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Público Mission BayOMR: 8.08
550A Gene Friend
cross street: 4th St.
ph. 415/934-8220
Map Visits: 1
A few years after Público management opened its first burrito counter in South of Market, the brand expanded down to UCSF's rapidly growing, yet utterly faceless Mission Bay campus. Indoor seating here consists of a pair of windowside counters, while plenty of tables await just outside this self-billed "zero emissions taco truck." Assuming it's agreeable weather, go the latter route, as there's a near-constant buzz of hovering customers awaiting to-go orders inside. The amusing menu includes "High School Nachos" (simply chips and cheese) and a fish and chips burrito that probably isn't as peculiar as you think. Credit cards accepted. Closed weekends.

Will My Health Be Violated?

10/03/12El Magnifico Carnitas Verde$7.998.08 Mustaches
Swish: vegetables (9); spiciness (9); temperature (9); size (8); tortilla (8); meat (8); cheese (8); sauciness (8)
Shrug: rice (7); beans (7); ingredient mix (7); burstage abatement (7)
Clang: no elements clanged
Intangibility bonus: 2 (of 2)

It definitely wasn't spectacular, with nary an element earning one of our coveted ten-mustache ratings. But our first burrito at Público's second San Francisco shop managed to crawl up and over our waterline of recommendability, if only by the skin of its nicely grilled tortilla's teeth. We couldn't resist the novelty of a carnitas verde slab — never had one of those — but it turned out to be a carnitas rojo job; indeed, that sauce was red, friends, and not green. It was also richly flavorful, while the pork itself was notably salty. Formidable guacamole and immediate and forceful spice left sharp impressions on our stalwart panel of judge-idiots, even if the sequestered (and pale) rice and just-there refried beans bored us all to near-tears. Globby cheese was mostly melted, while seepage was a perennial problem from top to bottom, most egregiously via a disturbing (if non-fatal) exposed seam that ran down the back side of the tortilla. Intangible charm held forth respectably throughout. Then we departed this hopelessly drab corporate park posing as a "campus."