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New eats: Zaratez Mexicatessen

By Catherine Toth Fox • November 18, 2010 • Food, Musings, The Daily Dish

It’s not everyday you can get authentic burritos from a tour bus-turned-lunch wagon in downtown Honolulu.

Or at least you couldn’t until this summer, when former KTUH deejay Paul “Mano Lopez” Zarate, along with two cousins, converted a Roberts Hawai‘i tour bus — bought off Craigslist and took “a few dollars and a whole lot of elbow grease” — into Zaratez Mexicatessen.

At first, the unmarked bus set up shop at various locations in town, from a parking lot in Chinatown to the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kaka‘ako. Some days you had to check Zaratez’s Twitter or Facebook accounts. It was word-of-salivating-mouth.

Not anymore.

After a theft to the wagon that put Zarate, 37, out of business for awhile, Zaratez got a new — and permanent — location on Mokihana Street, right off Kapahulu Avenue. So fans of his authentic homestyle burritos and tacos don’t have to wonder where they’ll get their next Mexican fix anymore.

“Had those events not happened,” he said, “it may have taken longer for me to see this come to fruition.”

Packed brown sugar

Packed brown sugar
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Start by adding 1 1/2 cups of packed brown sugar — you have to pack it! — to a cup (or two sticks) of melted butter.

Zaratez Mexicatessen, 3121 Mokihana St. off Kapahulu Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Phone: 808-227-1422. Facebook: www.facebook.com/zaratez. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @zaratez.

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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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10 Comments

  • Reply Diane Seo July 15, 2010 at 8:07 pm

    coomment

  • Reply John Garcia July 17, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    test

  • Reply 808marv November 18, 2010 at 1:57 am

    Ah finally they get their own post. Love this place, no BS just good stuff and fast service. Since it’s easy for me to get there from work I have become a regular customer. I just ate there last night. 🙂 I totally agree on the mixing the chicken and chorizo, especially in a burrito. He will also put all of the day’s meats in one burrito as a “mixta” as well. Don’t forget the al pastor (spicy pork) special on Saturdays as well. VIVA ZARATEZ!

  • Reply turkfontaine November 18, 2010 at 2:02 am

    MEXICATESSEN is the greatest word i’ve ever heard. copyright it immediately.

  • Reply MoOgooGuypAN November 18, 2010 at 4:19 am

    I am seriously gonna have to eat there for lunch tommorrow. Might be kinda slight off course from work but…I love Mexican grinds. Ariba!

  • Reply miyashiro November 18, 2010 at 4:45 am

    The food/portions look good here. There is a great place in the LA area called Mexi-Catessen. Been around since the early 70’s.

  • Reply nkvball November 18, 2010 at 5:35 am

    Try the Al Pastor, spicy pork, only on Saturdays though. Yum!

  • Reply M November 18, 2010 at 10:01 am

    Hello Cat!
    Fuud pixs Thrusday?

  • Reply nathankam November 18, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    Sold! I need to try this place STAT! Thanks for the inspiration Cat!

  • Reply Chorizoooooo! « Eatizen Jane December 16, 2010 at 4:30 am

    […] Ingredients are roasted first. Daily Disher Catherine Toth was in line with her family! Read her Nonstop Honolulu post to find out what she thinks of Zaratez). Zaratez Mexicatessen is on […]

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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