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Tres Potrillos Taqueria
(Mexican cuisine)
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9
JaT Rating |
408-735-8657
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| Clean taqueria joint with a large menu and tasty specials. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 4/27/2005
Rating: 9.5
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I prayed to the Carnitas god this afternoon and pig god delivered Tres Potrillos Taqueria to me. I know you must think I have a obsession with Carnitas anything and you're absolutely right. Maybe because its sooo bad for you? Maybe its the crunchiness? Or maybe its just the damm feelling when the meat melts in your mouth igniting your taste sensations.
When the guy behind the counter asked me what I wanted for lunch, I was torn between a 2 taco place and burrito. It wasnt until the last second that I spotted the Carnitas Bowl. What the hell is this? I have managed to hit over 100 mexican restaurants in the bay area and have not heard or seen this dish. I think its too good to be true so I ordered it with a glass of water.
While eating their excellent chips and salsa, prompt service brought this big black bowl of something with a packet of foil something. It wasnt exactly a bowl but a large deep dish plate. OH MY GAWD...it was a giant plate layered with rice, black beans, pico de gallo, shredded carnitas, avocado, and tomato slices. The packet had 5 or so steamy corn tortillas. There was enough food here for 2 adults and for $6 this was a steal. I havent even tasted it and I knew it was going to be a 9 or higher just by looking at it. Deep brown crunchy edges with a light brown meat.
black beans - small black beans that almost had snap to it. They werent undercooked but firm. I kept wondering why the heck these beans tasted so good, maybe it had to do with the carnitas fat dripping on top of them....hmmmm....
rice - moist and probably cooked with chicken tomato broth. The mix of pico de gallo and the carnitas drippings made this rice memorable
tortillas - came out steamy hot, too hot to handle, you gotta love that
pico de gallo - excellent addition to the meal. Wasnt too hot but it added moisture to the everything around it.
carnitas - ok, this is a Hall of Famer. I dont know if it was a fluke day for Tres potrillos Taqueria or the planets were aligned in our solar system but this is clearly one of the best carnitas I have had this year. This stuff is on a par with La Bamba and possibly better.
Now the thing is, when you mix that bowl up and make your own tacos the way you want it, the Carnitas Bowl is an unbeatable order. The portions are MONSTEROUS with enough stuff to make 5 large soft tacos. I couldnt even finish the entire thing and took it back to work.
Tres Potrillos Taqueria is the real deal and Im quite happy to add it to my favorite carnitas list. I will be back to confirm that this was not a one time deal. Regardless, the Carnitas Bowl was the best lunch order I have had in the last 4 months.
****Update 04.29.05****
Thanks for Randall for pointing this out. It appears theres a bug with google maps. It cannot tell the difference between North and South Fair Oaks. It incorrectly directs you to South. The restaurant is on the North side closest to the 101.
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RETURN VISIT for Jason! 6/27/2006 - 9.5 Rating: I've lost count how many times I've eaten here. The CARNITAS is a Hall of Famer. I ordered the carnitas burrito with guacamole and completely satisfied. They grill their tortillas, rice moist, beans are pinto, and carnitas tender yet crunchy. Burrito was amazing. If you're visiting for the 1st time, go straight for the Carnitas Bowl.
The Carnitas Bowl is on my top 10 things to order in the Bay Area. |
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RETURN VISIT for Jason! 8/13/2007 - 8 Rating: It feels like I'm writing an obituary letter for one of my favorite friends. Tres Potrillos Taqueria has been one of my all time top spots for carnitas, particularly the carnitas bowl. It's been nearly 2 years and still remember my first bowl at $6. I would visit off and on every so couple of months.
Dan one of our agents made a trip recently and said the carnitas disappointed. We had suspicion the carnitas has dropped since we did the carnitas shootout a couple of months back. Did they dare change their 9.5 rated carnitas? Terry and I made the trek after the nerd visit to Fry's Electronics. I went with my standard order Carnitas Bowl, $8.
