:The:Mission:Taco:Chapter 3:Chavitas Mexican Restaurant 2:

Before I get into the review for Chavitas Mexican Restaurant 2, I think readers of :The:Mission:Taco: should know just why I consider myself "The Taco Guru." Why is my taste for tacos so keen? How are my taste buds any more credible than some other taco fanboy? Well, fellow taco aficionados, I divulge:

I grew up in the "SOCO" area of Fullerton, CA. This means nothing to 99.9995% of America--but for the .0005% who have some inkling of what I'm talking about, know that I use this term not in reference to the "hip," eclectic mix of cholos, brozillas, and AZNs at the downtown bar scene (which is ironically placed NOCO), but rather for the term's literal meaning: "South of Commonwealth." Many areas south of Commonwealth Ave. are pre-dominantly Mexican inhabited--and my neighborhood was no exception. My next-door-neighbor/childhood friend was Mexican, and his family had biweekly fiestas that I totally crashed. I have many fond memories of stuffing myself sick and silly with tacos while pwning it up in GoldenEye multiplayer. You see, from a very early age, I developed a taste for the more authentic Mexican flavors. Tacos, tamales, birria, pasole, mole--all of these dishes have memories in my mind and places on my palate.

The other main reason why I consider myself "The Taco Guru" is because my tongue has mastered the art of consuming food with various spices and spiciness levels. Both of my parents are Indian, but they also were both raised in Burma. I thus grew up with some of the best and spiciest Indian and Burmese food EVAR. For those who don't know what Burmese food is like, know this one thing: Burma is bordered by India, China, and Thailand. Holy. Shit. It's just a melting pot of some of the best and spiciest cuisines combined into one.

A small aside: If you would like some excellent and authentic Burmese food, try Burma Superstar in The Richmond. It straight up tastes like mommy cooked it. I suppose a 4 star average with 1258 reviews on yelp doesn't hurt, either (http://www.yelp.com/biz/burma-superstar-san-francisco). I recommend the cat-fish chowder soup (moh-hin-ga), the chicken noodle soup (oh-no-kauswer), and the tea-leaf salad (la-peh).

Okay--enough about me. Time for tacos. Chavitas is one of those restaurants on 24th that you could pass by and never notice. In fact, there are only two reviews for it on Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/biz/chavitas-numero-2-san-francisco#hrid:MYmHBnufQ6bbPnVx9oWuvw/query:Chavitas). It was for this reason that I had to check it out:

Chavitas² Mexican Restaurant

I was pretty hungry, so I ordered a 2-item combination that came with beans and rice. I ordered a taco regular and a chicken enchilada:

What a cute attempt at a side salad.

If you order the taco a-la-carte, it's $3.50. A word of precaution: I used my broken Spanish to ask what is contained in a taco regular, and I think the lady said there were beans. This is obviously a big no-no, so I made sure she made my taco correctly.

Here's the thing about the taco: when eating each component individually to test for quality, everything was just whatever. The salsa roja definitely packed some heat, but the flavor just didn't pop out at me. The carne asada was also pretty plain; though the quality was good, it just wasn't marinated properly. The corn tortilla (which was single-layered) was also just so-so. But then, somehow, when I took my first bite of the actual taco itself, everything just worked. It wasn't fantastic, but it definitely wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. The taco was simply Asi Asi :| I could come back here again for the taco; but I'm betting that some of their other stuff would be really tasty and worth trying because my enchilada was freakin' fantastic.

-The Taco Guru