In the last 7 days, slctacos.com has been mentioned a few times in Salt Lake City newspapers. Several people have asked me for links to these articles and as I am a journalist, I am obliged to share this news.
Here they are :
In the last 7 days, slctacos.com has been mentioned a few times in Salt Lake City newspapers. Several people have asked me for links to these articles and as I am a journalist, I am obliged to share this news.
Here they are :
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged articles, city weekly, in this week, news, newspapers, tacos
I recently started teaching English at a new location in West Valley on 3500 S. Last Monday night before class I had a brilliant idea : TACO SHOWDOWN. There are two taco stands I know of which are right across the street from each other on 3500 S. I decided that I would try tacos from each of them the same night and see which one would be the winner.
It was serious. There was pico de gallo everywhere. I got a lot of salsa in or around my mouth. But I am a taco journalist. There was work to be done.
THE RULES :
In order to keep things equal, I decided to try :
So which one did I like more? Which one will I be hitting up more often as I fuel up before teaching English? Who emerged victorious in this TACO SHOWDOWN?!?!?!?!?!
Well, you can just scroll down and find out.
Or if you are lazy, you can click these links :
Tacos El Jaripeo vs. Tacos Alex
AND NOW…. LET THE TACO SHOWDOWN BEGIN!!!!
Wait… you’re wondering why all the circa 1995 animated explosions below? You act like you’ve never been to a TACO SHOWDOWN before. If you’re afraid now, you should probably find another website…









Taco El Jaripeo is a very popular taco stand in West Valley. I saw carloads of people come and go in the time I ate my 3 tacos.
El Jaripeo
Taco Stand
3500 S. 3892 W.
South side of 3500 S, in the parking lot west of Rent-A-Center
3 out of 5 stars
I had never been to Tacos El Jaripeo but I recently heard about it from an article from Xris Macias in chicano\latino student newspaper Venceremos. When I saw this I immediately thought of the reviews Noyen and I recently did of the Oaxacan restaurant of the same name. I asked a very nice guy working the stand (whose English was muuuuch better than my Spanish) if there was a connection between the stand and the restaurant. He told me that the person who owns the restaurant on Redwood Road also owns this taco stand. He told me he was surprised that I knew of the restaurant since it only recently opened. I myself have been surprised that other Salt Lake publications have heard of El Jaripeo the restaurant. Just last week, Salt Lake’s IN Magazine wrote an article on it (this link is just the dessert portion — couldn’t find the rest) and I couldn’t help but wonder if they had been tipped off by slctacos.com? Possibly? But I digress…
In keeping with my guidelines with my TACO SHOWDOWN with “Tacos Alex” across the street, I decided to order 1 al pastor and 1 lengua. Then I asked which of their tacos they felt I should add for my round 3. They said their carne asada was particular delicious, so I told him it was time to get the TACO SHOWDOWN on the road. He went to work and served me up a warm champurrado while I waited. This hit the spot while I waited on a cold February night.

Itemized deliciousness (from top to bottom) : 1 lengua, 1 al pastor, 1 carne asada, 1 super warm cup of champurrado hanging out near my feet
While I waited, I snapped a few photos of the stand and a few of its clientele with permission of all. I couldn’t believe how many people went in and out of this stand. Trucks and cars were pulling in and out at a constant rate. At least 2 families were staying warm in trucks eating their tacos while they watched me in the cold with my champurrado to keep me warm. One after another latino families came and went. My hands started shaking from excitement not the cold as I surmised from the stream of people that this must be a great stand.
Then I heard some English as the guy called to me to grab my 3 tacos. Being predictable, I dug into the al pastor first. Medium. Medio. I already started worrying that the tacos would not be as good as I was hoping. Then I tried the lengua. The lengua was good, but a bit still not as good as I was hoping. Then I tried the carne asada that was recommended to me. Once again, it was good. But it did not live up to my hopes. There was nothing bad about the tacos. In fact, these were better than most of the tacos in the 800 S State area. Especially at the price of 3 tacos for $3.00. But overall, my tacos were medium.

