El Rancherito, Reseda, CA

I really didn't know where I was going today.  Smoky, the Troll, the Juggernaut and I went to pick up Papou from the airport.  He was flying back from a week long trip in Orlando.  The kids and I were very excited to pick him up.  We were of course rocking to a whole lot of Elvis on the way to LAX and back.  Yes, that made it better.  Were we dancing and singing?  Maybe, you take a guess.  You try not dancing and singing to that magical voice.  Ok, I guess I have given away the answer and admitted it.  We were dancing in the Prius.  When we picked Papou up, he said that he was hungry.  I threw out the Tommy's suggestion.  Yeah, I do, I love that place.  He countered with "yeah, that is fine, I do owe you a Tommy's run, but we can get tacos if you want instead."  Yes, I take that as an open invitation to go Tacoteering.  So, we did.

We drove up the 405 until we hit the Valley.  I just wanted to find a place in the Valley today.  I just kind of drove until Taco Destiny brought me to Saticoy.  I don't really know why.  I've never been to this place.  Passed by it, seen it, but never really looked at it.  It is on the South side of the street.

El Rancherito has a butcher shop, small convenience store, and a taqueria.  We went in for the taqueria, but I might be back their soon for the rest.  Clean place, damn busy for a Saturday before noon.  They have a few tables, a small salsa bar, but don't go for the salsa.

Lets get to the nitty gritty...

RATINGS:
ASADA: 3, looked dry, but was not.  Meat was good.  It had a nice char flavor, but really good.  Seasoned well.  It was what you should think of when you think asada. It will not blow you away, but is really good.  I mean, this is prototypical 3.  I liked it.
POLLO: 4, this was really good stuff.  Loved it.  Really did love it.  It was tender, juicy, well seasoned.  Eleni (the troll), Jason (the Juggernaut) both loved it.
PASTOR: 2, this was borderline.  I mean damn close to a three.  It missed because it was overcooked.  It was just OK, and bad ok, not great ok.  You know what I'm saying?  Seasoning was just alright.
CARNITAS: 3, another almost one up.  This is almost a four.  It is good stuff.  It is one of those things that you are rooting for, but it is just too average.  That is not to say that you shouldn't order it, you won't be let down for sure.
LENGUA: 2, yeah, this was not on the brink of anything aside from a one or going in the garbage.  It was junk.  Not good, flavor sucked, cut size sucked, just not good stuff.  Please, do yourself a favor and go to Tacos Mexico up the street.
BUCHE: 3, this is textbook.  Not great, not bad.  I'm on a huge Buche kick since Tacos El Gordo in San Diego.  Good stuff, I'd come get it from here, but it sure did not make my day better.
SALSA: 2
VERDE: 2, this is one of those "ok" 2's.  Not nasty, but not good.  It was tolerable.  Yeah, that is the best way to describe it.
ROJO: 1, umm, yeah this was like a little bit of peppers hydrated and but in a blender with tons of lime juice.  Way too much lime juice.  I love lime juice, but this was junk.  Way too much lime juice.  SUCKED
JALAPENO: 4, yes, this saved the score on the salsas.  When I point out just salsa, I mean the collective bar.  The jalapenos were great.  Fried and good.  Nice spice.

Alright, so those are the thoughts.  The people that work there are all great.  So polite, so nice.  The chips were really good.  I probably should have rated them, so I'll sort of rate them, they are a 4.  Good stuff.  Back to the people.  They were nice to the kids, nice to everyone in line.  There were folks from all walks and sorts of life in here and the people working there were great.  Yes, bilingual in this joint.  Really nice folks.  Menu is extensive and I'd go in there and order a plate if I wanted a full, not just delicious taco meal.  Plenty of fish and other dishes.  Many great specials that were all over the place.

Well, this has been a week of ups and downs.  High, highs and low, lows.  Tacoteering is a positive thing.  I hope that you are enjoying the blog and telling your friends.  Thanks for reading and for your time.  Stay Excellent!

What defines a person? Not about tacos...

I pose the question, what defines a person?

Please allow me to digress.  Not just in this post, but from the Order of the Taco for a moment.  On October 17, a founding member of the Order of the Taco lost his wife after a vicious fight with cancer.  She was not just the wife of one of our members, she was the sister of another and a loving best friend to all of us in the Order.  I write this just to get a story out about a great person who we all loved, learned from and will really miss, though I know she will never leave us.

