Pepe’s Taqueria

There’s nothing quite like mom’s home cooking.

What I serve to people is what I was eating at home. What my mom used to cook every day at the house for dinner. That's what we're dishing out.

And Jerry and Jose Cazares’ mom happens to have some of THE BEST Mexican recipes around. And you can find them all at Pepe’s Taqueria.

Located in Worcester, Pepe’s Taqueria is a festive spot decked out in bright colors and friendly faces. Brothers Jerry and Jose made sure every detail was perfect when designing their restaurant, including it’s name- which happens to be Jose’s nickname.

Pepe is my brother. My nickname is Jerry. So that obviously wasn't going to work for a Mexican restaurant. So we went with Pepe's taqueria for it.

Name aside, these brothers are truly serving authentic Mexican using recipes their mother, Maria raised them on.  Mole being her specialty.

When I taste the Mole brings me back to when I was a kid. That’s an amazing sauce. My mother makes it. It's one of those things that she can only do. It has over 30 ingredients and there's no way to replicate it. Mole believe me I could do most of stuff she does. She cook but Mole, I won't even try to do it. Doesn't come out the same.

This savory-sweet sauce can be found on dishes like Mole Enchiladas stuffed with chicken and smothered in sauce. Or the Chicken Mole.

Chicken Mole is topped with the Mole sauce. It's very simple, but just the flavor that it has is amazing and it's like my mother would be giving it to you at our house.

But before you get to all of that mole, you’g]re going to want to get yourself a drink, whether it be one of their traditional margaritas or this not so traditional spin on a michelada called the Michelator.

It's awesome. It's huge and I love it. So it's a very traditional Mexican alcoholic drink. It's like a Bloody Mary, but it has beer and instead of the vodka, it has Clamato juice, hot sauce, lime, salt, pepper. We serve that in a big mug. Then it has another beer on top and it has shrimp, lime, and all kinds of garnishes around. It all comes together really nice.

From there, some appetizers are a must.

Like oversized plates of nachos. Topped with refried beans, queso, pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream. Or opt for this even more spin which includes all of that same good stuff over French fries. And if you really want to get totally loco at the start of your meal, go for the Choriqueso.

The choriqueso, we serve it on a hot sizzling skillet. It has a freshly made chorizo that we make in house every day. It's topped with queso, melted cheese and it's sizzling. Once it goes through the dining room, you can smell it. It's all gooey. It's, it's amazing.

Of course, Pepe’s offers all of your Mexican standards like overstuffed tortas. Grilled carne asada served with rice and beans. And a tremendous selection of tacos like this one with slow cooked carnitas. Or the tasty beef barbacoa.

Barbacoa is our biggest seller. We marinated a day before and then we cook it for eight hours. And it's full of spices, very tender. People bite it and they're like surprised of the flavor. I eat them all the time.

But nothing quite tops Pepe’s burritos- and they’re so stuffed, it takes some skill to wrap them properly.

Everybody has their different ways. I have my way.  My brother has his way. My mom has her way but it has to be tight. There's no chance of error right there. You have to get it tight.

There’s the “wet burrito” smothered in tomatillo sauce, queso and a sour cream drizzle. Or the California Burrito loaded up with steak, French fries, queso and guacamole. But for the ultimate guttbuster, get the Chimichanga burrito.

We make our traditional burrito, put all the fillings.   Wrap it all up tight and then we throw it in the fryer. You need to be professional at wrapping burritos to make it real tight and put it in the fryer. It's one of those like guilty pleasures. It’s  amazing.

And if you can somehow fit another morsel into your mouth, order some flan. When you taste this one you'll be amazed. It's a homemade recipe from my mom and it's amazing.

It’s amazingly delicious, and amazing affordable at Pepe's Taqueria.

We try to bring my mother's recipes to your plate and nothing makes us happier than to keep her legacy going and bring her recipes to everyone and really taste what real authentic Mexican should be.