La Tapatia Mexicatessen

South San Francisco, CA

I finally had a chance to check out La Tapatia in South City before my yoga class Thursday evening and boy was it crowded! I guess a lot of people stop by here for dinner since a whole bunch of people walking out with multiple fat burritos. Good sign! Not so good to eat before yoga though...hey, I was starvin' like Marvin. =P

This small storefront boasts assorted goodies in the front, chilies along the left wall, shelves of hot sauces in the center racks, sweets and another register on the right. I circled around the rack of chicharrones and thick-cut tortilla chips to the end of the line that extended almost to the end of the room. Cripes! I hoped not to be late to class and smelling like meat. Mmm...meat. Anyway, the line moved slowly since everyone ahead of me were ordering multiple burritos. That was fine, as I was able to peruse the menu and watch the efficient men behind the counter slinging rice and beans, wrapping burritos, or cooking up some meat. Note to self: try the carne asada, tamale, chips, and nacatamale (Nicaraguan giant tamale) next. From what I recall, the meat selection included: carnitas, chile verde, pollo, carne asada, buche, al pastor and a few others. Meats can be purchased by the pound for quick dinners. Oh, this place makes their own tortillas so they get a giant thumbs up.

At last, my turn was up. Based off older recommendations on Chowhound, I decided to try a chile verde regular burrito ($3.95) and a carnitas taco ($2.15?). Ahh, the La Tapatia counter men throw their large flour tortillas on the grill ahead of time for efficiency during the dinner rush. (Yet again, a sign they sell a boatload of burritos.) You know, the tortillas were pliant after grilling but the coolest part was watching the tortillas puff up a bit on the grill - kindanaan-ish if you know what I mean. Though everyone else chose refried beans with the works, I just asked for salsa and hot sauce to accompany my green-sauce coated pork, rice, and pinto beans. I just hate lettuce in my burritos, especially lettuce that has been cooked/wilted by the heat of the other ingredients. The smell of cooked lettuce makes me lose my appetite...seriously. BTW, the lettuces comes preshredded from a giant plastic bag - Sysco-like no-thank-you. =P I'm not a fan of refried beans...don't hate them, but if I had a choice, I'd choose pintos or black beans over refried.

Boy, was this burrito fat...rather girthy it was. =X (The bitten end was hidden...hehe.)



After tossing two small and fresh corn tortillas on the flat grill, the man behind the counter chopped the rest of the roasted-looking pork for my taco. I didn't see any raw onions or cilantro so I just asked for salsa and hot sauce for the taco.

Hopping back in my car, I took bites out of the taco and the burrito. Oh, the large carnitas chunks were tender and juicy. The burrito had a nice kick from the chile verde sauce on the pork and/or the deep red/brown hot sauce but the rice was on the dry side and very bland. I had to analyze the burrito after class and here's the wrap up:

Chile Verde Regular Burrito:
Tortilla: 8/10 - Hot, grilled, fresh, and pliant. Yum!
Chile Verde (pork): 8.25/10 - Spicy and tender, just the way I like my food. And my men. =X
Beans: 7/10 - Methinks me shoulda gotten refried. A little softer would be good...and a little more seasoning couldn't hurt.
Salsa: 9/10 - Salsa fresca and hot sauce were fresh and spicy. Bueno!
Rice: 6.75/10 - The weakest link. A bit dry and bland. Yuck.
Overall: 7.8/10 - Not a terrible burrito, not a fantabulous burrito. Good spiciness though. Will try carne asada or carnitas last time.

Carnitas taco:
Tortillas: 8.5/10 - White corn? Very fresh and tender. Grill treatment helped!
Carnitas: 8/10 - Moist and tender...nice meaty meat flavor.
Salsa: 8.75/10 - More of that nice salsa fresca with a largish dice. I did find a stem hole and some greenish tomato bits so this gets dinged in the taco.