I've known Krissy since 2001 when we worked together at Macaroni Grill.  Little did I know then that she would be such a big part of my life years later.  She started dating one of my best friends from childhood and still to this day, Christopher Randall.  I'll never forget when Chris called me to tell me he was standing there about to buy an engagement ring.  I literally had just chased a homeless guy out of the restaurant that I was running in Nashville.  We talked about it for a while.  We hung up and he called me telling me how it was done, the ring was in his pocket.  It was such an exciting feeling knowing that a great friend, a great guy had realized that the woman of his dreams was in front of him, and he wasn't letting her go.  Time sped up, he proposed and they were kind enough to allow me to stand on the altar as one of their groomsmen.  What a damn great day.  Chris was a beautiful groom and Krissy was an amazing bride.  If she couldn't get any better, she was a great sports fan and loves Dodger baseball!

Krissy had been battling cancer like a knight slaying a dragon since 2001.  She repeatedly one battles.  We all hated to see her go through this fight, but that is not what this story is about.

Krissy was pretty amazing.  She always did what she wanted when she wanted.  You knew if she was talking to you, she wanted to.  You knew if she was at your house, she wanted to be there.  I never found myself at a party or gathering without being in the corner snickering with her.  We'd crack jokes about everything and everyone.  She brought so much life to a party.  If you were new to the group, new to an event, she was the first person to say hello to you.  She never wanted anyone to feel left out unless she felt they deserved it.  How damn fair is that?  I love that about her.  What a lesson.  There wasn't any being fake with Krissy.  We'd often exchange text messages about nothing and everything.  Whether it was making fun of someone or just cracking a joke about meaningless stuff, it was always great.  We'd talk about tacos.  Man that was fun for me.  What a great taco palate this girl had.  She knew her stuff.  We'd share ideas of places, joke about bad ones and sneak tacos into an event or two if they were silly enough to invite me and not have any.

Her family is amazing.  Her brother Brandon and I became immediate friends.  I could search every corner of the earth and not find a better fit for a friend.  Brandon is all over my blogs.  He is another founding member of the Order of the Taco.  Down to earth great dude that loves his sister.  I can never thank her for introducing us to each other and integrating Brandon into the awesome network of friends that we all are.  He's done nothing but make the group better.  Tim, Cindy.  Those are two amazing,strong parents.  I was out of town when Krissy took her last breath and all I've heard was how Cindy was consoling the people around her.  What?  A mother?  Yeah, one amazing mother.  Cindy and Tim are two of the nicest, coolest damn people I've ever met.

I was crushed not being there or being closer.  I rushed to get from San Diego to LA to be able to see everyone.  Feelings of guilt overwhelm you when you know your close friends are hurting and you are not there to be the friend that you want to be.  I felt like I was making good time, Dolly and I were on the move until a little motorcycle wreck on the 405 slowed us.  I will always wonder if I didn't have a little extra someone watching me as I was hauling ass up the freeway.  It should have been bad.  Really bad.  I blew a tire, went down, kicked my bike back up and went down on the other side.  I have a few scratches, cuts and swelling, but really am not at all hurt.  Dolly is ok, she is going to spend a few days in Long Beach at the closest motorcycle shop I could find getting fixed back up.  Krissy, thanks for making sure that I got to your party safe.

Yeah, I said party.  That is part of what defines Krissy to all of us when we think about it.  Krissy truly lived it.  She didn't go to parties, she took them with her.  Hard to find her without a bottle of wine stashed into her purse.  She said she never wanted a funeral, just a party.  BJ's restaurant came through big for Krissy.  A little over a week before her passing Dimitri Iokiam, another great friend of ours, headed a charge for fighting cancer.  He helped organize a fundraiser where a percentage of the profits from two separate locations would be donated in Krissy's name to find a cure for this retched disease.  This has been on all of our calendar since we heard about it.  People came out in masses, and I mean masses.  Krissy knew about it before she passed.  She planned her own victory party.  It was a distraction for all of us from the pain we felt for losing her.  A toast to a great life from a great woman.  I was fortunate enough to get some quality time with Chris and our great friend Bucky.  Chris said it perfectly, "I have no regrets, we did everything that we wanted together and always had fun."  The fun continued in a different way.  As I looked around the restaurant, I know Krissy was there.  She stepped into every conversation and was a part of each table. She sipped white wine, toasted with champagne and was flattered by all of the kind words spoken about her.  That clever girl threw herself one heck of a party and we all really enjoyed it.  Everyone was buying each other food, drinks, talking sharing stories, amazing evening.

