Gringo Taco Showdown - Rick's Drive In vs Alberto's

As far as gringo tacos go it’s hard to beat Rick’s in Pasadena. Only, now it’s called Bobby’s Place. But the food is the same: the spuderito, the beef and bean with hot, and of course the crunchy ground beef tacos, are all still ridiculously delicious. This hybrid taco-burger stand is legendary.




The taco comes with ground beef, lettuce, tomato slice, cheese, and hot sauce. The shell is pre-fabricated and has a good crunch to it. I’m not sure what the secret is with these tacos but they are some of my favorite gringos.



About a mile east of Bobby’s, across from Pasadena City College, is an Alberto’s Mexican Restaurant. Alberto’s is a chain that is mostly in the San Gabriel Valley but I’ve seen them all over the place. I’ve only ever ordered a bean and cheese burrito at Alberto’s and depending on how generous they are with the cheese they can range from being great to just barely edible.



The beef taco at Alberto’s was just okay. For gringo tacos I prefer pre-fabricated shells and ground beef. Alberto’s has a sturdier taco shell and they use shredded beef. The beef is fried together with the shell so there is a lot of oil that gets trapped inside the taco. There was plenty of cheese but the taco was so oily and greasy that it was hard to find much flavor.

The gringo taco at Rick’s wins this challenge hands down. The taco from Alberto’s did nothing for me. For those that have yet to try Rick’s I suggest you head out to Pasadena. When you get there order couple of beef tacos, a beef and bean spudderito w/ hot, and a large root beer. You’ll thank me later.

El Chavo - Pasadena

I thought I had been to all the taco trucks in Pasadena. But it turns out that El Chavo has been at the corner of Fair Oaks and E. Holly Ave for 16 years. And no it’s not run by the internet’s El Chavo; this is a different El Chavo. But they do have veggie tacos so maybe it is the internet’s El Chavo.

I found out about the El Chavo Truck from their facebook. Traditional taco trucks are slowly starting to use social media, but there aren’t many of them that do compared to the gourmet trucks. Even though the traditional lonchero is more stationary, having a facebook page puts you on the map. It’s also a great way to keep in touch with your customers and attract new ones.




asada and al pastor

I ordered my usual: al pastor, carne asada, carnitas. The tacos came garnished with onion, cilantro and salsa roja (they also have a milder salsa verde). The salsa roja is King Taco-esque in its heat, which is a good thing if you like your forehead to sweat a little, which I do. With a dominant salsa, for the taco to be really poor the meat has to be really lacking. And although this meat wasn’t the greatest; the al pastor was too greasy, and the carne asada a little dry, the salsa served as the perfect propaganda to convince me I was eating a good taco.


carnitas



I devoured my plate, the heat puckering in my cheeks, and threw the lady inside the counter a curve ball. Uno mas, I said, hesitating to glance at the menu. Uno mas…..de veggie. The veggie taco came topped with rice, lettuce, guacamole, cilantro, and pinto beans. I didn’t expect anything else really, and it was about as good as one would expect these ingredients to be together. If anything it probably scared me away from vegetarianism for life, not that I was a very good candidate anyhow.

3/5


El Chavo
http://twitter.com/elchavotruck
http://www.facebook.com/elchavotruck
15 E. Holly St.
Pasadena, CA, 91101
Tues - Wed:9:00 pm - 2:00 am
Thurs - Sat:9:00 pm - 2:30 am
Sun:9:00 pm - 2:00 am

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El Taquito Mexicano - Pasadena

I wrote about El Taquito Mexicano last February in a post comparing it to its closest competitor, El Gallito. In that post I didn’t take sides in the local taco battle between trucks (not sure if there is one) but my heart is usually with the first taco to make my forehead sweat a little. It may have been El Taquito on that night, my memory is fuzzy, but what I do remember is that it was a busy Friday night and the tacos came out of the window fresh, hot, and with a deliciously spicy salsa roja. They had won me over.

I went back recently to El Taquito on a weekday and the tacos didn’t have that same pep to them. The meat, while fresh, didn’t have that right off the grill taste, and even the excellent salsa roja couldn’t erase the meat’s shortcomings. On a busy night when the meat goes from the grill to the cutting board then on to the plate there’s a finer balance between the heat and flavor of the meat, and the spice of the chile. But it was a slow Tuesday night and something was missing.


carnitas, carne asada $1.25 each

El Taquito Mexicano is one of the most popular taco trucks in LA with 255 reviews on yelp, with an average rating of 4.5. Only Taco Zone in Echo Park with its strong hipster contingent has more (287). What makes these taco trucks so popular is how good they are during taco truck rush hour. If it’s a Friday or Saturday night you will find a line at El Taquito that sometimes twists its way all the way to the sidewalk. Throughout the night the line moves quickly, the meat goes from the grill to the tree stump cutting board, the taquero asks if you want spicy or mild, and in one motion scoops up the meat with the tortillas and ladles your desired salsa on top. This is when El Taquito is at their best.

El Taquito has a loyal following most taco trucks would envy but with that popularity comes expectation and charges of being overrated. For every 4 or 5 star Yelp review, there’s the 1 star review asking what the big deal is. If I hadn’t been to El Taquito on a Friday night, I might be asking the same question.

3.5/5

El Taquito Mexicano
510 S. Fair Oaks Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
Monday - Tuesday: 7 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Wednesday - Thursday: 6 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Friday - Saturday: 6 p.m. - 3 a.m.
Sunday: 5 p.m. - 12 a.m.

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