![\"Where\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-MAIN-Chicken-fajitas-burrito.jpg\")
After selling the business six years later, along with his family\u2019s dough recipe, the subsequent owner (Don Alvarez) would occasionally spot Ramirez waving to him through the front window while passing by, though never setting foot inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that he just disappeared,\u201d Alvarez said at the time.<\/p>\n
Several years later, in 2013, Ramirez resurfaced in North Park with the opening of Tommy\u2019s Original Tex-Mex. When speaking to him by phone back then, he expressed excitement over reviving such Tex-Mex favorites as carne guisada (cubed beef in brown gravy), Southwest-style queso, and of course, his famous tortillas.<\/p>\n
But the venture was short-lived, closing before I could visit, and with Ramirez leaving nary a trace of his whereabouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he moved back to Texas,\u201d said a woman recently overseeing the grill at Don Tommy\u2019s, which changed ownership yet again about five years ago. Ramirez\u2019s culinary legacy, however, remains intact through his dough recipe, which is still made daily, cut into balls, and stretched by hand to order.<\/p>\n Like falling in love with a particular wine at first sip, the same magic occurs when biting into these semi-thick tortillas \u2014 defined by their hot air pockets and dark pockmarks \u2014 regardless what\u2019s tucked inside.<\/p>\n In either a burrito or soft taco, my preferred fillings of late include the carnitas, which carry a savory, roasted flavor with hints of orange. Also noteworthy is the spicy chicken mixing breast meat with pico de gallo, fat rings of semi-brined jalapenos, and decent guacamole.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always found chicken or beef fajitas to be boring in restaurants. But when wrapped inside Ramirez\u2019s floury love, and with a few dabs of the eatery\u2019s electric-green cilantro salsa applied, they become something more than a pedestrian stir-fry of meat, onions and bell peppers.<\/p>\n A breakfast taco I tried recently was pleasing, despite the scant enveloping of a single scrambled egg and thick-overcooked bacon. It was the nicely seasoned potatoes and pillowy tortilla that delivered me to the finishing line.<\/p>\n Less remarkable are the bean and cheese burritos, which I\u2019ve ordered twice. The refried beans are supposedly mashed with vegetable oil instead of lard, hence their bland, anti-climactic flavor. Other menu items include chalupas made with outsourced corn tortillas, plus tortas, tamales, chille rellenos and enchiladas \u2014 all listed on a fairly new website rigged with a click button to \u201creserve your table today.\u201d<\/p>\n But don\u2019t be misled. It leads only to an address page, and furthermore, the eatery has only three awkwardly arranged tables inside and a few on the front sidewalk \u2014 exactly how Ramirez left it more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n![\"Where\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/web-Carnitas-burrito.jpg\")
![\"Where\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Don-Tommys-Sidebar-174x300.png\")
<\/p>\n