Our Onslaught Lurches OnFebruary 2009
February Taqueria Visits
2/26: Taq. El Sol did most everything right...or at least, not wrong. Our best burrito in weeks.
2/22: Back in its glory era, Tacos El Tonayense at Harrison and 22nd never would have served up such a multi-napkin grease-extravaganza.
2/19: Hellhounds are clearly on our trail, and by “hellhounds,” we do mean 6.67-mustache burritos. The latest backwards-masking culprit? 360° Gourmet.
2/15: With its latest ill-advised effort ratcheting up a paltry, near-devilish 6.67 mustaches, La Corneta Taq. is now the neighbor of the beast.
2/12: Is Taq. El Castillito on Mission following Tonayense Taq.’s downturn lead? Hopefully not - but the mustaches say otherwise.
2/8: L’avenida’s burritos keep getting better, even if its shopfront space isn’t what it used to be.
2/4: Revelation sometimes appears in the most surprising places. Like, for instance, at Caramba.
2/26: Taq. El Sol did most everything right...or at least, not wrong. Our best burrito in weeks.
2/22: Back in its glory era, Tacos El Tonayense at Harrison and 22nd never would have served up such a multi-napkin grease-extravaganza.
2/19: Hellhounds are clearly on our trail, and by “hellhounds,” we do mean 6.67-mustache burritos. The latest backwards-masking culprit? 360° Gourmet.
2/15: With its latest ill-advised effort ratcheting up a paltry, near-devilish 6.67 mustaches, La Corneta Taq. is now the neighbor of the beast.
2/12: Is Taq. El Castillito on Mission following Tonayense Taq.’s downturn lead? Hopefully not - but the mustaches say otherwise.
2/8: L’avenida’s burritos keep getting better, even if its shopfront space isn’t what it used to be.
2/4: Revelation sometimes appears in the most surprising places. Like, for instance, at Caramba.
New Year, Same Topic: BurritosJanuary 2009
'08 SCRUM IS DONE
Papalote and El Norteño engaged in an epic battle throughout December for the 2008 Slab Scrum title. Well, we've finally crowned a winner, and you're a single click away from finding out which taqueria took home the Great Mustache.
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IT'S THE NEW MATH
We were so much older then; we're younger than that now.
Our research into San Francisco's labyrinthian taqueria maze began on New Year's Day 2003 with a really lousy burrito at Chino's Taq on Balboa. Well, here we all are, over six years later, and it's time to ask: Is something that happened in, say, May 2003 or September 2004 still relevant to your everyday life today? In our case, we rated a lot of burritos in those halcyon days, and while we believe in the sanctity of maintaining complete records, we also reckon it's about time we updated taquerias' Overall Mustache Ratings (OMRs) by laying to final rest the scores of all those early-era slabs.
As of January 2009, taqueria OMRs no longer figure in burritos rated prior to November 30, 2004 — the date recognized by our Records Division as the dawn of Burritoeater.com's so-called modern era. Reviews of these old-time burritos will still be displayed on the site, as will their ratings; the ratings are simply there for show, however.
As you'd imagine, this switch in our ratings formula certainly shakes up our Mustache Chart. If a burrito at a given taqueria clanged hard between 1/1/2003 - 11/29/2004, and subsequent modern-era burritos there have fared suitably better, expect that taqueria's OMR to rise, or possibly even skyrocket. Of course, the opposite holds true if a taqueria experienced early success but has since lost the mustachioed knack.
Top-tier taquerias affected most significantly include...
Gordo Taq. (Clement): OMR rises from 8.13 to 8.61; jumps from 21st to 1st (!) on Mustache Chart. An unexpected quantum leap.
Gordo Taq. (Inner Sunset): OMR rises from 8.43 to 8.60; jumps from 7th to 2nd on Mustache Chart. Gordo's 2005 introduction of refried beans compensated for past misdeeds with ill-drained pinto beans.
Papalote (Mission): OMR falls from 8.64 to 8.57; drops from 1st to 3rd on Mustache Chart. Among the six ratings now unincluded in Papalote's OMR is a 9.16-mustache whambammer enjoyed during the 2004 Scrum.
El Burrito Express (Outer Sunset): OMR rises from 8.23 to 8.55; jumps from 14th to 4th on Mustache Chart. Now we can all finally move on from our first disastrous dinner here in late 2003.
Taq. Can-cun (Mission/Valencia): OMR rises from 8.11 to 8.33; jumps from 23rd to 12th on Mustache Chart. Despite its eighth-place showing in the 2008 Scrum, steady improvement here is clear.
Taq. San Francisco: OMR falls from 8.49 to 8.32; drops from 4th to 13th on Mustache Chart. It's inevitable this shop's OMR would sink a bit after its 9.38-mustache colossus from February 2004 became moot.
