not that i'm too much of a gossip girl,

but i do lovvvve a good secret.

{secret passages, secret forts, secret burger joints...}

tehuitzingo

is the first secret mexican place i've been to.

it reminded me of the time my friend took me to a gross, broken down bodega in boston: he told me to walk directly towards the vending machine in the back of the store, and as i was about to chicken out for fear of smashing my nose, the vending machine slid to the side and tout à coup i was standing in the biggest, most luxurious sneaker store i ever did see...

tehuitzingo doesn't have a secret vending machine door, but it does just appear to be an itsy bitsy snackee store in the outskirts of hell's kitchen. {one that i probably wouldn't have gone to, had a tipster not told me about the secret in the back}. after squeezing past some pastries and piles of mexican candy that look like they're about to avalanche on your head, a wooden man welcomes you to a space with counters in the back. and there you are... sitting in a green-lit nook that's reminiscent of the jungle gym from your youth. a half-door at the back is where the cook takes orders...

and of course i got a torta.

{chickens}

as i waited, some music came on via the jukebox {hey, my jungle gym didn't have a juke box! no fair!}

and when i finally stopped giggling from being in the secret world, i gobbled up my torta, no mess. it was heavy on the lettuce and avocado which made me feel good cause i was getting my recommended daily amount of vegetables. i think.

the bread was a bit crispy, and held its junk in real good.

the horchata was non existent :-( but, i mean, what can you do with four square-feet of space?

mirrors on the walls made the space, and my rump look bigger {maybe it wasn't the mirrors...}