Gorditas el Capulin, Mexican restaurant in Tenango del Valle, Mexico.
Gorditas el Capulin is a Mexican restaurant in Tenango del Valle that prepares traditional gorditas using coarsely ground corn masa, which creates a distinct texture when cooked on the griddle. The recipe uses a special corn preparation called pallanada that differs from regular tortilla dough and comes filled with various beans and meat options.
The restaurant opened in 1970 when Juanita Mendieta and Efrain Valdez introduced their family recipes for gorditas to the region. These beginnings laid the foundation for a restaurant that has maintained its cooking methods for more than 50 years.
The cooks prepare red salsa using a traditional stone molcajete, following Mexican culinary techniques handed down through generations. This method is woven into the daily kitchen work and shapes the taste of every dish served here.
The restaurant adds extra cooking stations on weekends to handle increased traffic from visitors coming from Mexico City and Toluca. Weekday visits offer a more relaxed pace where cooks have more time to focus on preparation.
The pallanada corn variety used here is a local strain that differs from commercial corn meal and gives the dough a finer grain. Many visitors don't realize that this subtle ingredient makes the difference in taste and texture compared to gorditas found elsewhere.
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