Taqueria Vallarta (Mission)

LUNCH DATE: 4th of July 2012 @ 11:30 AM

You only have $1.75 in your pocket?

Taqueria Vallarta's TACO BAR will feed you for mere change. And you don't need to wait for Happy Hour.

On  July 4th, Enrique and I decided to drive to the Mission for a spontaneous Mexican food adventure. We did not even have a particular place in mind. It was Divine Intervention in the form of an empty parking spot across the street from Taqueria Vallarta that decided our lunch destination that day.

Taqueria Vallarta is colorful and full of murals of cultural Mexico and San Francisco. Eating at this taqueria was a feast not only for the palate but for the eyes as well. It was well-patronized by Latin families drinking traditional Mexican sodas in bottles.

The TACO BAR will greet you as soon as you enter TV. It can be more appropriately described as a TACO KIOSK manned by Taco Dude.  You tell him what you want and he will make the taco for you. In less than 5 minutes you can be holding a taco loaded with meat which you can garnish according to your heart's desire.

1. Choose your meat: Tripita or tripe, Carnitas,  Lengua or tongue,  Beef neck, etc.
2. Garnish it with:  Red or green salsa,  onions, cilantro, radish, lemon
3. Proceed to the counter to pay or if you want to order other dishes aside from tacos.

The best part -- each taco only costs $1.75!!!!

Tripita Taco

Enrique and I went a tad crazy once again. We kept on adding to our orders. He started off with CHILE RELLENO then before paying added an order of MENUDO.



Chile Relleno

I ordered POZOLE.

While waiting for our food, I could not resist the call of the Taco Bar, got up and got me a TRIPITA TACO. Chips and salsa were provided for us while waiting. Sinful and a quick snack. The meat was flavorful although slightly dry.

~ POZOLE : Last time I had menudo was probably about 5 years ago. I love offal, pig's feet, snout, you name it. Eventhough my doctor pronounced me as being in excellent health,  my  determination to live a healthy, low-blood pressure and cholesterol-free life sometimes turns me into an irrational health nut.
Sadly all I could do was stare at the gelatinous pig's feet in front of me. I was salivating but I ate the broth which was very flavorful and finished the pozole. I tried a little bit of the meat but I left most of it untouched. All dishes came with about 5 piping hot corn tortillas each. It was a nice try, though, but I just really cannot ingest fat because of this paranoia that it might just attach itself to my heart.

~ MENUDO and CHILE RELLENO: Enrique who is a 3rd generation Latino finished and enjoyed his order. He complained that his menudo did not have a lot of meat but came mostly with fat. He also pointed out that my pozole should have been lighter in color and flavor than the menudo. I do not know any better. It just tasted good to me.

~ TACO: I loved and enjoyed my tripe taco. It was packed with meat which was tender and nicely seasoned. Next time I will order me a 12 tacos at Taqueria Vallarta. LOL!

Service was very slow if ordering other dishes. One person cooking and one woman handling the cash register, delivering food and answering phones. Order some tacos as appetizers if waiting for other food. The place got packed at around noon.

We had a very enjoyable spontaneous Mexican food adventure in the Mish. The Taco Bar at Taqueria Vallarta  was fun and one of the best deals in town.  Taqueria Vallarta is a great place to grab authentic Mexican food in the Mission.

TOTAL: ~ $32 including water and soda before tip (the dishes were about $8.75 each)