One page, paragraph, blog or letter does not encompass all that this person did for all of us.  There are so many stories, thoughts, feelings, people that I've left out of this little blog.  I see all the pictures everyone is posting on Facebook and that is just not me, this is, so thanks for reading.  I've got a whole set of friends I'd never have without Krissy.  I am so excited to see them when we are all around, really everywhere that I go.  Krissy, you will be missed.  Your love, compassion and zest for life is a lesson that we all need to remember.  Do what you want, with who you want, when you want.  Don't over think, enjoy those around you and enjoy doing it.  Thank you for bringing so many great people together in so many ways.  We are going to take care of Chris and Brandon and make sure that we do all we can to be there for them.  Thanks for being strong for all of us.  Now go punch something with your left arm!  I know that you always did and always will, so Stay Excellent.

Rolando's, San Diego, CA

Where do I start, what do I say?  Ramon and  chose this place after asking questions, looking online, reading reviews, looking at menus.  We are obviously all about some serious Tacoteering.  We left the hotel in Ramon's car and headed towards Las Cuatros Milpas.  We were pretty excited.  We took a wrong turn or 4 and ended up going in a circle or two to get to the place.  As we pulled up, we saw the shady "closed" sign, white door and gated up, boarded up windows.  Let me point out this is not quite the best neighborhood.

Taco Destiny.  Yeah, haven't really called it that in a while.  If you forgot what it means, look at the dictionary of terms used.  Don't worry, I'll be here and wait.  Go ahead, check it out.  It is a helpful post.  So Taco Destiny takes us back a few blocks to Rolando's.  Place looked OK, but what attracted us back was me being obnoxious all week.  Not my normal obnoxious, extra obnoxious.  I've been wearing everyone out talking about albondigas soup.  It is such a delicious dish and with the crazy long days that we've had, spending the last two weeks in a hotel, I am just craving it.  This place had it advertised on the building.  We turned the car around and went back.  Yeah, pretty much another circle.  However, my Taco Destiny brought us to this place.

Rolando's is like a large taqueria.  I don't know quite how else to describe it.  A tremendous amount of unused space though.  I mean, huge area that they just don't use.  The "salsa bar," was pretty unique.  Not bad, good, but interesting in itself.  It is also in the middle of the restaurant and right in front of you when you walk in.  Here is Ramon looking at the menu.

The food is good overall, not great, not bad.  We've hit a few places, El Gordo and El Guero in particular, that I know I ate more food, but didn't feel as full.  Ramon said the same.  The food was just heavy.  I mean, made you feel a bit heavy, not bad though, just really darn full.  Did we order too much?  I don't think that we really did.  I mean we have ordered much more when we've gone into places.  We really try to make sure that we order enough without ordering way too much food.

RATINGS:
ASADA: 2, just not impressive.  I mean it wasn't horrible, but do yourself a favor and don't try it.  Meat was a bit tough, not very flavorful.
PASTOR: 2, we've hit some pretty good pastor on this trip, tonight was not that night.  Was it inedible?  No, it is borderline crisis though.  No real flavor, no excitement.  The texture was fine.  Yeah, I said fine.  Like just barely ok.
CABEZA: 2, not too chewy, but not very good.  It was just blah.  I don't even want to talk about it, so maybe it is a borderline 1.
CARNITAS: 4, yeah, same restaurant as the meat above.  This was for sure the second best part of the trip, after Ramon's smile of course.  It was tender, light salt flavor, texture was right on, just great stuff.  I would go back just to eat a carnitas taco or 13.
GUACAMOLE: 2, why exactly are we using so much fake/processed avocado for guacamole in San Diego.  This is not the first place.  I mean, we are Californians.  We LOVE avocado.  We grow avocado.  We grow a ton of it.  Stop ruining the name guacamole with fake crap avocado.  Thanks.
ALBONDIGAS: 2, it is not your abuela's soup for sure.  It was not horrid, but kinda damn close.  The vegetable were cut way too big.  I mean, they weren't even all cut, just big veggies put in a bowl.  The meatballs were huge.  Much larger then a golf ball.  It took away from the soup.  The broth was flavorless.  No salt, no real flavor.
NACHOS: 2, we just ordered chips, she sent out their "nachos."  It was hot chips which were good, with fake guacamole, bad.  Yeah, it would have done well if they used real California avocados!  Farmers work their butts off, don't insult them or my taste buds with your fake crap.
SALSAS: 1, overall.
SMOKY CHIPOTLE: 1, that was nasty.  No heat, just nasty.  I don't know what they did to ruin the peppers, but it was horrid.
ROJO: 1,  I think it was tomato juice that was pureed with seeds.  I like me some tomato juice and seeds, but this was not good.
VERDE: 2, yeah, the big salsa winner.  It was ok, not rancid like the other two.

