| In
an effort to name the best neighborhood taqueria, we gathered menus
from 13 places. After eliminating five of the more expensive places,
we selected five of what were considered the most popular, yet traditional,
items from each of the remaining eight taquerias - carne asada
burritos, tacos al pastor, quesadillas suiza with chicken, ceviche
and various veggie items - and held a blind taste-off for
15 of our most discriminating friends. |
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After
stuffing ourselves silly in the name of research, we turned in our
ballots. So, whose cuisine reigns supreme (OK, we stole that from
"Iron Chef")?
NOTE:
These findings are based solely on the quality of the food; ambiance
and cleanliness of the taquerias were not factors in the voting,
since we took all the food to go.
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BEST CARNE
ASADA BURRITO:
Taqueria Cancun's version, with its grilled, slightly crunchy tortilla
and fresh avocado, was the favorite, followed by El Tonayense and La Corneta,
BEST TACOS
AL PASTOR:
El Farolito's were pleasingly spicy and not too greasy; Cancun and El
Buen Sabor also ranked high.
BEST CHICKEN
QUESADILLA SUIZA:
It's Farolito again, with their juicy, white-meat chicken and homemade
tortillas, tying El Buen Sabor's savory offering for first place, with
Taqueria San Jose and El Tonayense in second and third place.
BEST CEVICHE:
La Corneta won this round, with Cancun's spicy version coming in second
place. Farolito's might have fared better if they'd packed the tostada
separately; it was soggy by the time we all dug in.
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BEST
CHILE RELLENO:
Baja California, with the perfect level of cheese and spice, took this
one, with San Jose and El Tonayense rounding out the top three.
*Subcategory: Tonayense was short one of the chiles for
our order, so they threw in a veggie tamale, which was moist and delicious.
BEST VEGGIE BURRITO:
Cancun was the favorite, followed by El Tonayense and Farolito. Many tasters
said El Metate's version with seasonal vegetables tasted more Asian than
Mexican.
*Subcategory: We tried chile relleno burritos from El
Buen Sabor and La Corneta, with the latter edging out Buen Sabor's version,
which had too much rice and not enough chile.
OTHER NOTES:
Farolito scored merit points for its amazing green salsa and for being
the cheapest, Tonayense's chips were a favorite, and San Jose had delicious
red salsa, but lost points for being the most expensive place included
the tasting.
Photos by Christopher Lautz
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