A thirsty gentleman picks out a beverage to chase his tacos with. When asked if I could take his picture he replied, "No me importa". So I did it.
I definitely want to head back another time and try a few items I didn’t have time or room for this time (I was in a TACO SHOWDOWN!!!). I saw huaraches listed on the menu and I would like to try those out new time. If I do I will hold my oath of taco journalism and share what I thought. But for now, there are other tacos I must try…

Chunga's. This is the place you go. For real tacos. Street taco style. Mexico City style.
Chunga’s
180 S 900 W
5 out of 5 stars
KABOOM! First 5 star rating on http://www.slctacos.com. This is the restaurant I was talking about before which I believe has the best Tacos al Pastor in Salt Lake City. I try them in every stand and restaurant I go to. These are the best I’ve had in Salt Lake and they stand up the tacos al pastor I’ve tried in my voyages across Mexico. I have tried pastor all over Mexico. From Nogales to Guadalajara. From Acapulco to Mexico City. From Merida to Taxco. From Puebla to San Juanito (donde esta ese pueblito????)
A few months ago my good amigo Ruben told me that he heard about this place from family members. Ruben is from a city which is very close to Mexico City so while he is no chilango, he is no stranger to what a good taco al pastor is. I tried them the first night and I was blown away. I couldn’t stop eating. I immediately felt an amistad with the cooks, servers, and owner. This place makes you feel at home.

Taco enthousiast (and co-worker) Jeff cant wipe the damn smile off his face as he eats tacos at Chungas. He was recently quoted as saying "The chicken tacos were good. But when I tried the al pastor it was like I was transported... to another planet." I recorded that on my phone. Because I am a professional taco journalist.
Since I didn’t want to fly off the handle I decided to curb my taco emotions and try the place again. And again. And again. Already this place has become the new favorite restaurant of all my co-workers. Last time I walked in the door I saw two tables of co-workers I didn’t intend on seeing there. Word of mouth has been carrying the name CHUNGA’S around the hallways.
Like I said, I have been back to Chunga’s at least weekly (3 times last week) to make sure that I was not mistaken in this review. I have tried many of the standard items on the menu like tacos al pastor and chicken tacos. After trying most everything on the menu by this point, I highly recommend the huaraches. At least once. What are huaraches? Meaning “sandal”, you can see the resemblance with its oblong shaped cornmeal frybread covered with your choice of meat (get the pastor), sour cream, and covered in queso de oaxaca. Whoa. I’ve tried several other of the antojitos shown on the posterboard below but I have many yet to try. The nopales are delicious. The quesadillas are wonderful. But my heart flutters and my mouth waters thinking of the tacos al pastor.

A list of the antojitos served at Chunga's. This sheets is posted on the side out of direct sight. "Antojitos" are little desires or fancies. These are the specialties at Chunga's. Try some of these at your own risk.
Pick up a card at Chunga’s and after reading the name and address on the front, you flip it to the back and you read “El Famoso Taco Al Pastor Del Distrito Federal“. This is indeed the same famous taco which is an institution in Mexico City. If you talk to many mexicanos in our city, they will tell you that if someone claims to make a good taco al pastor, they must be from Mexico City. Such is the case. The cooks here know their stuff because they are indeed from that giant sprawl of a city. The tacos usually have their sauces and veggies pre-loaded. They are ready to go. Not much needs to change except the optional limes provided on your plate to squeeze on if that’s your style. Cucumber slices are also provided as a post-taco refreshment.
As a test to see if these are really authentic tacos from the D.F. last week I brought my father (papa de Burgersmoke) with me to try the place out. We have a tradition of checking out various new Mexican restaurants since he once lived for several years in Mexico City. After ordering and receiving a warm welcome from our server, we sat down and prepared ourselves. When the tacos al pastor arrived, the eyes of papa de Burgersmoke rolled into the back of his head. He didn’t speak for a few more bites. When he spoke again he said, “when I eat these tacos I instantly feel like I am in the middle of Mexico City.” Case closed.

