at last, tacos!

Perhaps we were a bit spoiled after living in Chicago for seven years, but finding delicious, authentic Mexican food in San Francisco has been quite the challenge. It seems backwards, doesn't it? You'd assume California - even Northern California - would trump the Midwest in terms of rocking Mexican cuisine. But Chicago has Pilsen (a neighborhood with a rich Mexican history and subsequently, great food) and, of course, Rick Bayless. From XOCO to Frontera to Topolo, Rick Bayless is the master of Mexican and we were so lucky to have him right in Chicago.

San Francisco, on the other hand, does great Chinese, Thai, and sushi. And California Cuisine, obviously. But tacos? Meh. So far our quest for awesome tacos has been disappointing.

Until now.

Last week we tried Tacolicious. Game changer. The tacos (and margaritas!) here are out of this world good. I suspect we'll be going back here again and again...

And I urge you to do the same.

{I apologize for the lack of quality photographic evidence. What can I say? I was impatient and hungry :) }

Hey Bay Area readers, know of any other great Mexican spots we should try?

a gloomy day in the mission

Last Saturday was a gross, rainy day in San Francisco, so Dave and I decided to cheer ourselves up with some authentic Mission burritos (a SF original we had yet to experience). 

On our way, we stopped at a fancy little coffee shop on 16th for a pre-lunch snack (like you do). It was lovely... until I started eating my donut, which tasted suspiciously like cardboard with sprinkles. Turns out, it was cardboard with sprinkles -- it was a vegan donut. Now, if you happen to be vegan, that's cool; I support you. But here's my personal message to all the establishments of the world: selling baked goods under the guise of containing butter is cruel and I beg you not to do it. Just label it, okay? (If you are wondering, I ate the whole thing because, I mean, it was still a chocolate donut after all.)

Moving on.

After pre-lunch, we decided to browse the random shops along Valencia until we were hungry again. It was here we discovered an ipod for sale an antique store. I'm still struggling to process that.

All the way down Valencia, I dragged Dave into every single mid-century furniture store we passed (of which there are like, a million). For Dave, who hates shopping, this was pure torture. Not even the functional - and free! - Ms. Pac-Man machine we stumbled upon could keep him sane. And so finally, a few hours later, we started towards our long-awaited burritos.

We were a mere half-block away from the restaurant (where the Mission-style burrito was invented, apparently) when we heard the sweet sound of a mariachi band. Now, who doesn't love a good mariachi band, right? Right. It was coming from the Mexican restaurant across the street and it was packed. Dave and I looked at each other, shrugged, and said 'well, it must be good'.... We followed the music and ditched the burritos.

The mariachi band finished their set about two minutes after we sat down, of course. Disappointed, we decided to order a pitcher of margaritas. It was enormous. 

Of course, we knew we didn't have to drink the whole pitcher... But it was raining outside and we didn't bring an umbrella. After we finished our prawn fajitas, we lingered and slowly sipped our margaritas until the pitcher was gone. By 3pm, we were definitely tipsy. Ok, we were a little drunk.

Time to go home and take a long nap, which is precisely what we did. But not after missing the bus and waiting in the pouring rain for half an hour.

I had to include this photo so you too could enjoy the sheer awesomeness of these chairs.
If I ever own a restaurant, I am furnishing it with these. No question.