Tortas El Guero

I must first admit that I have eaten here a handful of times in the past few years. To me, this signals that I like the place. It is a simple building with a handful of parking spaces in the front. Their are more spaces out back, which is helpful because the placement of the street sign creates an awkward obstacle to maneuver around. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was the lack of customers. It was Friday after all, and I had expected to wait in line as I had in the past, this time there was no one in front of me. Alex was already seated in the mostly emptied dining area. The young Hispanic woman at the register greeted me with a smile as she took my order of a Cochinita torta, fries and a coke in bottle (the kind from Mexico, made with real sugar). The total was $11.80.

I took a seat at a table and waited just six minutes for my meal to arrive. The torta was wrapped in white paper, which was on a white ceramic plate. A handful of French fries were piled along side, with a plastic ramekin filled with ketchup. I made my way to the salsa cart where I found three types of fresh colorful sauces, lime wedges and cucumber slices. I tried all the salsas, which tasted fresh, traditional and spicy. They all had nice textures. The sandwich was good. The bread was soft and fresh. The pork was moist, however it could have used more flavor. The mayonnaise may have muted the punch of the pork alone. The avocado, lettuce, tomato and roasted green chili pepper added a solid compliment to the meat. There was a hint of spice, a crunch of texture and all around happiness in my mouth. Following the torta and fries, Alex decided to try a quesadilla and some tacos, donating half of this quasi-dessert to me. The tortillas were exceptional, warm and soft with a rich masa taste. The beef was full of flavor inviting me to indulge in a few more of the tacos than was probably necessary.

Overall the food was solid as always. The grounds were clean with a slight lack of direction in design. I think this works, as the target market doesn’t seem to mind and more focus seems to have been placed in the design of the food. It is the type of place I like to tell people about, and will be back again in the future.


Dave