Campos, Culver City, CA

Yesterday I'm working down by USC in the morning and have my weekly meeting at Home Office in Culver City.  There are so many ways to get from USC to Culver, but I usually stay on Jefferson and shoot all the way down.  I've been eyeing this place, and had decided that I was trying it and writing about it.  As I travel down Jefferson, Taco Destiny kicks in.  There was gun fire in a shopping center and police had blocked off the whole street.  I was diverted.  This journey led me down Adams and I decided to wind through the streets of Culver and then ended up on the Westside.  I shot back into Culver knowing that I had to get to a meeting.  I spotted Campos and knew this was why I had been diverted.

Campos has had multiple locations in the Santa Monica, Culver City and surrounding areas.  There use to be a great one on Pico and Barrington, it is now some other joint.  Anyways, I was on Venice across from the big Army Surplus store, parked Dolly and ordered some tacos.

They are running a special on "authentic tacos."  The way the chalk board was up and they presented it kind of irked me, but that is why I go in.  I do the dirty work, so you all know where to eat, or what to eat when you go in.  I know, it is my burden.  Anyways, tacos are $1.25.  I order four tacos and wait.  Well, I waited a heck of a long time, and there was one other person in line.  It was about 20 minutes for four tacos.  This had me a bit disappointed, but you know the drill, we're there for the taco, efficiency is an added luxury.

What I liked, the salsa bar was pretty rad.  I dug the set up and I dug the salsa.  They had some fantastic options.   Ratings below will tell you about the salsas, yes, I tried them all, don't act like you are surprised.  They have some pretty cool looking vegetarian options on the menu.  I liked it.  Shows some good effort to connect with the community.  This is in a good part of Culver and is right by Santa Monica, folks are going to look for a less meaty option.  I didn't try it, but noticed it on the way too extensive menu.

RATINGS:
Asada: 1, there was so much salt on this stuff, it made me gag.  I'm all about some sodium on a taco, this was out of control.  Tip, if you spill the salt all over chef, start over!  I've been there in restaurants, it sucks, you have food cost and all of that, but you really ruined the whole meal.  Lucky for me, this was the last taco I ate, again, Taco Destiny.
Pastor: 1, ouch.  I know, this is some bad stuff my friends.  Cumin is one of my favorite seasonings.  I put it on darn near everything that I make and in almost every kind of cuisine.  I think it is one of those seasonings that just makes plates great.  The person that made the pastor wore the meat out with Cumin.  It was horrible.  Second to last taco that I ate, it was really rough.  I hate bad pastor.  It was so sad, no citrus notes in the meat, not even a hint of pineapple.  You should be ashamed line cook.
Lengua: 3, Probably saved the trip.  Buttery, cooked, but not overdone.  Solid.  It didn't blow me away, but didn't make me want to leave either.  It was good Lengua, I'd say check it out if you are in the neighborhood and have a pining for some tongue.
Carnitas: 3, Some of the better carnitas I've come across in the recent journeys.  It didn't knock my socks off, but was consistent and solid.  Flaky, cooked nicely.  The seasoning on here was good.  Not overdone, but flavorful.  Hints on chili powder, cumin, salt and red pepper.  Like I said, good, not amazing.
Salsa Verde: 3, nicely done.  I enjoyed it.  They did a great job of seasoning, blending and they let the salsa sit to allow the flavors to meld.  Why is it not more then a three?  Well, it was just solid, didn't have the extra flair.  They had a mild and a spicy, both were similar, just added a lot of habenero powder to the spicy.
Salsa Rojo: 3, Like the Verde, it was well done, had a mild and a hot.  Both were good.
Orange Salsa: 5, what?  A five on a salsa and you didn't make it yourself Z?  I know, unheard of, but this stuff was damn good.  Spicy, flavorful, on fire spicy hot!  I loved it.  This stuff was a compliment to anything in the world.  There was bonnets and other peppers in here.  For sure this was the highlight of my day yesterday.

Moral of today's story, it is not where you eat, it is who you eat with.  I'll write about that another day, but for today's story, I have to say, that I realize my love and memories of Campos was not the food, but it was going to see my dad when he worked in Santa Monica and him and I grabbing burritos together.  It was taking Paulie there as a three year old and him and I scarfing Chile Verde Burritos together.  Thanks for your time everyone, tell your friends to check it out and follow this thing!  Happy Friday.