So, what are the positives and take away's from this venture.  The carnitas was excellent.  Not a 5, but delicious.  Taco Destiny, that was good.  I found a place that I can tell all of you not to go.  It is motivating me to make a great albondigas recipe.  Yeah, that is going to have to happen soon.  It will.  The food is served piping hot and pretty quick.  The portions are generous.  Tacos are affordable, but that is about it.  The rest is expensive.  The Los Angeles Dodgers won tonight, trying being in a bad mood after that great news.  You know what I'm saying.

Is all pastor, adobada?  Yes.  Is all adobada, pastor? No.  A few have asked me this recently.  Pastor started in the last century.  There were Lebanese slaves in central and Southern Mexico and they took local meats, put them on a spit and pastor, a gift from Ancient Mayan grounds was born.  Adobada is seasoned meat that is cooked.  Pastor is pastor.  Most places in SD call their pastor, adobada which is correct, just less specific.

Thank you to the Dodgers for a win tonight.  Thank you to any and all of you for taking the time to read this.   Please do continue to read and tell your friends.  Please do send me suggestions for a logo when you think of one.  Please do keep my good friend Krissy and her amazing husband, brother and parents in your prayers.  She is constantly on my mind as I go around to places right now and all good thoughts and prayers go through my head and would be appreciated as she is fighting hard for her life right now.  Sorry for all of the favor asking, I appreciate anyone taking the time to read these.  I enjoy doing it and find motivation in seeing the numbers rise.

That is a picture of Krissy and her husband at their wedding.  I was so honored to be there and be a part of an amazing day.
Stay Excellent!

Tacos El Gordo, Chula Vista, CA

So as Ramon and I continue our quest for greatness, we were sent in the direction of Tacos El Gordo.  Place was started in TJ, now it has a number of locations in the greater San Diego area.  They do a damn nice job.  I am really glad we were steered in this direction.  Luis, NOT Lewis, a restaurateur that we enjoy working with sent us here.  I'll go ahead and post a picture for everyone to try to caption:

Ramon: "If my taco is not perfect, I swear I'm going to slap Luis."
Luis: "If Ramon's tacos aren't perfect he's going to slap me.  Maybe if I look tough and angry he'll spare my life."

Spoiler alert, Luis didn't get slapped.  Tacos El Gordo is known for its adobada.  Yes, it is their Pastor.  It is fantastic.  They do both beef and pork adobada.  I was surprised at how delicious they both were. Some places do one excellent, the other comes up short.  Don't get me wrong, I have a favorite between the two, but one is a clear winner.  This place is really cool.  You walk up, order your food, different meats from different parts of the window, walk up to the cashier and pay.  Affordable.  This place kept it in the affordable range and they fill your taco up.  It is not that really cheap taco with no meat, there is meat in there.  It is like a hug meat market that makes tacos.  Look at these guys in action.  Hard to get a photo, they are all moving so fast.

These guys were all over the place.  Cutting meat, working together, really fun watching them go.  They all work together.  People wait in long lines to get served in a quick, efficient manner.  Tables are the old, fast food looking tables just lined up all over the place.  I thought the set up was perfect.  The building is hard to miss as it is the dull, stand out yellow.

So the Pastor.  They have it in the kitchen, but kind of separate.  Two big cones, one pork, one beef.  They have two guys that just work the cones the whole time.  Seasoning, and cutting.  These men are masters of their craft.  I'm quite excited watching them work.  A nice big piece of pineapple on top and sharp knives that are constantly being sharpened.  Yeah, pretty damn cool.  It is like Benihana's Tijuana Style...

