtian said he didn’t have time to attend school or fully learn the language, that his main priority was working to support his wife, Araceli, and three children.

“The first week we came here, he already knew a lot of people, so he was selling carnitas out of our apartment,” Christtian says.

Gil’s carnitas business would grow to more than just slinging pork fried in pork fat out of his apartment.

Those in and around Norwalk will remember Gil’s taco truck, usually parallel parked on one side of the Norwalk Town Green, Taqueria Las Salsas, which was around and popular for years.

Each cut is different. Ribs, as explained above, are fattier, saltier, juicier, than say, the loin, which is whiter meat and dryer. I like to mix it up when assembling my own taco, but I like mine fattier, using pieces of the soft stomach fat along with ribs and some shank meat.

From the successes of the truck, Gil was able to open an offshoot, Super Taqueria Las Salsas on State Street in Bridgeport where he’s been cooking up carnitas, sopes, tortas, an incredible order of carnitas nachos, and a lot more.

But the focus is obviously on Gil’s carnitas, and you’ll notice as much if you catch any of their online review.

His carnitas are made the old-fashioned way; different cuts of the pig simmered in pork fat, confit style, made fresh every day.

Agua frescas: tamarindo, horchata, hibiscus

“It’s the loin, shank, ribs, and the tripe (Buche),” Christtian says. “He still doesn’t like anyone to know how he makes it, at least not the full process. I know how. But if my dad doesn’t wanna teach anyone else, I will teach them. My dad doesn’t like anyone else doing it here, not even my mom, except for him. He likes perfection. For him it’s a secret, and I always tell him, ‘There’s no secret!’ But that’s his business, not mine. It’s just his way.”

What we do know, according to Christtian, is that a few of the carnitas mysteries are time and the fire. The fire because if the burners are too high, the fat will boil too much, causing it to be crispy and dry, when it should be soft and juicy.

“You also have to put the different cuts in the pot at different times so it can all be ready at the same time,” Christtian says. “My father writes the times down because he says that he’s ‘not that young anymore where I can remember it.’”

At Super Taqueria Las Salsas, Gil’s famous carnitas (but they also have chicken and beef) can be enjoyed in several ways; as an already assembled taco, by the pound with all the proper accompaniments, stuffed into a gordita, shredded atop your nachos, on a tostada, and more.

Super Taqueria Las Salsas does have a few tables if you prefer to dine-in, and you are more than welcome to bring your own booze, but definitely remember to bring cash or you’ll be using an ATM so you can get cash to settle your carnitas tab.

As for Christtian, he’ll tell you flat out that even though he has carnitas on his menu at Taco Guy to pay respect to his family, that his father’s is superior, but that it’s his job, especially now that they’re essentially in the same industry, to make sure Gil is seen.

“I feel proud to show this side of me and my family,” he says. “I told my dad, ‘I’ll tell your story. I want you to show off a little bit. Do what you do in the kitchen.’ People that come to my restaurant should come to his, too.”

1154 State Street, Bridgeport
Super Taqueria Las Salsas on Facebook
203.534.8917