As usual, they bring out this bowl filled to the rim with beans, rice, avocados, carnitas, and SINCE WHEN IN THE HELL DID THEY ADD SOUR CREAM?? And what happened to the non-existent Pico de Gallo!!! Omg, I'm dying inside as my meal has been changed. It only gets worse, the carnitas is in large chunks and only 1 piece is crunchy. The flavoring is different as the pork doesn't taste quite the same.
It doesn't mean that their carnitas sucks, it's still better than 90% of the taqueria hacks out there. If you've visited in the past, don't expect that 9.5 rated goodness. Rated between 8 to 8.5
Maybe Tres Potrillos got a new cook? new supplier of Pork? different recipe? Who knows and it really doesn't matter, I cried myself to sleep. |
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 724
Reviewed: 4/27/2005
Rating: 9
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Woohoo, my ship has come in!
Tres Potrillos was an amazing experience. From the moment we drove up, we knew this had to be legit. The white sign atop the place with blue letters harkens to the burrito powerhouses of East Palo Alto. We enter and the place is quite clean, and there is a picture-menu on the wall. Another good sign.
I see the wet burrito and my choice is made. I go for the Wet Super Veggie burrito and a small Jamaica drink. The burrito was a little over $5, but come on, its wet. No complaints on pricing at Tres Potrillos.
We got some complimentary chips and salsa while waiting for the burrito. The chips were super flaky and completely full of flavor. No greasy wetness to them, but not dry at all. Perfect! The 2 salsas I sampled were the red salsa (medium hotness, with chopped onions in it ,etc) and the green guacamole salsa. The red salsa was just OK. I only tried a little of it. The gauc salsa was incredible! I completely OD'd on this. Some of the best salsa I've had.
The plate arrives and I feel like collapsing right there. This thing is HUGE. There is no question of whether or not I will finish it. No matter how big it was, I would finish it. It brought back memories of Los Charros in Mtn View. From the presentation to the burrito size.
The burrito wasn't the best. The ingredients didn't pop out at me as being over the top like I would experience at La Bamba. The mixture was above average for sure, but what made the whole thing for me was the size and the wet burrito sauce and cheese. I've only had a wet burrito this good at Los Charros.
So I highly recommend Tres Potrillos for their chips and gauc salsa. And for their wet burritos. Excellente!
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RETURN VISIT for Terry! 6/27/2006 - 9 Rating: Visited here again with Jason, on our 'day off'. It was a bit busy today, what with the World Cup in progress. Still managed to order and get our food quickly though. I went with the Veggie Burrito, Wet again.
I almost forgot how massive this was. And how tasty it was. This edges out Garcias in my book for Sunnyvale Veggie Burritos. The size is larger than Mountain View's Los Charros as well. All around a winner. It was so good, but I had to finish it all. An inhuman task to say the least, but well satisfying to the last bite.
The chips today were a little on the stale side, but the green salsa again, is a real winner. Glad to report Tres Potrillos as continuing on Jatbar as a 9-rated restaurant. |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 165
Reviewed: 8/27/2005
Rating: 8
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Tres Potrillos Taqueria is located between Chavez market and Velaro gas station. If it wasnt for Velaro, this place would be hard to spot as its very run down. My friend and I arrived around 1pm on Saturday and this place has a decent lunch time crowd. As we walked in, a TV tuned into a Spanish network channel was playing. Several patrons were eating their food while watching TV. We waited to order our food up front. My friend ordered two Asada super tacos and a small drink and I ordered an Al Pastor Super burrito and a Carnitas super taco and a small drink. Her meal totaled a little over five dollars and mine a little over eight dollars.
As we waited for our food we noticed they had a chips and salsa station where customers can just go and help themselves to some chips and home made salsa and sauces. The chips were not piping hot but warm and still crispy. The sauces and salsas were interesting as there were no name tags so I was no sure which ones were spicy hot and which ones were mild. I poured some green sauce, which looked like creamy guacamole and some fresh salsa. The guacamole sauce was very tasty and an obvious popular choice as by the time I went for some more the sauce was gone. Upon request, the staff quickly filled all the condiments. My friend mentioned that we could just order the regular burrito without the sour cream, guacamole, and cheese and just use the creamy guacamole sauce to pour into our burrito.