Papa de Burgersmoke giving his thumbs up approval of the Mexico City style Tacos al Pastor.
If you get a chance to meet Gilberto the owner of the restaurant, make sure ot say hello. He is an incredibly friendly guy and he is passionate about providing a higher quality taco. He claims you will not find any fat in the meat. He is right. He shops around to find high quality meat and you will notice the difference. Also, he loves a challenge. Make sure to ask him about the 27 taco challenge. If you think you can handle it, order them up and if you can eat 27+ tacos in 45 minutes with only one drink, you and your family eat for free. Several people have done it and Gilberto laughs out loud talking about it. He even says that he is often surprised by americanos like me who aren’t very big that can put away that many tacos. So someone try it. Tell us about it. I want this website to be a website of champions.

Taco enthousiast Jaren is a champion, but I doubt he could east more than 10 tacos in a sitting. Let alone 27. For shame...
It’s because of restaurants like this one that I decided to re-launch my career in taco journalism.
So go check it out. It’s only a few blocks away from Red Iguana. You’ll feel a lot more at home, you’ll eat well and you won’t have to wait in the cold for your table.
They are also opening up a new location in Provo. The opening will be sometime during the week of Feb 16-20. If you’re in Provo, check out the new location at :
664 North Freedom Blvd
Gilberto tells me that he just might invite the public to eat for free on the day before the opening to give a chance to experience the quality of the tacos and their meat. If you live down there, please go check it out and report. We would love pictures and reviews of the new location.
On Thursday at some time we will be posting our first 5 star taco review.
Get ready for it.
This is where the magic happens.
Do some deep knee bends.
Light a candle.
Lay on the floor to stretch your stomach.
Don’t be afraid. This is not a sign of the tacolypse. These are just amazing tacos.

Rey's silver Mazda pickup truck parked facing the truck docs of M. Flores productos
Rey de los Tamales (Mazda pickup truck)
600 S 558 W (see the Taco Map)
(facing the truck dock of M. Flores productos)
Hours : Saturdays from 7am to 10am (sometimes the truck is there other days and hours, but expect the truck there at this time)
4.5 out of 5 stars
For over two years now my friend Ruben has told me about a couple who sell the best tamales and champurrado in town. Finally everything worked out so that yesterday Ruben and I were able to finally go together to have a delicious early morning meal down by the truck docks.
Ruben has family and friends who work for M. Flores produce so this is where he learned about our friend “Rey” who serves delicious tamales from his pickup in front of the truck docks. If you’ve ever wondered where great restaurants such as Red Iguana get their products like fruits and vegetables, they come through M. Flores. Many products are imported directly from Mexico and are then made available via delivery or direct pick-up. We will talk more about M. Flores and the delicious things I found another day.
Ruben and I meet up at 9am and we drive along 600 W since it is the easiest way to navigate under the spaghetti mess of on-ramps and off-ramps of Salt Lake City to reach our destination of delicious truck tamales. As we arrive we see the activity of many trucks getting loaded and nearby a small silver Mazda. But no one is near the truck. Ruben calls out “Oye! Tamales!” but no one responds to his cry. We look near the tailgate and we see the buckets containing bags of steaming tamales. For a moment, I thought Ruben was going to help himself. Then he walked around to the front and punched the steering wheel to let out two looooong honks. Finally, Rey came out of a door and we were in business.

Ruben enjoying a hot pepper along with his tamales.
Rey is an incredibly nice guy from the state of Guerrero in Mexico. He has a wide smile and has some impressive bling in the form of a cross hanging from his neck. He told me that he and his wife (she might be there when you go) have been selling Tamales in Salt Lake for over 10 years now. While there are many places to buy tamales in Salt Lake, Rey tells me that they has lifelong customers because they tell him that he and his wife’s tamales are made with corazon.
Rey tells me that today he has cheese, chicken and pork tamales and asks me what I would like. Immediately I tell him that I want to try all 3. Immediately Ruben stops eating. He points at me and it’s clear I’m about to get a lesson.
I start with the cheese and it is divine. I’m usually not a fan of cheese tamales, but it was hot and melted and a delicious morning treat. Rey also served me up a warm cup of champurrado which was the best I’ve ever tasted. On some days he and his wife serve champurrado (chocolate flavored) but on other days you get normal atole which is not sweet. On those days he brings along a delicious candy which we will talk more about another day.
After devouring the cheese, Rey reaches into the back of the truck and gets my chicken and pork tamales (one at a time of course). As we eat, several people come and go. Half of them are regular customers arriving in minivans to pick up their daily batch of tamales for lunch or dinner. Others clearly have heard of the reputation and show up in search of the truck. One man from Guadalajara arrives and tells me that these tamales are certainly different. He had heard the legends of these tamales and agrees that they are certainly made with corazon. I ask Rey if his is his real name and he says yes. So myself clever I ask him if I can call him Rey de los Tamales (King of Tamales). He smiles and says “You will not be the first person to call me that.”

