My last meal in SF was tacos. I hadn’t really thought about tacos or Mexican food in general during my trip. I am from LA, I have tacos on practically every corner (okay, maybe not but it feels that way).
But somehow, I managed to find stomach space for four tacos (!!!) after ice cream at Humphrey Slocombe (!!!). Carina mentioned that Tacos Vallarta and so did Tracy of Battledish during our mini battledish crawl.
I took one look at the grill and decided to get four tacos; carnitas, pastor, lengua and buche. Then I asked what was pansita. I was told it was lamb. I wanted to get that as well but they were out of it.
Overall, I liked the buche but I probably would have grilled it a bit longer to get it crispier. Everything else was fine but nowhere as good as LA street tacos. I did love how the woman was trying to teach me Spanish and also the lovely grilled onions with the tacos.
Tacos Vallarta
3033 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110-4131
(415) 826-8116
It wouldn’t be fair to compare Tacos Vallarta to LA street tacos so I test-drove this taco shack near my office in Downtown LA. Taqueria Llamas is bright yellow and the tacos are $1.25. Quite affordable and definitely some of the cheapest lunch fare around. I wasn’t feeling as hungry (!!!) so I only ordered three tacos. I tried to order similar ones I had before but they didn’t have lengua and I didn’t want buche. I got the chorizo, pastor and carnitas.
I was so into this salsa bar. Lots of fresh sides to go with my $5.12 lunch (I also got a horchata).
Those sliced cucumbers were hella (ooops, leftover from being in SF for four days) spicy. The pastor was noticeably different from the one I had in SF. I’m used to pastor looking a certain way. At Tacos Vallarta, the slices were much less grilled looking and bigger pieces.
Taqueria Llamas was s’okay. The tacos next door are a quarter less so I’ll be trying that place soon. I will go back to Llamas though. They have mulitas, tortas and burritos for $4. And a mysterious handwritten sign stating they have cheetos with cheese. Does this mean what I think it means? Oh yeah, back in LA and lovin’ it!
Taqueria Llamas
1045 S Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 741-2145
September 13, 2010 at 1:44 PM
[...] rice. The beans were good. Probably made with real lard! It was a find and between El Comedor and Taqueria Llamas, the taco stand next door, I’m happy with my Mexican options. Well, more or less. El Comedor [...]
August 15, 2011 at 12:50 PM
[...] couldn’t help but think about the last time I had tacos in SF. It was right before I boarded my flight home and I suppose it’s fitting I had tacos [...]
August 26, 2011 at 3:46 PM
[...] I must be one of the bloggers Midtown Lunch refers to as the one who’ll cover the sides and salad of Fat Spoon. As it is, the seafood curry is already over $10, his budget for lunch. In DTLA, it’s pretty damn hard to find a reasonably tasty lunch for $10 or less. I try to find a balance to my exorbitant pricey lunches with my usual $1-$1.25 tacos. [...]
December 1, 2011 at 6:06 PM
[...] get a chicken quesadilla at the reasonably priced taco shacks across the street like El Comedor or Taqueria Llamas across the [...]