- We are driving through the Mission District,
which is sort of east-central San Francisco, California
and we are going to one
of the most well-regarded,
one of the most famous taqueria/burrito/
quesadilla places
in the entire city.
It is called La Taqueria.
Now, this requires perhaps a little bit of explanation
for the Mission-style burrito.
There is a Mission-style burrito named
for the Mission District, which in turn is named
for the Mission, the San Francisco de Asís Mission.
And from that came the Mission-style burrito,
which is known for being this big, overstuffed burrito
with rice, beans, meat and various fillings.
We are going to La Taqueria, which is famous for,
among other things, its burritos.
But it doesn't put rice in the burritos,
because the owner, Miguel Jara...
It's just simply not to his taste.
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(cheerful music)
So tell me the story of La Taqueria.
It's been open for how long?
- 44 years.
- 44 years. - This March is 44 years.
- That's a long time.
- I know, and it flies, man, (Lucas laughs) but it's fun.
When I go visit my friends in Tijuana, one of them told me
because they wanna go eat Chinese food, and steaks,
and stuff like that, and because I was up here
and there's no tacos here, I go over there...
No, no, I just wanna go eat tacos, you know?
So one of them said, "Hey, compadre, all the time you come
"over here and you just wanna go eat tacos,
"why don't you take a taco maker
"so you can feed you out there?"
This one was a bar and at that--
- This was a bar?
- This was a bar called Gordo's.
- Gordo's?
- Yeah, Mucho Gordo.
The people used to pass by here,
and the door was open, they would come in and say,
"Hey, what are you gonna do here?"
"Oh, I'm gonna make a taco place, man.
"I'm gonna sell carne asada, carnitas, eh?"
So the day that I opened, it got packed.
My mom was here, making chili,
that's her recipe for the hot sauce.
Two o'clock in the afternoon,
we don't have anything. - No more food?
- We had to close. - Oh, wow!
- Because everybody that passed by here was waiting--
- That's amazing. (Miguel laughs)
You have such a buzz about the opening in the early 70s.
- Without any publicity or nothing,
just because people used to pass by here.
- Tell me about the burrito, because this neighborhood
is famous for having burritos.
- They are different, because in Tijuana they had burritos,
when I was over there.
They put rice,
and that was like half rice. - Right, in the...
- A quarter of beans,
and they taste good but when you do carne asada,
it takes the flavor away from it.
- Okay. - So I decided not do...
Costs me more money,
because the rice is 20 cents a pound.
- Right, you have to put more meat in there.
- Yeah.
But that's okay, because the people loved it.
- Yeah.
I'm gonna try some of this, one of your burritos, I think.
- You're not going back to LA, buddy. (both laugh)
(cheerful music)
- Hi, how are you?
- Good.
- I'm gonna do a carne asada super dorado burrito,
and then can I also have a quesadilla with carnitas?
- [Server] Flour tortilla or corn tortilla?
- Flour. - In here?
- Yeah, for here.
(cheerful music)
This is carne asada.
Carne asada...
Asad, means, to grill
so carne asada just means, grilled meat.
It's a little smoky, it tastes like it's been marinated.
It tastes like it's been rubbed in salt, pepper,
maybe something like a little bit sweet?
They're generous with the meat in the burrito.
And then the beans are nice and pop in your mouth.
It's a little bit greasy, but it's like
that earthy, salty bean flavor that you like so much.
But I like the fact that they're sort of whole and intact.
Very juicy and flavorful.
We have guacamole, we have the salsa, pico de gallo,
and beans, it's very simple.
And then it's wrapped in this flour tortilla.
And then it's grilled.
So the salsa is special, this is Miguel's mother's recipe.
And it tastes like tomatillos.
It's nice and spicy.
Some spicy serrano peppers,
maybe a little bit of onion, little bit of garlic.
I could eat this all day.
It's a beautiful burrito because
it doesn't try to do too much.
Legend has it, I don't know if this is true, but that...
Some very hungry firefighters wanted a big burrito
and so they like put two small tortillas together
to make a giant burrito, and that they needed,
all of the starch in the burrito
to sort of have the energy to do their hard labor.
I forgot we have other food.
This is a beautiful quesadilla with carnitas, which is pork.
So this is a beautiful mess of pork meat, guacamole,
pico de gallo, sour cream, extremely juicy, very tender.
Sort of fall off the bone, if there were a bone,
but there's not a bone.
Falls off the bone, TBT.
Cut to girl saying, "Falls off the bone."
- [High-pitched voice] Falls off the bone!
- Thank you.
That nice tartness of the sour cream
and the creaminess of the avocado,
a little bit of bitterness from the onion
and the pico de gallo, but a little bit
of sweetness from that tomato.
I don't know, I kind of liked it, I like the burrito better,
but the quesadilla's nothing to sneeze at,
especially if you like cheese.
The meat, though...
Carnitas are a little more greasy.
So the carne asada, it's gonna be a little bit more
of that almost burnt, carbon-charcoal flavor
that you get on grilled meat,
whereas, the carnitas usually have been like...
Marinating, sitting in their own fat for a long time,
so it's just that moist,
drippy pork meat.
And that's what the carnitas...
I mean it's really, really delicious,
but it's different than the carne asada.
I love it, this place is great.
San Francisco is the place to go for burritos.
Sorry LA.
(cheerful music)
I really hope you enjoyed this episode
of Dining on a Dime from La Taqueria
in the Mission District in San Francisco, California.
If you'd like to watch more, please click here.
♫ You make me feel
♫ like a natural Lucas.
- [High-Pitched Voice] Lucas.
(bass guitar music)