At Salud Taqueria, the Mendez family brings the flavors of street fare in southern Mexico to Birmingham’s downtown restaurant district.

Salud is not the type of Mexican restaurant familiar to many. It doesn’t serve the enchiladas, chimichangas, chicken with mole, or combination platters, explains Jesus Mendez Jr., a longtime Birmingham restaurateur whose other partnerships include Adios cocktail bar, and the Pizitz Food Hall establishments Unos Tacos and Louis Bar.

Instead, Salud is inspired by the food found on city corners across Mexico, where vendors serve hand-held street snacks like tacos, torta sandwiches, and burritos. Salud features the kinds of regional food Jesus Mendez Sr. grew up cooking, and his wife, Cristina Tellez, once served at taquerias in Mexico.

“We’re combining the grilling of my dad from Tabasco with the sauces and marinades of Puebla, which is where Cristina is from,” the younger Mendez says. “We’re trying to respect and keep the integrity of true Mexican cooking.”

Tacos star at Salud. Scratch-made corn tortillas are filled with braised beef suadero, pork pastor, chile-marinated grilled beef or chicken, sausage, or vegetarian cactus paddle. Tacos are served undressed. Personalize your order at the condiment stand with multiple salsas and toppings like cilantro and both raw and pickled onion.

Burritos and tortas are $14. The menu also features quesadillas ($13), flour-tortilla Sonoran tacos ($8), and Puebla bowls ($15).

Salud’s suadero is beef brisket simmered up to four hours in seasoned stock. Some of the leftover suadero broth spikes the sweet-spicy marinade used for pastor, melding those flavors.

Pork shoulder for pastor is sliced into ultra-thin layers, marinated, and stacked on a vertical spit with a roaster called a trompo. The roaster cooks the meat as it rotates; charred edges are sliced to order.

Carne asada starts with beef chuck roll specially cut for Salud, which is marinated overnight in the Mendez family’s special sauce with citrus, aromatic vegetables, and dried chiles.

“When it hits the grill, you get all these explosive flavors,” the younger Mendez says.

During cooler weather, expect Yucatan-style grilled barbacoa and pibil. “That belongs to the Yucatecos, which is north of Tabasco where we’re from,” he says. “My dad makes a mean barbacoa. His pibil is pork oven-roasted three to four hours with oranges, grapefruit, achiote, and some other vegetables.”

Mendez was inspired to open Salud by the success of Adios, the Mexican tequila and mezcal bar that he opened with partner Jose Medina Camacho in late 2022. Camacho also is a partner at Salud.

“We were wondering if Birmingham was willing to embrace Mexican ingredients—tamarindo or certain fruits like guayaba,” the restaurateur says. “Man, Birmingham has really loved it.”

The taqueria also is a tribute to Mendez’s father and stepmother, and their ongoing support for his entrepreneurial efforts.

“My parents believe in me so much and they want to see me win so badly,” he says. “They want me to continue my legacy in Birmingham through their cooking.”

Mendez Senior and Tellez are Salud’s culinary mentors, overseeing the kitchen operations, preparation, and quality control. They bring integrity to the food, the younger Mendez says.

The restaurant also builds on the business and leadership skills he learned working at Birmingham-based Taco Mama and for Frank and Pardis Stitt at Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega, and Chez Fonfon.

“I’m going to give the best quality food that I can because I carry that history of working for great restaurants and great people,” Mendez says.

The Mendez family is proud to share the food they grew up eating with the community where they sank deep roots some three decades ago.

“I’m glad, as a Mexican, I get to bring something special to the city and do it the right way,” Jesus Mendez Jr. says. “I genuinely love what I do. I hope to do so for many more years to come.”

 

1931 Second Avenue North. Open Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-12 a.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.