There was a steady flow of customers coming in for take out food and dine in food. Most of the foods ordered were combinations and dinner plates. The plates were filled with large portions of food, at 7.95 a plate it sure seems like a good deal.
Even though youre given a number when you place and pay for your order, the server still brings out your food based on the number you have on your receipt. When our food came I was amazed at the portion size. My burrito was HUGE, a lot bigger than the burritos at La Bamba. My Super taco looked big as well, only because the tortilla was small, but a heaping pile of meat, fresh salsa, sour cream and guacamole was lathered on. This is one of the few tacos that I needed a fork to eat as everything kept falling off my tortillas. The Carnitas was crispy on the outside but not as moist as the Carnitas at La Bamba but still tasted good.
My Al Pastor super burrito did not taste as impressive. The size was HUGE and the price was only 4.65 for my brick of a burrito, but the taste was just OK. I think I should have gone with Carnitas as my choice of meat for the burrito. The burrito had just the right amount of spiciness from the fresh salsa, but the ingredients were not mixed together. It just seemed like the beans and rice was on one side and the sour cream and guacamole were all clumped in the middle and the meat hugging the edge of the tortilla. I couldnt finish this burrito so I asked for a box to take to work for dinner later.
Pluses: Free chips and condiments, free refills on sodas, free help yourself water, good value (cost vs. portion), accepts credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex), plenty of parking, good responsive service.
Minuses: Kind of dirty and feels a bit unclean within the chips and condiments area.
Extra: Would recommend the soft tacos, dinner plates, and combo plates. Not sure why the Jumbo burrito (same as super but with lettuce and tomatoes) cost 0.45 more than the super burrito just for additional lettuce and tomatoes. You get a lot of authentic Taqueria food for cheap.
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Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 69
Reviewed: 5/31/2006
Rating: 9
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Tres Portillos is in the same center as the Valero Gas Station can be easily missed. The large shopping center sign doesnt even list them and is in rickety, unreadable shape. Look for the small blue and white sign.
Being a Carne Asada purist, it was hard to pull myself to ordering the carnitas at Tres Portillos, but when I see a ‘wow from Jason, its worth giving a try! I do like carnitas, but my expectation of shredded meats at taquerias is to get plenty of grizzle. At least thats been my experience.
Nope, the carnitas bowl is not on the wall menu, but IS on the menus under the glass tables. Look under the dinner menu for “bowl”. At $6.99 its a steal…. I skipped breakfast in anticipation and whoa, I couldnt finish the whole thing!
I arrived at 1:40, after the lunch crowds and the floor and salsa bar looked like a tornado had hit. Ah well, maybe they havent had time to pick up? During my lunch the cashier did to a quick pick-up at the salsa bar.
I ordered a med soda and my carnitas bowl… $9.19 with tax. In the meanwhile I browse the free chips and salsa selections and choose to mix things up a bit. I added some pico de gallo to their red salsa. This made for a tasty mix and a nice tang of heat. The chips were under a heat lamp and some were a bit chewy in the center. Maybe those few chips needed a little more time in the fryer? The rest were great, and fresh tasting. It's nice to get homemade chips instead of the bagged variety.
Food was up quickly and delivered to my table. MAN, this thing is BIG. It arrived with a basket of foiled wrapped corn tortillas. So hot I had to let them cool to touch. The meat was perfect, savory, delectable and yup, a tad greasy, but not grizzly. And thats what made the whole thing taste so darn good. Each bite of black beans, Spanish rice, cheese, sliced of fresh tomato and avocado, a heaping dollop of sour cream and plenty of pico was divine. I made my own tacos and poured on my salsa creation… Wow, I must have looked like a starving pig. Truly a memorable experience.
Another patron asked me what I had ordered and I said “a friend” recommended the bowl. Choose a meat and enjoy. She said she wished shed known! Thanks Jason, were passing on secret!
I do recommend avoiding their since restroom. Along the lines of super tiny gas station bad. Not super filthy, but even with the strong scent of pine sol, not too pleasant.
The food is an absolute must try in my book. And I am fortunate enough to work close by. Ill be trying the carne asada soon and I imagine it will be | | |