Taq. La Paz: OMR rises from 7.60 to 8.20; jumps from 86th to 18th on Mustache Chart. Goes to show how awful one of those early burritos here really was.
Luna Azul: OMR falls from 8.29 to 8.14; drops from 12th to 22nd on Mustache Chart. The good times of late '03 have grown long in the tooth at this FutureMall taqueria.
Bottom-tier taquerias affected most significantly include...
Las Estrellas: OMR falls from 6.17 to 5.58; drops from 163rd to 172nd (among 172 taquerias) on Mustache Chart. Last place! Nicely done, Las Estrellas.
La Corneta (Mission): OMR falls from 6.50 to 6.00; drops from 159th to 168th on Mustache Chart. We're still bitter about our last visit here, which resulted in 2006's most reviled burrito. And that rating still counts.
Chino's Taq: OMR rises from 5.96 to 6.50; jumps from 168th to 161st on Mustache Chart. Don't be fooled. This place continues to be not OK.
As for the fact that the Mustache Chart's top ten is now dominated by multiple locations of the same taqueria companies — two Gordos, two Papalotes, two El Burrito Expresses, three El Castillitos — it's now more clear than ever which businesses have the sharpest management eye for hiring skilled taquistos and taquistas, and for smartly dispersing this all-star kitchen personnel around town. Then again, plucky slabwagon El Norteño just walked away with the 2008 Scrum title, so maybe there's still hope for the scrappy, single-shop underdog after all.
Hold it a minute. We're dealing with taquerias here. They're all pretty much scrappy underdogs.
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January Taqueria Visits
1/31: A lack of intangible charm killed a potential eight-mustache rating up at Taq. Miraloma.
1/28: Taq. Pepe’s’s flavorfully seasoned grilled chicken deserved a way stronger ingredient mix around it.
1/23: The salty sea dogs behind the counter at Fisherman’s Wharf Deli & Taq. served us an equally salty, low-rating slab. Prepare for perhaps one too many nautical metaphors.
1/19: As with summer fog and two-year residents grousing about “how much the city’s changing,” San Franciscans can always count on unflashy adequacy at Casa Mexicana.
1/16: Zero mustaches for Bur-Eat-Os’ silly name. 7.75 mustaches for its capable burrito.
1/13: Of all the places to deliver a quality burrito: beleaguered Fire House Cafe. No way. Way!
1/10: “At the Tropi -- Tropisueño...”
1/3: Our newly crowned top-rated taqueria, Gordo Taq. on Clement, crafted another much-mustachioed burrito.
Papalote and El Norteño engaged in an epic battle throughout December for the 2008 Slab Scrum title. Well, we've finally crowned a winner, and you're a single click away from finding out which taqueria took home the Great Mustache.
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
IT'S THE NEW MATH
We were so much older then; we're younger than that now.
Our research into San Francisco's labyrinthian taqueria maze began on New Year's Day 2003 with a really lousy burrito at Chino's Taq on Balboa. Well, here we all are, over six years later, and it's time to ask: Is something that happened in, say, May 2003 or September 2004 still relevant to your everyday life today? In our case, we rated a lot of burritos in those halcyon days, and while we believe in the sanctity of maintaining complete records, we also reckon it's about time we updated taquerias' Overall Mustache Ratings (OMRs) by laying to final rest the scores of all those early-era slabs.
As of January 2009, taqueria OMRs no longer figure in burritos rated prior to November 30, 2004 — the date recognized by our Records Division as the dawn of Burritoeater.com's so-called modern era. Reviews of these old-time burritos will still be displayed on the site, as will their ratings; the ratings are simply there for show, however.
As you'd imagine, this switch in our ratings formula certainly shakes up our Mustache Chart. If a burrito at a given taqueria clanged hard between 1/1/2003 - 11/29/2004, and subsequent modern-era burritos there have fared suitably better, expect that taqueria's OMR to rise, or possibly even skyrocket. Of course, the opposite holds true if a taqueria experienced early success but has since lost the mustachioed knack.
Top-tier taquerias affected most significantly include...
Gordo Taq. (Clement): OMR rises from 8.13 to 8.61; jumps from 21st to 1st (!) on Mustache Chart. An unexpected quantum leap.
Gordo Taq. (Inner Sunset): OMR rises from 8.43 to 8.60; jumps from 7th to 2nd on Mustache Chart. Gordo's 2005 introduction of refried beans compensated for past misdeeds with ill-drained pinto beans.
Papalote (Mission): OMR falls from 8.64 to 8.57; drops from 1st to 3rd on Mustache Chart. Among the six ratings now unincluded in Papalote's OMR is a 9.16-mustache whambammer enjoyed during the 2004 Scrum.