Drinking up the last bit of my champurrado. What a delicious 9:30am meal. Behind the trucks are loading to deliver delicious fruits, vegetables and abarrotes to markets and restaurants such as Red Iguana.
So go meet Rey and his wife and try these out. If you need a batch of tamales, the prices are incredible. So if you need his phone umber, send me an email.
Also, the only guaranteed hours are Saturdays at the location listed above are from 7am to 10am. At other times Rey could be anywhere around the city filling its tamal needs. Later that day as Ruben and I were driving around the city we saw Rey in his truck. He honked and waved as we passed him on 900 W. I have no idea of the other locations where he vends his tamales, but I know at least one stop along his Santa-like route.
In closing, my friend Ruben is having a very difficult time finding work in Salt Lake. If anyone has any leads or any help for this at all please let me know. He’s a hard worker and one of my favorite people. Thanks!
El Habanero
3500 S 8146 W
2 stars out of 5
As i’ve had time to let this “settle”, my opinion on the place just kind of hit the shitter. Not that it was glowing to begin with, but the more i thought about it, the more “meh” i felt. So take me with a grain of salt here, and understand i have a sense of humor that may not “jive” with yours too. So if you are for some reason offended by my dislike/mocking ways, you might want to skip reading this post in particular :). So tell me if you don’t agree. I’m cool.

one of the amish things?
So it’s a grey day outside. Its dark and smoggy. Oppressive and cold. Unwelcoming and uninspiring. Kelly picked me up from work as we were very excited to head out to try this stuff called Cochinita Pibil, which is basically a marinated pork dish. I’m stoked about it. I think i’m about to have my mind blown. My expectations are pretty high! So, as i was saying, Kelly picked me up and we headed out to this place, west of salt lake, i’m sure it has some fucked up name and is a cool place to live, but i guess it’s not appealing to the young and timid type who just wanna rock out and have a good time, like me. Well let me be the first to tell you and assure you that in this area apparently, they have education out here. And vinyl fence strip Manufacturers. And a few cul-de-sacs with nice houses but no trees Lots of places that look like meth houses too. Kinda creepy if you ask me! I smell inbreeding. There was even a horse or two. Apparently people subject themselves to living out in this fringe area of an already fringe shit-hole.

She Daisy?
So after we passed many archaic things, such as a dilapidated strip mall and a scary gas station, we reached El Habanero. The parking lot is small. The exterior looks decent enough. We go inside and immediately see one of those Amish heater contraptions. I have a feeling i’m in for something cool.

Creepy Girls
The inside greets us with a “wall of fame”. There’s some creepy shit up here, let me tell you. Besides that, there’s a large L-shaped bar with the drink fountain and waitresses busy as bee’s. We are kindly greeted and seated. I notice the place looks pretty clean and maybe even recently remodeled. I also notice a lot of white people. Not that this is a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good thing when you see Bo-Diggity Dog Josephestein with his broseph, Todd the copy machine expert chilling during their lunch hour away and hitting up this place rather than TGI Friday’s (because there isn’t one even nearby!) . So i’m not impressed with the clientel necessarily. Nothing against you guys who were there. I just like want to appreciate what my Mexican and South American friends enjoy.

Chips and Salsa
So the tortilla chips and salsa. Whoa. Warm. Crispy. I bit into one and broke some old man’s ear drum the sound reverberated so loudly. Damn tasty. Refills on the chips were 95 cents. About 10-15 chips a bowl. Not to be a stingy guy, but come on. Talk about gouging.
Next came the menu. Standard white-people fare. I think there may have been a hamburger on there. Anyway. The thing to try was the Pork marinated in Hate Sauce.

