My Favorite Meals - Part One

Take a close look at this photograph:



It represents a slice of heaven and, fittingly, is the inaugural "My Favorite Meal".

Before El Buen Gusto existed, before I'd ever eaten Super Cuca's, before breakfast burritos at The Cantina and dirty burritos at Tio Albertos, I fell in love with chilaquiles at The Rose Cafe, my favorite rendition of chilaquiles that I've had to this day. I don't want to spend too much time explaining how good it is, because I'd much rather that everyone who reads this heads down to the Rose on Haley, saddle up to the counter and order it up right now.

Hard Luck Day

So after getting shut down at La Gloria, I pedaled around aimlessly in hysterics, tears streaming down my face at losing such a fine establishment. Then I ran over a thumbtack in the road. Hisssssss.....more bad luck. Hightailed it straight home before I got stranded. Made it up the driveway before the tire went completely flat, grabbed the van and was once again left with the decision, "What the hell am I going to eat right now?" I could always El Buen it, but I had a 2 tacos al pastor and a fat super burrito asada from El Buen last night and I can't stand going anywhere near the high school at lunch time lest I lose my patience with all the rat-faced punks who are unfortunately the future of this once grand land.

So I've got a car now, where haven't I been in a while?

Laguna Deli.

Hit up an asada torta.

It was ok, not great. The meat was decent and the bread was nice (as my good friend Jesus says, "the torta is ALL about the bread"), but they grilled the cheese onto the bread so there was nothing left but hard, crusted on cheese. I like my cheese a little more gelatinous. All in all a fine meal, but it didn't leave me raving and it didn't make me feel like my luck for the day had changed.

Chiripita, Take Dos

I walked down the street towards El Buen Gusto this evening but made a left on Spring Street and quietly snuck behind the laundromat on my way towards De La Guerra. Such is my love for the almighty El Buen, that yes, I do feel a tad bit guilty when I stray elsewhere. But on a street chock full of fine Mexican grub, I feel a little bit like Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion in the 70s....there's a lot of good stuff in the near vicinity, so best not settle down to one thing.

The destination of this evening's feast was Super Taqueria La Chiripita, which I'd only eaten at once (a few months ago). On that visit they didn't give me what I ordered, which was irritating, but I remember being quite pleased with their verde sauce. The general opinion was that, if it survived at all, it'd have potential. Well, it's still here, and upon perusing the expansive menu for a second time, I think I might've found the cheapest taqueria around. I don't know of anywhere else in town that you can get a super burrito for $4.95. That's what the menu says....a super burrito....meat, sour cream, guacamole, the works.....for $4.95. I had to check this out.

I had them roll me up a super burrito asada, packed up some salsa verde and headed home. The verdict is that it's a good, not great, burrito. Everything was neatly put together and the ingredients for the most part were tasty, but the meat was lacking in quality, lots of not so great bits that went straight into the waiting mouth of Tuco, a decidely less discriminating eater than I. A super burrito at El Buen Gusto runs $7.95, pretty sure it's the same at Super Cuca's, but I don't look at the prices because it doesn't matter. It's a bargain at any price because those are the finest burritos on the planet. The meat is nearly always top-notch and very rarely do I go away disappointed (although yes, it has happened).

So on the one hand I was pretty ecstatic about how cheap this burrito is, as I'm always out for a bargain, but on the other hand I'm brought back down to earth when the 'meat' of the matter isn't so great. But hell, I'll be going here again no doubt and I'll filter through the meat choices until I find one that suits me.

Maybe it'll be the tripitas.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

Hola neighbor!

When I picked up my senorita numero uno from work this evening, we asked ourselves, "Where should we eat on this fine summer evening?"
Funny enough, she replied, "Let's stay in the neighborhood."

Me, well I like to be a good neighbor! And El Buen Gusto has liked me as a good neighbor for the better part of 11 years.

So we feasted on one of the finest super burrito
asada's I've ever had, along with an equally delicious chicken tostada....the tostadas at El Buen being the best bargain in the joint, beating out the super nachos by a hair.

AND.......my amigos out there will no doubt relish this evening's discovery that El Buen Gusto has started to stock what fine beer??????......no, no, no.....not Olympia my friends....but pretty damn close.....
......Pabst Blue Ribbon in bottles.

Now, I know what you're thinking......."Hold on there partner, now does that make this a hipster joint now?"....."Should I start putting on skin tight jeans and ride my bright pink fixed gear bicycle with short handlebars to lunch from now on?"....

I think not.

El Buen Gusto is still the same neighborhood taqueria it always was (although a bit pricier than the old days). I remember the days of sitting out on the back porch with Manny, Brainard, a bunch of Mexicans, and Ratso, while the owner of El Buen passed the tequila bottle around on late summer evening burrito fests. And those great times during the World Cup 1998 in France when the owner would open the joint up at 6am and we'd all crawl out of bed at our house and head straight across the street to watch the games live for a few hours, drinking beer and eating Huevos ala Mexicana in the early morning. We didn't have much World Cup action in 2002 (the Japan time delay was a killer), or even 2006 (I ended up watching most of the games in Los Angeles), but mi amigo still passes the tequila bottle around some evenings on the back porch if you're lucky enough to hit the right night.

He know's what it's like to be a good neighbor.

Light my Fire

It’s been over ten years now that I’ve been going to El Buen Gusto almost religiously and as of today, they finally have a nice lighted sign out front. Anyone who’s driven by prior to this day probably recognized El Buen by their shabby scraped up sign which was covered in chicken wire and dark when the sun went down. Tonight, though, they put a couple fresh lightbulbs in and unveiled a nicely lit moniker for Santa Barbara’s finest taqueria.

And me & Deb split a super chicken burrito and a couple of tacos al pastor.
It was better than anything you ate tonight. Trust me.

Viva El Buen Gusto!

Best in Show

There are a very small number of places that can be considered as having the best burrito in town. My vote always lies between Super Cuca’s (the one on Micheltorena) and El Buen Gusto. But it’s hard to compare the two because they are so different. So I basically don’t compare them and always give them each the title of best burrito.

Especially after tonight’s Super Asada at El Buen. THE best burrito in town.

Merry Christmas To Me

We do most of the Christmas celebrating at our house on Christmas Eve, so Christmas Day is usually spent not doing much of anything. This year, I got up late, had some coffee, and headed down the hill to El Buen Gusto for some breakfast. Unlike a lot of the taquerias around here El Buen is always open Christmas Day, I know this because I'm often dining there. It's always packed and this year was no exception. I had a burrito, not what I generally get for breakfast, but I was feeling like a special treat. It was so good I went back with Deb later that afternoon and we ate again, this time I had a few tacos al pastor, which are one of my favorite things to eat on the planet. So really, while most of the gifts were exchanged the night before, I kept getting them all day.

El Buen Gusto

I went into El Buen tonight and the young girl behind the counter read back my order in flawless English. First time this has happened in countless visits for over 10 years. Very, very odd.

I'm still a little bit shell-shocked.
Umm, the burrito was outstanding.