So, lets talk a bit about the tacos themselves.

RANKINGS:
PEPPERS and ONIONS: 5, these are some spicy peppers.  The grilled green onions are so yummy.  I could eat just those.  The peppers were grilled, spicy, hot, super hot and super tasty.  Nicely done, you got your own category for being that awesome.
ASADA: 2, yeah, just not very good.  They also put their sub par guacamole on there.  Tasted almost metallic.  When they are cooking it, they are putting butter or something on there that causes the open flame to come up and it really forces an integrity lost on the taste.  Bummer
SESOS: 3, didn't blow me away, didn't disappoint.  If you've ever wanted to try sesos, this place has good beef execution, check it out.
SUADERO: 4, I'm proud to put a 4 on here.  They do a nice job, you should dream about flavors like this.
NOPAL: 2, why?  Well, I'll tell you.  They were a bit too slimy.  The real issue here is it is advertised like it is a taco, which excited me, it comes as a salad, sort of.  Really it is nopal on a plate with some salsa and bad guacamole on it.
LENGUA: 5, YES, a 5.  A damn well deserved 5.  This stuff has it all.  Crisp, buttery, soft, flavorful, fun.  Yes, I said it, fun.  They made this stuff so great.  It was different then I normally have it. Texture was on point, flavor was amazing, the color was a bit darker then I normally see, but I would say that you are missing out if you haven't tried this stuff yet.
ADOBADA (PORK): 4, yeah, it is good.  Really good.  Tasty, crispy, good.  Really nice stuff here.  Worth eating and bringing your friends to eat.  The sauce they put on it is creamy, good, full of flavor.
ADOBADA (BEEF): 5, you did not misread that.  It is a 5 on beef pastor.  I know, I'm as surprised as you are.  This stuff is blow your socks off good.  It was the second best thing that I ate tonight.  Really tasty.  So good.  So juicy.  Really a must eat.  Like, this might make it to my plate for my last meal ever if I find myself on death row.  Don't miss out.
BUCHE: 5, the 5 ranking was made for this taco.  It might be one of the best tacos I've ever put in my mouth.  Juicy, tasty, damnit, there are just so many great things that I can say.  I could go on and on.  This is wonderful buche.  This might be the best pork I've ever had.  I implore you to do yourself a favor.  Please go to Chula Vista and eat this tastiness.  You will want to send me a thank you after you eat this.
GUACAMOLE: 2, San Diegans, what are you doing to avocados to ruin guacamole?  Please stop!  Avocados deserve better.  You need to stop ruining them.  I hope that  you read this and listen to me.

Whether it was the sopes, the tacos or the peppers, it was a great trip and a great time.  As always, I go back to how awesome it is to have great folks, like Ramon to go on these adventures with me.  A huge thanks to Luis for not only pointing us in this direction, but for joining us.  It is great to get out of work and do something with a great guy like him.  No, he does not have to use the restroom in the picture below.

Please check this place out for your own good.  It is in Chula Vista, right off the 5 Freeway.  H street is the place.  Get off the freeway, go East about a quarter of a mile and you will have happy taste buds.  One of the better places I've been.  I look forward to taking some good people there, hopefully soon.  Maybe this is on the list for our big OotT SD trip.  Yeah, sound it out, you'll get the letters and what they stand for.  It is obvious.  Thanks everyone, as always for reading, we are still looking for a logo and your help would be appreciated.  STAY EXCELLENT!!!

Tacos El Guero, Almost Tijuana, CA

After a fun filled day of training some great new folks for the San Diego Airport location, I headed back to the hotel, grabbed my jacket and jumped on Dolly.  It's my birthday and I need some tacos.  Do I wish that I was with Melissa, the kids and some friends?  Yes, of course, but we have to make due with what we have.  The day was truly pretty rough, but this is what I drove up to:

Yes, that is taken from my bike.  Pretty excited to see this out open in front of the place.  I was sent towards this place by my beautiful BFF Nikki:

Yes, she goes to Crossfit.  She is a taco eating beast.  She has guided me to a few of the places that we've been to on this blog.  She probably wants a different picture up, but if I put this sentence another way it is more fun.  For example, "she probably wants another picture up."

