Outdoor restaurant offers tacos near NOLA Convention Center | Where NOLA eats

I was sipping a hibiscus margarita that matched the color of the hibiscus flowers blooming around me. The tacos came out as quickly as one would expect from a taco truck, on double-thick corn tortillas, but with a few extra touches to elevate them from basic street food. A slice of chocolate cake topped with flan tasted like home cooking rather than restaurant cooking.

I was happy to be here at Taqueria la Lucha, a low-key restaurant with its own niche that should be on your radar.

Sometimes, when a new restaurant makes a splash, I find myself thinking more quietly about others working in the same vein. Call it a reminder of the ripples of that splash.

And so after Tacos del Cartel debuted nearby in the South Market development, with its worldly take on Mexican cuisine and stunning design, I found myself simultaneously applauding the new addition and wondering remember that I had to go back to that dorm in the Warehouse District. .

Goodbye pie, hola tacos

Taqueria la Lucha is a pandemic pivot turned permanent, and it appeared without fanfare during the ups and downs of this era.

It started as Rye & Pie, a wood-fired pizza restaurant with a large bar and patio. Ryan Hollard opened it in the fall of 2019, just months before the pandemic hit.

He tried to make the pizzeria work. But when the business died down, the cost of wood to simply maintain the pizza oven was like throwing wads of cash into the fire, he told me. The staff consisted only of himself and his boss, Parvin Macari.

It was his idea to launch Taco Tuesday as its own in-house pop-up. This struck a chord in the neighborhood, and so they kept going and eventually a new concept was born when Rye & Pie became Taqueria la Lucha (for “the fight,” what it feels like to go through the pandemic).

Macari grew up in Mexico City and family ties brought her to New Orleans 10 years ago. She brought her training from a cooking school in Mexico City and her family's experience cooking to her grandmother's kitchen. As the taqueria began to take off, she recruited her sister Mena to move from Mexico and help run the patio. This sister act gives the restaurant a family atmosphere.

How it works

It's also a restaurant that still feels like a pandemic flex. The small dining room and large bar remain out of service, although there are plans to reopen them as the summer progresses.

For now, you order a walk-in window. Get one of the fresh fruit margaritas or a beer from the short list, then find a table on the small covered terrace or open patio.

The menu is simple, reflecting the restaurant's uncluttered origin story. It starts with chips and salsa, guacamole and queso, and then it's all tacos.

Tacos and cake

The fish version is grilled, finely diced and tastes like ceviche after a quick turn on the grill, still tangy with citrus and with a fresh touch of chopped peppers and red onion, accentuating its summer appeal.

Pollo pibil, tinged with the earthy, bitter orange flavor of achiote, fills its tortillas with chunky pieces of chicken with a bouncy juiciness as if cut from a kebab.

Grilled cactus (napolitos) has a green bean flavor, a cooked okra texture, and an affinity for salsa verde that brightens it all up. The most appealing of the vegetarian tacos is a version with chopped mushrooms with a smoky poblano crema, enhanced with hot chili spices.

Check the table for promotions. A recent one called El Sol featured a mix of ground steak and yellow peppers on cheese-filled, crispy grilled corn tortillas, like a mini quesadilla, with the key finish of salsa matcha, which is dark, fatty and toasty-spicy (like a Mexican version of chili garlic crisp).

The desserts are warm, traditional and wonderful. The “house cake” tops a layer of dense, dark chocolate cake with cream flan and a sprinkling of walnuts and cranberries.

And the tres leches cake is so moist it's a wonder it can hold its square shape for as long as it does (but the spoon makes quick work of this creamy treat anyway).

Outdoor, casual

This is an outdoor space that faces both sides of its block, with fairy lights above and flowers all around. This looks like a fantastic place for a private party and the taqueria sometimes closes for this type of business.

The convention center is two blocks away, and events there can have a dramatic effect on this small restaurant. I saw seas of people wearing convention credentials arriving at the same time to form lunchtime queues rivaling those at the nearby Cochon Butcher.

But on a daily basis, it is that of the neighborhood. It's what validated the move to tacos in the first place, and it remains an easy hangout spot with good flavors, good value, and its own personality.

Taqueria La Lucha

404 Andrew Higgins Boulevard, (504) 533-0016

Tuesday noon to 9 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday. 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (times may change depending on conferences)