46 Tacos: Sweet redemption

After half-assing it on my taco quest over the past couple of weeks and at one point dropping the pace to below 300 tacos, I finally decided enough was enough. This was not a difficult conclusion to come to - if "enough" is going to be anything, "enough" is probably one of the more likely things for enough to be. Anyway, the time had come for me to stop half-assing it and get back to full-assing it.

These tacos were definitely full-assed.

It was time to quit pussyfooting around and eat some real tacos. To accomplish this goal, I set my sights on one of the most revered taco establishments in the southern peninsula of the Bay Area: Taqueria Los Charros on Dana St. in Mountain View, CA. For those of you who are culturally ignorant out there, a charro is a type of Mexican cowboy. The time had come for me to "cowboy up" and get back to the basics rather than continuing to write about silly, non-hardcore things like wine pairings.

I ordered one carnitas super taco ($3.50) and two regular tacos ($2 each): pollo asado and al pastor. The after-tax bill of $8.12 seemed a bit steep, but it is really quite a bargain if you think about it in terms of being a filling meal composed entirely of the most perfect food ever invented on planet earth. (I doubt any aliens out there have anything better, but if you're reading this, E.T., feel free to prove me wrong and I'll start a new blog about that food.)

The super taco seemed a little questionable at first. You almost need a machete to cut your way through the dense jungle of iceberg lettuce and what have you that stands between you and the delicious taco meat that awaits you near the bottom of the styrofoam box. When you finally get down there, however, I can assure you that you will be well-rewarded for your back-breaking efforts.

Da da da da da da...super taco! This one was absolutely brilliant, and I'm not just referring to the fact that the picture is 5 times too bright.

The rundown:
3) Pollo asado. Don't get me wrong, it's a good one. Juicy and well-seasoned. The other two were just better. 7/10.
2) Carnitas. Succulent shredded pork that's tasty but doesn't cross the line into tasting like a pure slab of animal fat. 8/10.
1) Al pastor. Wow. Simply one of the best of its kind out there. Similar to other good al pastor tacos, except they char the meat to perfection, which makes a world of difference. I guess you have to expect that a place called "Los Charros" would be pretty legit at charring stuff. 9/10.

Final note: the super taco is a pretty good call, but there's lots of filler in there. I'm almost indifferent between 2 super tacos for $7 and 4 regular tacos for $8, but I'd probably lean towards the side of more variety. Depends on your style I guess.

3 tacos consumed.
46 total tacos this year.
Current pace: 295 tacos.