San Frisco Part II

After a night of digestion, sous chef MQ and I woke up raring to go, anxious for the gustatory delights that awaited us in the cold and windy streets of San Fran. Our first stop was the mission district. The thing about MQ is, he loves tacos. And burritos. And tortas. And beans and rice. He loves Mexican food. He did his research before we left and he knew where he wanted to go. La Taqueria.

The sign says “The best tacos and burritos in the whole world.” The sign does not lie. Just look at these beauts.

Matt got 3 tacos: asada, carnitas and lengua. Steak, shredded braised pork and tongue. I happen to dislike tongue. I get that it’s tender and meaty and all that good stuff but something about the texture makes me want to crawl out of my skin. I’m not crazy about the taste either and the idea of taste buds on taste buds…okay I am retching now. Moving on.

I ordered 2 tacos: carnitas and chorizo. I adore chorizo and order it whenever I see it. The fact that I like chorizo proves that I will eat something if it tastes good even if the idea of it is gross. Most Mexican Style chorizo is made from ground salivary glands and lots of spices. I don’t find the concept of eating salivary glands very enticing but my own salivary glands get to workin’ when I smell greasy, spicy, hand-stainingly red chorizo. Yum sauce. What can I say. I am a complicated lady. This is what makes me The Picky Gourmet.

Why were these tacos The Best Tacos in The Whole World?

1. The proprietor was awesome. He was a beamingly happy older man who doled out red roses to three little girls in front of us in line. He winked and told us we were in deep trouble when we told us it was our first time at the restaurant. He was a man who seemed to be in love with his job and his life.

2. The extras were awesome: Each taco started with two substantial corn tortillas. A slab of Mexican cheese was melted onto the tortillas on a big diner-style griddle. Then the tacos were dosed with a spoonful of perfectly cooked, fluffy pinto beans. Next the meat of your choice was stuffed into the tortilla followed by a MASSIVE dollop of fresh guacamole and a squirt of cool sour cream. I opted to get the house made salsa on the side to avoid the nightmare scenario of getting that dreaded Mexican staple – the chopped raw white onion/cilantro combo. If there is a nastier condiment out there, I surely can’t think of it! Turns out they only put that satan sauce on the lengua taco (haha!) and I was safe but I still enjoyed doling out my own sauce as it was fairly picoso.

3. Quality of ingredients: The meat in these tacos was otherworldly. My chorizo was cooked perfectly crispy crunchy and the carnitas were tender and smoky. MQ raved about his choices. You can see here that he enjoyed himself.

we used a napkin. or 50.

We stuffed our faces full of the best tacos in the whole world and then we walked around the mission district.

stunning mural. stunning MQ.

bacon wrapped

lil homies dioramas at a gallery

welcome home mijo!!

mmmmm sabor!

Our day didn’t end here…come back next time to hear about Humphrey Slocombe and Christopher Elbow!