This is her at Easter this year.  The attractive man next to her is her forever boyfriend.  A brave Federal Fire Fighter, Matt.  So Nikki knows her tacos.  She knows how to find great places.

The place is quick.  Food comes out quick and right.  Flavors are great.  Really great.  It is right at two miles from the border right off the 5 freeway.  The place is pretty popular.  I looked it up and read things about the shadiness of the neighborhood.  I wouldn't say go down there by yourself at night, but the place is not too bad.  Definitely not a "family" restaurant or area.

Place was good.  I would go back.  Flavors are a bit different then your normal LA or SD flavors.  Salsa bar was nice.  Not too much, but enough.  Perfect as a matter of fact.

RATINGS:
SPICY RED: 5, this was one of the spiciest things I've ever eaten.  It was really hot.  Tasty though.  I did like it quite a bit, obviously.

VERDE: 4, this stuff was tasty.  Kind of sweet, kind of spice in there, all around tastiness.  Liked it.

ROJO: 3, I like this stuff.  It really was great, but not "amazing."  Anyhow, it scores a solid 3.

ASADA: 3, hard to make me go higher then a three.  This stuff was solid, not too bad.  It almost got a 4, they put a green creamy salsa on there, just for the Asada.

LENGUA: 2, yeah, this was the one lower point of the trip.  Cut into pieces that were too big and not quite as tender as it should have been.  Not horrible, but left something to be desired.

PAPAS: 5, sorry El Atacor, it beat you out.  Really a big good taco.  Some of the best $.99 I've spent.  Kind of sad I didn't get a second one.

CARNITAS: 4, so it could have been a 5.  It was left on the flat top too long when they warmed it up.  Anyways, it was good.  Moist, flavorful, I liked it a tremendous amount.

CABEZA: 3, good, nice stuff.  Didn't blow me away, but was really good.  Not too chewy, a little bit crisp.  They know how to cook cabeza and I appreciate that.

PASTOR: 4, I know, the pride of the place.  Why isn't it a 5?  The creamy green salsa/sauce esque thing that they put on.  It was good, but their pastor is so damn good, it needs no distractions.  I would say order it with the sauce on the side and get a 5 of an experience.  

This place is a good old fashioned fun taqueria.  Food was good, different, fun.  I had a great ride down there on the bike.  Smelled the ocean air for part of the ride each way.  I have to say it was a nice birthday dinner.

Thanks again to my BFF Nikki, I appreciate you and love you and your suggestions.  I guess that is the moral of this story.  Great friends can be with you whether or not you are with them.  I'm lucky to have the great friends that I have and appreciate the wonderful folks that are in my life.  Nikki, I'm taking you out for some tacos soon.  Thanks everyone for reading, one more picture of Nikki below, Stay Excellent All!

El Indio, San Diego, CA

The sign is pretty neat.  I loved seeing it when I passed by the other day and driving up to it today.  It is kind of big and obtrusive.  It says, "hey we are here."  This place had a ton of potential to be a bust.  I'll save you the agony of waiting, it was not.  I would go back to this place.  I'm glad, because after my Houston trip with two bad visits in a row, I was scared after Lucha Libre.  I mean Lucha wasn't horrible, but I'm in NO rush to go anywhere near back to the place.  The menu was a bit big, I only took a picture of one of the many sections.  They had a plan.  A theme, not trying to be this crazy place, just a place of excellence in a traditionally no traditional way.  I think they did damn well.

So, yeah, they are pricey, or are they?  They look pricey, but if you look at the whole menu and some of the deals they run, they are legit.  Not greedy, just trying to make a buck.  As every one of these goes, I'll set the tone for you.

It was a cool breezy night after a crazy day of burgers making fun.  I'm lucky I really do like my job.  Anyways, it was cool and breezy.  The air was coming off with a great salty smell off the Pacific.  Ramon and I were enjoying that part of the night more then anything.  It is just short of a two mile walk for us from the airport to our hotel.  We have enjoyed the walk every time so far, but tonight's was the best.  We went ahead, jumped in his car and headed out.  As we were headed on a one way street, some idiot was driving on the wrong side of the street, we were really lucky and happy that we did not get into a wreck.

Here is the salsa bar.  Pretty simple.  Pretty good.  Their salsas were all ok, nothing that blew us away, but not too shabby.  I do have to say it was nice to see them stick with what they know.  They make their own corn tortillas and their own corn tortilla chips from that.  These salsas were good for dipping.  They wouldn't let us back to take any pictures, but said we could take them from the line.

