Joe Avella: Garibaldi Mexican Bistro is easy to miss
because it's tucked away inside a Conoco gas station,
between the convenience store and the car wash.
Customer: When I found out I thought it was one of the best,
like, hidden gems in the area,
especially for just downtown Englewood.
Don't expect it to be that good,
but it's probably the best Mexican in the area.
Joe: There's, like, a exciting almost, like,
vibrancy to all the food here.
The flavor's incredible. I mean, I think it's unique,
not a lot of places doing dishes like this.
Ones who are, I'll bet they're not doing as good as this.
Denver's known for having hundreds of great restaurants.
They're also known for having hundreds
of great gas stations.
This next place combines those two perfectly.
For almost five years,
Garibaldi has been serving its take on
Mexico City- and Oaxacan-style food.
In the short time its been open,
Garibaldi has been recognized as having
some of the best Mexican food in Denver.
Jesus Cruz: A lot of our recipes are family recipes
and traditional recipes that you get from Mexico City.
Everything that we do here is Mexico City-style.
Little more unique, more different
than most restaurants here in Colorado.
Dishes that we're definitely known for here,
and that I know you can't find anywhere else
here in Colorado, are Aztec menu items,
so like the enchiladas Aztecas.
They're organic blue-corn tortillas
with cactus and sautéed onions.
We also have, like, the nopal relleno,
which is a stuffed cactus paddle.
The dish that we're really well known for
is called the huarache,
which is gonna be like a Mexican flour bread.
It's a big handmade corn tortilla crust
that we top off with a lot of different toppings and meats.
Joe: Today I'm trying three specialties:
a huarache Azteca, which is a whole cactus paddle
grilled and topped with fresh avocado,
pico de gallo, and poblano sour cream;
and the Garibaldi tacos Azules,
which is two soft blue-corn tortilla tacos,
one chorizo and one marinated steak;
and a traditional Mexico City-style huarache,
which is a 14-inch, freshly made corn tortilla
topped with refried beans, cactus, pico de gallo,
and a bunch of other great stuff.
Also in the mix is a tasty-looking tlayuda.
Can you believe this?
How incredible does this food look?
I don't even know where to start,
so I'm gonna start with this big thing.
Jesus: We have the tlayuda,
which is a big staple in Oaxaca.
It's like a big thin corn tortilla.
We get a lot of the Oaxaca cheese.
It won't taste like any other cheese
that you can buy here in Colorado, or even in Mexico.
This cheese is a little special.
Joe: So cheese they have on here,
as mentioned before, is very exclusive.
Apparently you cannot get it anywhere else in Denver.
And I am a cheese fanatic.
We even have a show about cheese,
which I have not been asked to be on yet
for some strange reason.
It's all sitting on a blue-corn tortilla.
They make their chorizo in-house. It looks incredible.
The cheese and the tortilla is really what does it.
The chorizo's great, steak is great,
but this cheese they have on here
pairs perfectly with the crunch of this blue tortilla.
I totally see why this is, like,
a really great, shareable thing.
If you were to bring your friends here for the first time,
at least get one of these for a table,
everyone gets, like, a couple slices,
and they'll be very, very happy with that order.
I know there's a way to open bottles with other bottles.
Ow!
How do you do it with the teeth?
Producer: I've seen it done, but I wouldn't try it.
Joe: Yeah.
Aah.
According to Jesus, the gas-station location
was kind of lucky.
He and his father wanted a location on Broadway
because of the potential foot traffic,
but locations kept getting snatched up.
Jesus: We just kinda happened in here by luck,
stopped by for some gas, and what you figure,
there's a restaurant inside of here.
And the people that were in here before us
decided they didn't wanna be in here anymore,
and we came in and, you know, took it off their hands.
Joe: It smelled amazing when we first walked in here.
Also, you don't expect that from a gas station.
Like, I don't smell any fumes of gasoline.
It just feels like we're in, like, a really nice restaurant.
Customer: The food is great, service is great,
the people that own it make you feel like family.
They remember you every time you come in.
Customer: I'm from Kansas City and, like,
one of the best barbecue places in Kansas City
was Oklahoma Joe's, and it was in a gas station.
Jesus: A lot of people get really,
you know, surprised by that.
They're like, "Oh, there's a restaurant in here!"
Joe: Cactus is more common in southern Mexico.
Garibaldi offers it in dishes like enchiladas Aztecas,
huaraches Aztecas,
and its signature Garibaldi tacos Azules.
Garibaldi also features Oaxacan-style dishes.
I don't know a lot about cactus dishes, to be honest.
I've not had a lot of cactus in my life.
This would definitely be in the category of something
I wouldn't normally order.
Mm!
I would've assumed the cactus would've been kind of tough,
but this is actually really tender.
And it has this almost, like, earthy flavor to it,
that with the meat and the sour cream
just works so well together.
And, of course, forgot,
most important ingredient of all,
the lime.
Yo-woo!
That's fantastic.
I would come here every day for that.
So for those of you in Denver looking for a brunch spot,
may I recommend Garibaldi's, right?
'Cause they got those eeeeeeeeeggs!
What up, eggs?
I can't say enough good things
about the meat and the cactus.
It is just so flavorful and so delicious.
I mean, they were very generous with these tacos.
The cactus pairs so well with the steak, or the chorizo.
It really is like the MVP of all these dishes.
Everything I had here was terrific.
It's no wonder they're amassing a growing loyal fan base.
Don't let the gas-station location dissuade you.
Pop in and give them a try
next time you fill up or get a car wash.