El Burrito Express (Outer Sunset): OMR rises from 8.23 to 8.55; jumps from 14th to 4th on Mustache Chart. Now we can all finally move on from our first disastrous dinner here in late 2003.
Taq. Can-cun (Mission/Valencia): OMR rises from 8.11 to 8.33; jumps from 23rd to 12th on Mustache Chart. Despite its eighth-place showing in the 2008 Scrum, steady improvement here is clear.
Taq. San Francisco: OMR falls from 8.49 to 8.32; drops from 4th to 13th on Mustache Chart. It's inevitable this shop's OMR would sink a bit after its 9.38-mustache colossus from February 2004 became moot.
Taq. La Paz: OMR rises from 7.60 to 8.20; jumps from 86th to 18th on Mustache Chart. Goes to show how awful one of those early burritos here really was.
Luna Azul: OMR falls from 8.29 to 8.14; drops from 12th to 22nd on Mustache Chart. The good times of late '03 have grown long in the tooth at this FutureMall taqueria.
Bottom-tier taquerias affected most significantly include...
Las Estrellas: OMR falls from 6.17 to 5.58; drops from 163rd to 172nd (among 172 taquerias) on Mustache Chart. Last place! Nicely done, Las Estrellas.
La Corneta (Mission): OMR falls from 6.50 to 6.00; drops from 159th to 168th on Mustache Chart. We're still bitter about our last visit here, which resulted in 2006's most reviled burrito. And that rating still counts.
Chino's Taq: OMR rises from 5.96 to 6.50; jumps from 168th to 161st on Mustache Chart. Don't be fooled. This place continues to be not OK.
As for the fact that the Mustache Chart's top ten is now dominated by multiple locations of the same taqueria companies — two Gordos, two Papalotes, two El Burrito Expresses, three El Castillitos — it's now more clear than ever which businesses have the sharpest management eye for hiring skilled taquistos and taquistas, and for smartly dispersing this all-star kitchen personnel around town. Then again, plucky slabwagon El Norteño just walked away with the 2008 Scrum title, so maybe there's still hope for the scrappy, single-shop underdog after all.
Hold it a minute. We're dealing with taquerias here. They're all pretty much scrappy underdogs.
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January Taqueria Visits
1/31: A lack of intangible charm killed a potential eight-mustache rating up at Taq. Miraloma.
1/28: Taq. Pepe’s’s flavorfully seasoned grilled chicken deserved a way stronger ingredient mix around it.
1/23: The salty sea dogs behind the counter at Fisherman’s Wharf Deli & Taq. served us an equally salty, low-rating slab. Prepare for perhaps one too many nautical metaphors.
1/19: As with summer fog and two-year residents grousing about “how much the city’s changing,” San Franciscans can always count on unflashy adequacy at Casa Mexicana.
1/16: Zero mustaches for Bur-Eat-Os’ silly name. 7.75 mustaches for its capable burrito.
1/13: Of all the places to deliver a quality burrito: beleaguered Fire House Cafe. No way. Way!
1/10: “At the Tropi -- Tropisueño...”
1/3: Our newly crowned top-rated taqueria, Gordo Taq. on Clement, crafted another much-mustachioed burrito.
Deck The Halls...With BurritosDecember 2008
MUSTACHE TEES ON SALE!
Another holiday season, another chance to pick up a sharp-looking, Great Mustache-studded tee - for either yourself or someone you think would look great with a mustache slapped across their chest. Visit our Apparel Bazaar today! It's where all holiday dreams come true. (Irresistible value-add: Complimentary shards of burrito-scented foil included with every purchase.)
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December Taqueria Visits
12/23: Papalote's sudden aversion to spicy burritos is not a good trend.
12/20: For the third consecutive Saturday, an El Norteño burrito ratcheted up a hefty mustache rating.
12/16: Spiciness went strangely missing at Papalote, although most everything else remained on-point.
12/13: El Norteño's continued its stunning run of eight-mustache consistency.
12/8: Word has it our panel would walk on its lips through busted glass to get to a Papalote burrito.
12/6: Ten-mustache spiciness never seems to take a bite off at El Norteño.
12/3: We knew Taq. San Francisco could be a little inconsistent from time to time. But not like this. Clang alert.
Another holiday season, another chance to pick up a sharp-looking, Great Mustache-studded tee - for either yourself or someone you think would look great with a mustache slapped across their chest. Visit our Apparel Bazaar today! It's where all holiday dreams come true. (Irresistible value-add: Complimentary shards of burrito-scented foil included with every purchase.)
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December Taqueria Visits
12/23: Papalote's sudden aversion to spicy burritos is not a good trend.
12/20: For the third consecutive Saturday, an El Norteño burrito ratcheted up a hefty mustache rating.
12/16: Spiciness went strangely missing at Papalote, although most everything else remained on-point.