Let me point out, these tortillas and chips are not nearly as good as Carnitas Uruapan, but solid.  They do a nice job.  I would go buy a bag of their huge chips and some salsa.  Nice little snack right there.  Ramon and I really tried to get a huge variety of what they do.

Our lay of the land was their nachos, street tacos, veggie enchilada, carnitas tamale and their famous mortiditas.  Motiditas are bite size.  They take their taquitos and drench them in nacho cheese, some salsa and jalapenos.  This is a good call.  Not something I'd have every time, but damn good.

RANKINGS:
CHIPS: 5, they are good.  Big, tasty, nice.  Great for nachos and dipping.  I would love to try some chiliquiles made with these bad boys.
MORTIDITAS: 4, though they are the best I've ever had, they are the only.  I think they might be a bit rich with all that friedness and nacho cheese excellence.
SALSA: 3, they were good, but none really stood out.  Nothing really to write home about here, pretty average.  The tomatillo when it was warmed up and on the food was good, tart but sweet tomatillos.
TAMALE: 3, tamale was awesome.  Really awesome.  It is worth eating, I did like it, but nothing amazing.  For sure not some frozen junk.  Really good stuff here, just nothing super memorable.
ENCHILADA: 4, yeah, this is really nice.  Something really special.  Veggies were really good, not over cooked, had a little bite, loved them.  The tortilla was soft and sauce was perfect.  Flavorful, no where near overpowering.
GUACAMOLE: 3, not bad, not amazing.  Worth having if you like guacamole, if you are really into guac, you won't be impressed.
NACHO CHEESE: 4, yeah, I just felt like rating it.  We both thought it was pretty good.  Didn't think I would like it, but they do a nice job with a basic, normally ignored kind of "filler."
TACOS:
ASADA: 2, that might be generous, we are teeter tottering on a 1 here folks.  Kind of tough and just not very good.  Flavors were off and junk.
CARNITAS: 4, yes 4.  Really liked it.  Moist, flavorful, really nice.  They did well here.  Might have been my favorite part of the meal aside from Ramon's company and yes, they did beat out the chips which scored higher.
POLLO: 1, SUCKED.  Canned tomatoes on nasty chicken.  Umm, yeah.

There is Ramon thinking about the food.  He is such a trooper.  Look at those guns attached to his shoulders.  If you see him, please tell him that he looks nice.  He is very self conscious.  You can tell when I'm not giving him enough attention, he posts the "anonymous" comments on the blog.

Best part about the restaurant was the girl working there.  She did a great job guiding us towards the right stuff, telling us about the restaurant.  She was a nice girl.  Great interaction with all guests, not just Ramon.  Look at Ramon drink, he makes it look so easy.

Check this place out if you are in the area. It is a couple of blocks from Lucha Libre, but it is so much better.  We are going to hit another place or two or more in the next week while we are down here.  Thanks everyone for reading, please tell your friends.  Stay Excellent!

Lucha Libre, San Diego, CA

Yesterday morning Dolly, my beard and I rode down the 5 to beautiful San Diego for the next 9 to 12 Days.  Ramon and I are going to be opening a The Counter here in the San Diego Airport.  The ride down was nice, settling in here wasn't too shabby.  I've been sent a lot of places over the years, San Diego is one of the better ones.  I have these views from the room's patio:

San Diego also is the resting place of the Great Buck Monstrosity.  If you don't know, I'm a huge fan of The Monstrosity.  I will get some great tacos with him prior to my exit of this fair city.  In case you want to say hi to the Monstrosity and you are not sure if you've seen him, I'll provide a picture below.  The hot chick in the picture is his lovely wife, so don't stare at her, just say hi, uncomfortably shake her hand and keep walking.  The hot dude in the picture is the Monstrosity.  You can call him Mr Bucky, Mr Monstrosity or sir when you see him:

Now that you know where I am, what I'm doing and who I'm with, please get all of your Ron Burgundy jokes out of the way.  I know, most of you have never been to the great city of San Diego, saw it on a movie and you feel a connection.  It's deep, its meaningful and I'm glad that you get to share that bond.  

