Great Burrito Mexican Fast Food Restaurant & Pizza

At first blush, a hole-in-the-wall lunch place with not just tacos and pizza but also pitas and "Italian Heroes" on the menu is not going to be a winner. But going on a recommendation from a friend, I decided to give Great Burrito a go and am glad I did. In addition to tacos, the Mexican side of the menu (where I'd advise you stay) also features burritos, tortas, quesadillas, tostadas, sopes, enchiladas and huaraches. Meat choices go from chicken, steak, chorizo, to pork carnitas and al pastor, lengua and "a la casa" (chicken, beef and pork together). For the first test-run I went with one chicken taco and one each carnitas and al pastor.

The tacos (at $2.50/per) were big enough that two would've sufficed, but I'm glad I tried all three. Each was complimented with raw onions, cilantro and a salsa particular to the taco, and each featured very nicely differentiated marinade. The al pastor was savory and a little sweet, pork meltingly delicious and tender. The carnitas were spicier and had a nice pepper edge to the flavor, while the chicken was oddly but nicely definitely marinated in soy sauce (in part, at any rate), and nicely charred. Served with a wedge of lemon (not lime) each, washed down with a Jarritos Mandarina, a truly excellent lunch. Definitely worth a return trip, or worth stopping by if you work in this part of town or find yourself here around food-time.

Carrboro Taco Review: Coma Rica

Taco Provider: Coma Rica
Location: NE Corner of W. Main and Weaver Street in gas station parking lot
Taco Type: chicken
Toppings: fresh onion, cilantro
Sauces: red, green
Tortilla: single corn, handmade right there
Cost: $2/taco
Summary: The chicken was tender, had obviously been marinated in something yogurt-and-tumeric-y, and super-tasty. The red salsa was spicy but not blindingly so, the green super flavorful and smooth. The single complaint is that the just-handmade tortilla fell apart halfway through each taco, but this is a minor quibble – the tortilla was excellent if not structurally sound.
Overall rating: Excellent. Best chicken tacos I've hasd thus far in Carrboro. Had ordered a pupusa to go with one chicken taco but the mistake was just as well; I'll simply have to go back for more. They also have tortas (including Cuban) and something semi-terrifyingly translated as "Beef Rose."

Don Jose Tienda Mexicana

Finding myself on West Rosemary Street and in need of food, I remembered Asher's recommendation of Don Jose's tacos. A good call - after ordering two carnitas at $1.79/per (my general baseline for taco-quality around here), I repaired to the back, and the tables I wasn't aware existed there. Not only tables but big-screen showing Mexican soccer, and bowls of chips (small bowl, encased in saran-wrap). The tacos and salsa arrived, and they were - enormous. Heaping mounds of pico de gallo on top of the carnitas - again, yet another method of preparation different from the taco trucks and other counters - the pork itself perfectly tender but not spiced. No worries - the salsa verde was outstanding, taste itself with just enough spice, and a few drops of the spicier stuff was enough to make $4 for one of the perfect meals.

It's raining still like cats and dogs out there, and we've not even gotten the hurricanoe yet. As I write this, sitting in Milltown with their beer of the month and it's... mead. Black raspberry from Redstone Meadery in Boulder. Good, and curiously satisfying post-taco. Actually neither too sweet nor too fruity, but I do get the distinct impression that a night's drinking of this olde bevvie might induce a hammer-of-Thor level hangover.

Taco of Opportunity

Saturday brought physical labor, and so Saturday lunch necessitated high-protein refueling. Result - the Taco of Opportunity.

Ingredients:

• spicy pork sausage
• kale
• garlic
• beer
• flour tortilla
• spicy German yellow mustard
  

Instructions:

• Sauteé pork sausage in pan on high heat; when lightly browned on both sides, add beer to pan and cook until beer is half boiled off; remove sausage
  
• Sauteé garlic and kale (with stems intact) in pan until half-wilted; after removing sausage from other pan, move kale to sausage pan and finish in beer/sausage juices
• Warm tortilla. When warmed, slather with mustard, followed by a layer of kale, and then sliced pieces of sausage.
• Enjoy!