12/13: El Norteño's continued its stunning run of eight-mustache consistency.
12/8: Word has it our panel would walk on its lips through busted glass to get to a Papalote burrito.
12/6: Ten-mustache spiciness never seems to take a bite off at El Norteño.
12/3: We knew Taq. San Francisco could be a little inconsistent from time to time. But not like this. Clang alert.
No Time Like SCRUM TIMENovember 2008
November Taqueria Visits
11/30: Our widemouth superslab at Taq. El Castillito garnered many, many nine-mustache element ratings. But this didn’t quite translate to Hall of Fame results.
11/26: We’ll stop short of constructing some sort of ill-advised “on the lamb” pun re: our delicious lamb slab at El Norteño.
11/23: Bit of a comedown at Gordo Taq. on 9th Ave.
11/21: Papalote is the light. Papalote is the way.
11/19: Taq. Reina’s is quickly gaining a reputation as one of San Francisco’s most dependable purveyors of quality slabfare.
11/16: It was one of those afternoons when Taq. San Francisco’s kitchen made a good day even better.
11/13: Another excursion to tiny El Burrito Express in the Avenues, another delicious meal with a tremendous view of the L-Taraval streetcar.
11/10: Gordo Taq. is one of the few taquerias in town where an 8.50-mustache effort feels like a slight underachievement.
11/7: Imagine how well our El Norteño slab would have rated had its ingredient mix not looked as if it belonged in a compartmentalized TV dinner tray.
11/4: Taq. El Castillito’s strong platform of robust sizing, avocado deployment, and onion-speckled pork garnered plenty of mustache-electorates on Decision Day ’08.
11/1: Clearly, the fellas in Taq. Can-cún’s kitchen must have cooked our burrito’s chicken on a special, flavor-extracting grill.
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Election Day Brouhaha: Yes on Prop. 8 Banner Ads on Burritoeater.com
We were disturbed and more than a little embarrassed when "Yes on Prop. 8" banner advertisements appeared on Burritoeater.com on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 4. Once discovered, all Google ad boxes on the site were immediately disabled for the rest of the day.
Google AdSense is the sole determiner of banner ads that run on Burritoeater.com; our job is to cover San Francisco taquerias, not define ad markets.
Political issues are rarely within the scope of Burritoeater.com, which is precisely why ads for political measures have no place on this site. This is especially the case when the political measure in question is as regressive and exclusionary as Proposition 8. Our deepest apologies to all burrito-eating opponents of 8 who may have seen these misleading Protect marriage rights banner ads for the short time they appeared on Burritoeater.com on Election Day. Viva San Francisco.
11/30: Our widemouth superslab at Taq. El Castillito garnered many, many nine-mustache element ratings. But this didn’t quite translate to Hall of Fame results.
11/26: We’ll stop short of constructing some sort of ill-advised “on the lamb” pun re: our delicious lamb slab at El Norteño.
11/23: Bit of a comedown at Gordo Taq. on 9th Ave.
11/21: Papalote is the light. Papalote is the way.
11/19: Taq. Reina’s is quickly gaining a reputation as one of San Francisco’s most dependable purveyors of quality slabfare.
11/16: It was one of those afternoons when Taq. San Francisco’s kitchen made a good day even better.
11/13: Another excursion to tiny El Burrito Express in the Avenues, another delicious meal with a tremendous view of the L-Taraval streetcar.
11/10: Gordo Taq. is one of the few taquerias in town where an 8.50-mustache effort feels like a slight underachievement.
11/7: Imagine how well our El Norteño slab would have rated had its ingredient mix not looked as if it belonged in a compartmentalized TV dinner tray.
11/4: Taq. El Castillito’s strong platform of robust sizing, avocado deployment, and onion-speckled pork garnered plenty of mustache-electorates on Decision Day ’08.
11/1: Clearly, the fellas in Taq. Can-cún’s kitchen must have cooked our burrito’s chicken on a special, flavor-extracting grill.
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Election Day Brouhaha: Yes on Prop. 8 Banner Ads on Burritoeater.com
We were disturbed and more than a little embarrassed when "Yes on Prop. 8" banner advertisements appeared on Burritoeater.com on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 4. Once discovered, all Google ad boxes on the site were immediately disabled for the rest of the day.
Google AdSense is the sole determiner of banner ads that run on Burritoeater.com; our job is to cover San Francisco taquerias, not define ad markets.
Political issues are rarely within the scope of Burritoeater.com, which is precisely why ads for political measures have no place on this site. This is especially the case when the political measure in question is as regressive and exclusionary as Proposition 8. Our deepest apologies to all burrito-eating opponents of 8 who may have seen these misleading Protect marriage rights banner ads for the short time they appeared on Burritoeater.com on Election Day. Viva San Francisco.