So on a suggestion, since we didn't have much time yesterday, we hit up Lucha Libre.  I love the WWF or E or whatever letter they put after it now, however a Mexican restaurant with a fake wrestling theme, again, movie connection here, is not for me.  I will apologize in advance for the photos below.  First, they are not to scale, second, they are just not good.  I don't have a good reason why, they just suck.  

Yes, that is a blurry picture of the menu board.  I know, I thought the same thing and I did say it to Ramon, "why are we here?  The menu is way too big."  Size does matter, in this case, we do not need a fancy board with a bunch of crap on it.  Do what you do well and own it.  The taco world is a simple world.  This place is, I'm guessing busy and does pretty well, but not great judging by the comments made by folks around us and the lack of real pop while we were there.  So the girl working the register is great.  Full of attitude, no excuses, she was pretty damn funny.  You know the type, nice girl, great personality, all her friends like her, maybe she drives a Camaro, I don't really know or care.  There is a lot to choose from.  They have all the "clever" names associated with each burrito, taco and other assortment of stuff that they have.  I'd go through them with you, but I don't think you care, if you do, sorry, I really don't.  Ramon and I ordered a spread of stuff and were really disappointed in the pricing.  This place is priced way too high.  Yeah, not cool.  We figured we'd divide, conquer, judge, leave.  FYI:  rolled tacos means cheap ass taquitos from the freezer section at your local super market.  Don't misunderstand me, those have their place, but not in a taco joint calling them "rolled tacos."  We made our way to the salsa bar.  This was the highlight of this trip.  What a treat.  I almost smiled thinking of their salsas.  

Nice variety, great flavors, some things off the grid, I dig it.  Great use of cucumber in salsa.  I need to incorporate more cucumber.  My father in law does a great job of that, me falling short, but not for much longer.  Watch as I caught Ramon in action.  He skillfully puts salsa into a plastic 2 oz souffle cup.  Remember folks, he gets paid to do the at The Counter:

A true master of his craft in his cute little Ninja Turtles T-Shirt.

So as we look around the restaurant we see all sorts of colors.  I mean bright ones, with wrestling masks and pictures and of course like 8 photos of Ron Burgundy.  This place is a "themed" restaurant.  The only theme I look for is great product.  For this I was let down.  

We chatted, ate the nasty chips, again cheap super market chips and enjoyed it with the most excellent salsas.  Really loved the salsas.  We compared and contrasted them, some were better then others.  We did avoid eye contact with everyone in there.  Lots of yuppies.  Finally, not too long, the food came and we jumped right in.

Lets cut the crap and get to the rankings.

RANKINGS:

ADOBADA: 3, not bad, not good, but not bad.  Seasoning was good, meat was ok.  I would eat it.  I wouldn't be psyched, but I wouldn't feel force fed.

ASADA: 2, I don't know what they were thinking or if they were.  It looked like asada but, yeah, it sucked more then a high school cheerleader with daddy issues.

TACO de PAPA: 1, can anyone say freezer burn?  Yeah, this was more awkward then me in a bikini.  

NACHOS: 4ish, they were layered nice with the right stuff on there, but the stuff on there was just ok.  Yeah, I want to like them to be a true 4, but the are probably closer to a 3.

POLLO con MOLE: 2, mole was too sweet, but good.  Chicken was too tough.  Morale of the story is they know how to make sauce, that is it.

FRENCH FRY TACO: 1, I still don't know why Ramon ordered this, but it is a waste of time rip off. This thing was cheaper then a Tijuana hooker, avoid.

SALSA: 4, fell short of a 5 because some of them kind of sucked. Overall, they were good.  You should check them out and pick what you liked.  Best flavors of the trip.

"GUACAMOLE:" 0, have I ever given a zero?  I don't believe in them.  1 is the lowest.  Quotation marks.  Yeah, this stuff was not made with real avocados.  It might have been guacamole flavored toothpaste.  I'm really not sure.  I have some little zingers to describe, but they are just way too inappropriate and I don't want to deter any readers.  Don't let them put this on your plate, anyone who reads this deserves better.

Not a huge fan.  Lots out of bags here.  I mean it really kind of sucked.  Ramon's company kept me a float.  I know San Diego has some amazing spots and that is going to happen.  This was just a poor choice by blinded mice.  We will prevail.  We will enjoy the taco greatness that SD has to offer.  Thanks as always for reading, until next time, Stay Excellent.