T-Rex Taqueria
6 Cypress St., Brookline
617-487-4360

Bostonist took advantage of the gorgeous weather this weekend to peep T-Rex Taqueria, the new regional Mexican joint in Brookline. We expected good things from owner/chef Jim Fahey, formerly a chef at Cambridge's beloved Forest Cafe. As you come down the road, T-Rex is easy to spot: a pop of color amidst dingier storefronts, with a skeletal dino grinning cheerfully from above the open door.

Though it's been open less than a month, the interior bursts with personality. A handful of brightly-painted stools ring the small space (the spotless-seeming kitchen takes up more than half the square footage of the joint). Where the walls aren't covered with chalkboards displaying the daily specials and drawings done by its Brookline High School staff, they're papered with signed photos of Mexican wrestlers. Plastic dinosaur toys of various sizes and species stalk the countertops and sunbathe in the windowsills.

More food coverage and photos, after the jump...

Fahey, an affable middle-aged guy with thick glasses, is all about making folks feel at home. Born and raised in Cambridge, Fahey is quick to shake hands and to answer questions candidly, including Bostonist's half-joking inquiry regarding his Spanish skills.

"I can get by," he says. "I could pass freshman Spanish with a D."

But this ain't no gringo joint he's running -- it's clear that Fahey's simply more fluent with food than he is with language. The chef has been traveling to Mexico constantly over the past 30 years, has visited most of its 31 states, and has been cooking its cuisine professionally for over 20 years. His relationship with Mexico began with a fateful trip by train through the country after college. He was fed by strangers who took pity on the "shy kid" from Cambridge who didn't speak a lick of Spanish, and he fell in love with Mexican street food after tasting a potato taco at a stand called Papas Locas ("crazy potatoes!").

After cooking Mexican comfort food for years at the laid-back Forest Cafe, Fahey was most interested in re-creating a similar neighborhood-favorite vibe with his new spot. The sleepy Cypress Street intersection, a drive-by area between the food hubs of Coolidge Corner and Brookline Village, seemed to fit the bill, as his customers are as likely to be Brookline teenagers and soccer moms as they are to be destination diners and avid Chowhounds.

"The neighborhood's been cool to me [so far]," Fahey reports. He's tried to return the favor by hiring local students for staff, and offering a BHS-only deal: a burrito and a can o' soda for $5.50.

The rest of the T-Rex menu is a work in progress. You won't see Forest Cafe specialties like fried squid and Mexican truffles, but the menu still takes some chances on more exotic fare, like carnitas adobado (smoky sweet and spicy orange chipotle chile pork), chicken in pumpkin seed green mole, tinga poblana (shredded pulled chicken and chorizo sausage stew), and three kinds of torta (Mexican street vendor style sandwiches, made with soft bread and toppings like grilled tomato salsa and black mole). And for the BC crowd, there's plenty of typical Anna's-style fare at college prices, like tacos made with soft white tortillas ($2.50), Super Burritos ($5.50) and stacked enchiladas with your choice of verde, roja or mole sauce ($6.00). On the morning we visited, there were also breakfast specials available, like huevos rancheros, for around $5.00-6.00.

For lunch, we tried the Super Burrito with steak and a "Wahaca" torta with vegetables, mole, salsa, lettuce and avocado. The burrito was huge and meaty, and so filling that it took both a Texan ex-pat and a hungry Rottweiler (Bostonist's dining companions) to finish it. The sandwich was extremely messy, and the mole tasted more of Fahey's dalliances with American barbeque flavors than the traditional multilayered, chocolate complexity of Mexico's mole, but the bread was soft and fresh, the avocado was perfectly ripe and the dish came with a side of house-made chips.

On this day it made perfect picnic fare (although we do recommend bringing some plates and forks for the messier stuff), but we expect the tiny taqueria's food to taste just as satisfying when the sunny weather finally does leave the 'hood for good.