Photography by Ed Aller
After nearly a year of preparation and planning, El Milagro Azteca (4940 Southwest) is now open in the Southwest Garden space that previously housed Taco Circus and Three Flags Tavern. From Joe Smugala and Carlos Hernandez, co-owners of Pit Stop in The Hill nearby, the smoke-infused Mexican restaurant is located adjacent to sister restaurant GastroPit, which reopened in the space next door earlier this year. Here’s what to know before you go.
THE MENU
Hernandez developed the menu over a period of nine months. The result: an assortment of elevated Mexican mainstays and nontraditional takes on classics. Such options as nachos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, and street tacos each have their own menu sections that take such an approach. For example, the nachos (los totopos) category features house-made corn tortilla chips with open flame–cooked shrimp, steak, or chicken, with all the fixings, including candied jalapeños. Yet there are also more off-beat items, such as Pad Thai Chicken Nachos, which substitute house-made tortilla chips with house-made wontons.
It's a similar approach with the street taco (los tacos callejeros) category, in which birria occupies the top of the list, followed by al pastor and carne asade options. The last taco on the list is the El Gringo, an intentionally straightforward beef taco with cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes in a flour tortilla, an item with a tongue-in-cheek name that takes the mainstream fast-food crowd into consideration.
The menu also separates itself from traditional Mexican fare with its approach to protein preparations. Many of the specials and entrées make good use of the barbecue kitchen that it shares with GastroPit. Such items as the chimichanga and Burrito Azteca feature meats cooked over an open grill, or smoked, depending on the options available. “With our barbecue place next door, we like to infuse smoked meats, which not a lot of people do,” says Hernandez.
Other items’ distinctiveness are built by their presentation, such as the Pina rellena, which takes a mixture of seafood and vegetables and plates them onto half of a pineapple.
House salsas are made with charred tomatillo, including one infused with a sweet and spicy morita chile and another being a verde without dry pepper. “We make our salsa—it’s not just a couple cans thrown together,” says Smugala. “It’s made fresh daily along with our chips.” Other chip accompaniments include Azteca Guacamole and Queso Volcano Dip.
As for drinks, the cocktail menu features an extensive list of tequila-based drinks. The standard house-made margarita is served frozen or on the rocks with Hornitos Plata tequila, or you can upgrade with a top-shelf margarita with Tres Generaciones anjeo. The drink menu also features a tequila version of an Old Fashioned, replacing the whiskey with anejo and sourcing the sweetness from agave syrup.
There are seven fixed beers on draft, including one local option in a 4 Hands Passion Fruit Prussia. Bottles and cans include Anheuser-Busch products and standard Mexican beers, such as Corona, Modelo, and Dos Equis. The bar also boasts 57 types of tequila, ranging from Clase Azul Gold (for $55 a shot) to Hornitos (which removes one of those fives from the price tag).
The Location
When the idea of opening a Mexican restaurant started to materialize, Smugala and Hernandez knew they needed a space that could accommodate both GastroPit (previously located on The Hill) and El Milagro Azteca, so they could utilize a shared kitchen, which could churn out smoked meats for both menus. The opportunity arrived with the closure of Taco Circus in 2021. “This property became available, and it just happened to be the right location,” says Smugala.
Today, El Milagro Azteca's space is divided into three sections: a bar area and two large dining rooms. The interior design is largely subdued, with soft grays and copper tones. There's minimal use of Aztecan imagery with the exception of a large multicolored reproduction of the Aztec sun stone prominently displayed in the back dining room.
Outside the bar is a large enclosed patio with umbrella-covered seating. On the street-side corner is a lounge area with patio furniture and a fireplace. The patio seats around 80, while the interior can accommodate about 100.
The Background
Hernandez lived in Mexico City for roughly 15 years before moving to the United States. His culinary career began in earnest around age 18, he says, making him a 20-year veteran of the industry. In 2018, Hernandez helped open Brick Cider House as executive chef. A few months later, he became pit master at J. Smug’s GastroPit, owned by Joe Smugala. When GastroPit relocated from its original location, the space was rebranded and redesigned into Pit Stop ,with Hernandez brought on as a co-owner. It wasn’t long before the two started discussing the possibility of a new joint venture.
“Over a couple of years and drinks, Carlos and I would talk about wanting to do a Mexican restaurant. I felt that his flavors and his ideas for good Mexican food was something I never really heard a lot of before,” says Smugala. “He wanted to create the staples like we have, but he also wanted to do some things that were unique, that people in this area haven’t really seen a lot of before.
“I’ve worked with enough chefs to know that Carlos cares about his product a lot, as much as any high-level chef," Smugala adds. "He cares about his people, he cares about his flavors, and he’s fun to work with.”
