cross street: Van Ness
ph. 415/503-0340
Map Visits: 2
Shrug: size (7); rice (7); ingredient mix (6)
Clang: beans (5); cheese (4)
Intangibility bonus: 2 (of 2)
Fantastic burrito!...apart from the non-factor cheese, forcibly segregated refried beans, and overly heaping helping of micro-grain rice. So, OK, maybe not totally fantastic after all. But still mighty tasty in light of those shortcomings. Notably slender dimensions provided early shrugs from our panel, every member of which nevertheless lauded this foiled lunch’s fervent spice, continual run of hot bites, and full-on two-mustache intangibility. The grilled chicken was dependably good top to bottom, even if it exuded a strange (if minor) greasy vibe at times. Well-grilled items included the tortilla and a whole bunch of diced onion, and even if there was too much rice on hand, it all tasted pretty alright. And there was certainly no grousing about the airtight construction.
Shrug: beans (7); ingredient mix (7); meat (6); rice (6)
Clang: cheese (2); vegetables (2)
Intangibility bonus: 1 (of 2)
Taq. Cazadores didn’t do itself, its fans, or our cranky panelists any favors by scuzzing our weighty, fiery lunch with scattered pods of sour cream, but there were other issues just as serious occurring here. The clear absence of pico de gallo and that mere trace of guacamole ensured an embarrassing vegetables performance, and while we’re in clueless-sleuth mode, where’d the cheese go at? We barely tasted (or even witnessed) any. The ingredient mix was fine enough, but it still kept a few ingredients — such as the unremarkable, paling rice and drably OK refried beans — out of the game a bit too much. The tortilla was respectably grilled, and we totally appreciated the perfect run of hot bites and reliable, if slightly floppy construction. As for the allegedly saucy pork, it was the English footballer of meats: pretty tough on the outside, kind of dry on the inside. Mediocre, seven-mustache burritos deserve equally mediocre analogies.