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La Taqueria (Mexican cuisine)  $$

 8.25
JaT Rating

2889 Mission Street, San Francisco, 94110  (Directions)


415.285.7117


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Famous Mission District taqueria joint known for their tacos


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 11/14/2004
Rating: 7.5
My photo gallery 		La Taqueria would have to be my most anticipated restaurant review since they are suppose the be the best taqueria joint in the bay area. I prepared for this taste test by fasting from mexican food for 3 days and skipping breakfast today. I was starving and eager to savor fine mexican cuisine. The parking situation is not too bad if you park between 25th and 26th on Mission street (well, I did go on a Sunday afternoon so Im not sure how bad it is during a weekday). Other than that, parking situation in Mission District is hellish, take a bus or cab if possible.

The restaurant is situated in a traditional looking mexican style building. OMG...it was extremely packed, you could barely walk inside. I had no idea where the line started. It had to be a sign from the mexican carnitas god, I was destined to enjoy this. While waiting in line, I watched the taco-burrito roller go to work. Im impressed, this guy should go up against the famous roller at Taqueria La Bamba in Mountain View. One of the girls took my order, 1 carnitas and 1 carne asada taco with no additional toppings. I reach the register and paid my hefty fine, $7 for 2 tacos. I have never paid that much for a taco until now, thats excessive but maybe it would be worth it?

With a short wait, I walked up to the counter to pickup my 2 tickets to happiness. These tacos were huge, probably twice the size of tacos Im used to getting. Whats ever more interesting is they look more like Gyros than tacos (picture #9).

Taco Breakdown

Tortillas - Very impressive. I would say these are the best corn tortillas Ive ever had for a taco. Kind of fluffy and larger than the standard size taco tortilla. Id rate this a perfect 10. One mistake they did make was not draining the salsa enough. By the time I finished my 1st taco, the 2nd taco was breaking apart, water from the salsa had soaked through the 2 tortillas barrier...sigh. (see picture #8)

Salsa - flat out weak, barely any celantro or onions. absolutely no heat!!! omg, whats a taco with no hot peppers or spice? quite unacceptable for a highly competitive taqueria area.

Beans - Whole pinto beans. I usually dont get beans in my tacos but this was a nice touch to the taco.

Carne Asada - the grilled steak was lousy. It was so bland I had to break out with the chili verde sauce to add flavor to it. I had 2 or 3 bites and gave up (pictures 7 and 8). The temperature of the meat was semi-warm like it had been sitting on the top of carne asada mound collecting dust. They do load up on the meat but what good is that if the meat doesnt have any flavor.

Carnitas - just ok. Nothing special and not sure why every raves about the carnitas. It wasnt even crunchy nor did it have the salt flavor to it. I was disappointed, carnitas should melt in your mouth and you should feel guilty eating it. It has potential but whatever they served to me today was no where near what I was expecting.

Overall the tacos were above average but no worth finding parking or forking out $3.50 a taco. You can find better and cheaper tacos in San Mateo, Mountain View, or San Jose. Maybe it was an off day for La Taqueria but when you boast about The Best Tacos and Burritos in the Whole World on your business card, you better back it up and quite honestly, I would say they are the most over rated Taqueria joint in the world. Yes, I might get hate mail for this review but I only reviewing what I ate today and comparing it against the other 100+ taqueria joints Ive been to. I will make a return trip but they will have to wait in line as there are plenty of other taqueria shops Id rather visit.
 


Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 724
Reviewed: 5/3/2008
Rating: 9
My photo gallery 		Went here with my family on this Saturday around 1pm. I saw Jason's lackluster review beforehand and my hopes weren't super high, yet with this place's reputation I figured something must be up.

We arrived and it was packed, but not crazy packed. I noticed that most people wanting to eat here had no problems finding a table. We sat down and waited for our order. Its kind of a bummer that when your food is ready to pickup on the counter, you have to squeeze by people who are standing in line to order (breathing on your food).

Today I went with a veggie burrito and a carnitas taco (had to try and compare to the carnitas shootout we had months back). I went with the taco first. Jason complained bout the large price, and it is expensive at $3.50 but damn if this isn't the biggest taco I have seen. Easily twice what most places give you. Carnitas was stellar. I would even say it would tie for my favorite Las Islitas carnitas. My wife, who had a carnitas burrito, said it was the best as well.

I then dug into the burrito. These are quite affordable at $6. And wow, the tortilla shell was awesome. A nice gummy consistency that I rarely see (as usually gummy = crap, but that is very much not the case here). Awesome consistency that tastes great, and holds in your burrito quite effectively. The rest of the burrito was your standard stuff (done well) like pinto beans, rice, and the usual tomato, salsa, lettuce, guac, sour cream. Mmmm. The combination was perfect and I gobbled it quickly. My youngest son was grabbing pieces of my tortilla shell so towards the end my burrito ended up falling apart anyway. haha.

It seemed like everyone here was going for the 2 tacos and judging by the size of those tacos, thats plenty for most folks. No complaints here, we had a fantastic experience today.
 
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