Momma's Tacos: Mexico City in New Milford

Momma’s uses slow cooked shredded skirt steak in their birria tacos, of course served with a sidecar of rich consommé for proper submersion.

Once you try Alejandra Aguilar Gonzaga’s food at Momma’s Tacos in New Milford, you’ll sense the soul that’s in it. Talk to her even ever so briefly about her story and you’ll get a glimpse of her strong will, determination, and passion.

Catch Alejandra in her soon-to-be three-year-old restaurant. She’s in the back cooking her mostly Mexico City inspired recipes, she’s always smiling and talking to her several regular customers, and frequently asks for feedback on the food served at Momma’s Tacos.

Alejandra and her daughter, Alissa, who helps her run the day-to-day. But make no mistake, it’s a full family affair. Her son, Alec, lends a big hand, as does Alissa’s husband, John, plus they get plenty of extra help from their extended family and their kitchen staff, who has also become like family.

Empanadas were an early part of Alejandra’s culinary journey

You’d never know it at first glance, but her come up took a great deal of hard work to overcome the odds.

“I came here when I was 20 and lived in White Plains,” Alejandra recalls. “I got married and moved to Upstate New York, then I eventually got divorced.”

The corn tortillas here are all homemade, just like the bigger one used to pile toppings high on this huaraches.

Alejandra’s daughter, Alissa Swantek, who helps her mother run the day-to-day at Momma’s Tacos interrupts. It wasn’t as simple as just getting divorced. She explains that her mother had to get out of the marriage for her own well-being, telling me that they had no money, and that her mom, her, and her brother Alec, had no other options except to stay at a shelter.

Alejandra continues:

“I met a girl in Middletown (New York) who made empanadas,” she says. “She’s from Argentina, so she taught me how to make them. She didn’t know how to sell them, so she made them, I helped her sell them at festivals and flea markets. We bought a table and a fryer and started selling. She moved to Florida and I stayed here. There was an indoor flea market that was new to Middletown at that time that someone told me about.”

Self explanatory. Everyone requires chips, pico, and guac, right?

She took up a spot at the market on weekends only and primarily served tacos and picaditas until her customers asked for more Mexican specialties like soups, tortas, entrées, and more under the business name, Antojitos Mexicanos.

After her divorce, and while running her weekend restaurant, Alejandra moved to Connecticut where she’d ultimately graduate from Naugatuck Valley Community College with a degree in food service and hotel management. Her high marks earned her a scholarship and she went back to Mexico to attend culinary school at Gastronomia y Sazon in Tuluca.

Sauces. Also made in-house. That joint in the front with the “X” is probably worth a dab on your finger to see if you can handle the heat ;-)

“I came back from Mexico and after four more years, I closed the flea market and said I wasn’t going to work for a full year because my kids are grown up,” she says. “During COVID, I went back to work at a retirement home. I did the menu, the shopping, cooking, everything. I managed three houses, but always had a dream to go back to my business, so I asked people to let me know if they saw a space. I lived in Cheshire, so when someone told me about this place, I took it.”

Now with a storefront secured, Alejandra wanted to carry over her Middletown spot’s name, Antojitos Mexicanos, but Alissa and the rest of the family disagreed and they kicked around other ideas like “Mami’s Tacos” and the like, until Alissa’s husband, John, came out with “Momma’s Tacos.” That name stuck, and the entire family went to work getting the space up to par for permits and whatnot.

Emoladas. Half chicken, half pork. Crema. Lots of queso. Raw onion. And a mole poblano you’ll want to lick clean off the plate. Alissa says about her mother and her mother’s food, “She has that love! She’s passionate. If she’s having an emotional day, the food might be spicier that day!”

When Momma’s Tacos officially opened in November 2021, Alejandra and Alissa got help from Alec, John, and their extended family, who all pitched in then, and still help out a great deal to this day.

And Alejandra and her cooks are whipping up what made Antojitos Mexicanos so popular in Middletown, like tacos, picaditas, empanadas, and because of a bigger kitchen and more help, she has been able to expand upon that menu tenfold.

“Our tacos birria are from Guadalajara, but people from everywhere in Mexico eventually come into Mexico City, so we learn a lot of different things,” Alejandra says. “The huaraches are 100% Mexico City. The legend is that a guy came with a big steak (to a restaurant) and he asked a lady if she can make a big tortilla to fit the steak. It looked like a big sandal, so they call it huarache.”

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Mostly, though, she’s cooking what she likes to eat and enjoys making, but occasionally she knows she has to answer her customer’s demands for things like tamales, and “for gringos,” burritos and quesadillas.

Those who yearn for a deeply flavorful, earthy, complex, multi-layered mole are in luck. It’s also something I could quickly tell how proud Alejandra is of her sauce, that she simmers for a long time as it’s put together step-by-step, ingredient-by-ingredient.

“Mexico has so many moles, all different,” she explains. “Mine is from Puebla. Lots of dry chilis. One good thing about it is it’s a superfood. It has seeds, sesame, almonds, cashews, peanuts. There are plantains in there. More than 40 ingredients. The secret is not to burn the chilis, if you burn them, that’s it, it’s no good no more. I put a little piece of good chocolate in at the end.”

What Momma’s Tacos has created in New Milford in a short time, with their warm, inviting Mexican soul food, is community, and Momma herself, Alejandra, has become this local celebrity.

All smiles after a meal at Momma’s along with my bud, Jeff Spencer, who, if not for him, I would not have known about this gem of a family and their restaurant.

“This was her dream,” Alissa says. “She came here with no money. Didn’t accept any handouts. She took the American Dream and ran with it. With the right determination and mindset, you can make anything happen, and she did. She showed us how to be hard workers, to show up and do our jobs. She saw the vision and we all pulled the trigger and quit our jobs. It’s now this little hidden gem in New Milford. Everyone knows each other here. People see her and go, ‘Oh my God, Momma!’ And that’s the vibe we’re trying to create. It’s a vibe inside. We used to have more individual tables, but someone gave us a giant farm table that’s our community table. People that don’t know each other end up sitting there and they walk out being friends.”

But ultimately, that fun, friendly atmosphere and the Mexican cuisine that’s at the forefront isn’t nearly possible without having each other. Alissa gives her mother big time props, and vice versa.

“I take care of the food, she takes care of the customers and marketing,” Alejandra says. “I can’t do this without her. She’s a big part of this place. A big part. I really love this. I love what I do. I told my kids when they were little, look for what you’re gonna do and love it. Find true happiness and share it with other people.”

17 Church Street, New Milford
860.717.4577, mommas-tacos.com