Market and taqueria with fresh tortillas and old family recipes
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 6/11/2006
Rating: 9
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To celebrate the Mexico's World Cup victory over Iran, I headed out to La Tapatia in South San Francisco. Not really a sit down restaurant but more of a small mexican market with takeout food. La Tapatia is easy to find and situated on Grand Avenue across from city hall. Parking is metered but Sundays are free.
Walking through the market and I immediately grinned at the site of chicharonnes, carnitas, grilled chicken, cheap fruits, and smell of mexican food in the air. I also passed by La Tapatia tortilla chips which leads me to believe they make their tortillas in-house. There was a line at the taqueria and everyone in the market was mexican. All the orders except mine were in espanol and just looking at the steel trays of food, I was going to be in for a pleasant lunch.
I know I said I was going to lay off the carnitas this year to concentrate on new stuff but the pork looked too good to be true. I ordered the regular carnitas with rice, beans, salsa, and guac. The menu says a regular comes with lettuce and sour cream and wanted to dock points for that. Lettuce and sour cream is an absolute sin for me in any mexican meat burrito well...except a burrito supreme at taco bell...haha.
At $4.50, this rather large burrito was of great value. I've noticed the surge of burrito prices nearing $5-6 range lately. With no where to sit in La Tapatia, I had to eat in the car.
tortilla - thank you for not steaming my tortilla, I hate the steam method and love La Tapatia for grilling mine. Great tasting tortilla and will have to pick a package when I make a return visit.
beans - wow o wow, melts in your mouth, I don't even want to think about the lard content in here. Super good!
rice - on the oily side but full of flavor.
salsa - just ok, I wish it had cilantro and onions, probably the weakest element of the burrito.
guac - good stuff, plenty to go around.
meat - these guys know how to load up on meat, holy freak, these guys want me to get fatter. He gave me 3 large helpings. The carnitas was oily which is ok, it's deep fried pork! It had crunchiness and flavor but I think I need to catch a batch when it's out of the fryer. Just tasting this carnitas, it might have been sitting around for a little while but it has a lot of potential to be in the ranks of my favorites.
La Tapatia is the real deal. They have all the markings of a real taqueria and would even bypass going to the Mission Disctrict. The burritos are huge and I nearly exploded on the way home. I didn't even finish it and fell victim to the burrito coma, don't worry, my nap is only 1 hour. I woke up feeling I had a hangover, felt groggy, and realized the power of a La Tapatia burrito. Hot damm, guarenteed to fill you up and it's going to cost you less than $5...gooooaaaaaaaaaaaallllll.
RETURN VISIT for Jason!9/16/2006 - 9 Rating: For you carnitas lovers out there, it's time to step up to the plate and try crispy Chicharrones (deep fried pork skins) taco. I only eat these things maybe once a year cuz they are so bad for you and hard to find. La Tapatia delivers on the goods and the Chicharrones was wonderful. Crunchy on the outside and had some pork meat on the inside. It's crispy so chew slowly or you'll chip your teeth. I had half of a carnitas burrito on my visit and was better than my last visit. The guy in front of me ordered the cardiac arrest...aka Carnitas Nachos. Another customer order the carne asada quesadilla which looked like a 9 rated contender. Looks like more items to try on the menu, La Tapatia is a solid taqueria.
Outside, clean and kinda swanky. Inside, narrow and divey. Its all good, cuz its the food that matters. Walking from the front to the back, I gaze to the right and it was like finding a pot of gold. Inside the displays was pounds and pounds of cooked up meat and chicken along with chicharones and plantains.
Good selection of sodas in the fridge. Grab a sangria soda and make it to the line. Tacos! I must have tacos. One carne asada, one carnitas, and one chile verde. Truly a dumass move on my part as I soon realized that these are no mere small tacos. Let's put it this way. The last guy on the assembly line had to wrap them in foil quickly before they bust open. I pay up around 7 and bounce out the door with what feels like a 3 pound bag of food.
Back at the cube, it was like old game shows from back in the day, 'what will it be, foil number 1, foil number 2, or foil number 3'. I pick one and its carne asada! MMM, good. Solid taco. Well solid may not be a good description as that thing was filled with so much meat that it was falling apart. Had to eat it fast. Satisfying is better. Next up is the carnitas. Again an overloaded tortilla with crispy porky crunchies and meat. Tasty. Last up is the chile verde. Subtle heat and with well cooked cubes of beef. This was a very succulent taco.
I like it sooo much I swung back for another visit. This time the torta. That thing was much ridiculous. It was huge! Imagine a huge thumb shaped sandwich stuffed with carnitas, lettuce and guacamole. My lunch companions ordered burritos and couldn't finish them. I sampled the chicharones and plantains and have to say that its good stuff. Fresh out of the fryer, the salsa adhered to the chicharones well and produced a flavor explosion with each bite. The plantains were sweet and filling.
This is the place with the goods. Swing by if you want good food without the frills. You will be satisfied.
“When I first came back from Mexico the first thing I did was look for a place I could get a good Al Pastor taco. I was introduced to one by a friend in Tijuana and I became hooked. This is the only place I found that's got it right.”
1/24/2008 10:28:45 AM
manda ate...
Carnitas Regular Burrito
“Easily my favorite place for porky goodness in SSF. The usual: regular carnitas burrito, no sour cream or lettuce, +guac. Love when they pull a fresh piece of pork out and chop it up for your meal. Lunch and dinner rush = pre-chopped pig. :(”