Ze Menu
The plate arrives and i’m a bit worried. A giant slosh that looks like sloppy-joes appears before me with a side of red onions, beans and rice and a piddly little side-salad. I fear for my intestines. And for my soul and what sins I’m about to commit against humanity.

Death Taco
Now, don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate a sloppy joe. But tell me that’s what i’m getting! There are ISSUES with this meal… I don’t care who you are, but the pork was far too acidic to be palatable for me. There were some what appeared to be pickled, but i’m not sure, red onions. I thought they would help balance this out and let me TASTE the taco. Didn’t help. So I resorted to piling the beans and rice in too. Let me just explain how painful it was… I was sweating. I was giving Kelly looks of “I don’t know if I’m gonna make it” type of looks. I didn’t think it was right for this to happen. Maybe it was an off day..? It really could have been good. I don’t know what else to say. I ate a lot of my plate, but i left a lot left over. The best part of the meal was the horchata, but it was obviously a straight pre-mixed type dealy-o. If we had been stuck in the wilderness and there was no source of fire or warmth i would resort to rubbing this on my body to stay warm. Might smell good. It may also burn off your skin. I actually challenge one of you to eat an entire plate of what i ate without flinching in pain at some point from the acidity.
Did i get my point across about that? I know i will be told this is how it is prepared, a result of the pork’s preparation. But i can’t forgive making it available to eat in that form. Maybe if there was more of a balance to the acid from the marinating, but you could not even taste the onions through it. I don’t think you’d be able to taste anything through it to be honest.
So this is why i trash on you and take out my anger on you. I’ve had a bad week, and i think you can do better. That’s the bottom line. This dish could kick ass, but it needs someone tasting this slosh before it is touted as the best thing on the menu! Seriously. Not to bash. I have nothing but love for the taco.

My shitty iphone photography
I must also say, i really do need to give this place a second, maybe a third and fourth chance. I really would like to try the carne asada based dishes, and steer from this pork mess. I must also state that i have an allergy to pork. So yeah, might want to disregard me and take a chance for yourself? I would like to try this dish at the Red Iguana… I have not tried it and hear it’s amazing. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Say no more?
I spent the rest of the day wanting to die. To have the sun explode and rain fire on me. Put me out of my misery… Still i search for you. Actually, i have some very good things to say about a taco joint, but i NEED to go there again and take pictures and record things a bit better. And take my girlfriend with me too. And we even have some REAL street taco stand reviews coming. I apologize they are slow coming in. The weather has kinda been crappy lately and that keeps most of us from getting out… Until next time. Goodbye, cruel world.

Rico’s cafe has moved. The location on 800 S is closed, but in November they opened up their new location which serves breakfast and lunch. They still sell many great products and the new location is beautiful. I was in there today to get tamales for Día de la Candelaria (I hit the muneco with my knife on Jan 6) and the is bright and colorful both inside and out.
Here is the new address :
700 S 545 W
Also, expect a lunch review soon.
Posted in Uncategorized

Noyen stands in the fairly full parking lot of El Habanero as we make our entrance
El Habanero
3500 S 8146 W
3 stars out of 5
There is so much good Mexican food around Salt Lake that we cannot be everywhere at once. This is where you come in. I recently received word from a fellow taco enthousiast named Collette that we needed to try a restaurant which serves great Cochinita Pibil. As I am a fan of Cochinita Pibil (click here if you didn’t read the bit I wrote about it), I had to try it out. So Noyen and I jumped in the car. And we headed west. We continued heading west. And then we headed west a bit more. We saw many amazing things, but I will leave that to Noyen.

We snapped this photo to illustrate how far west we went. 8164. WEST!!! I think in the phonebook it's probably listed as DEEP MAGNA. I didn't know it was possible to go that far west without crossing state lines.
Finally as we thought we were going to start ascending the mountains which make up the western rim of of the Salt Lake Valley, we arrived at El Habanero to find a packed parking lot. This apparently is a very popular Mexican joint. So popular that we noticed it had been applauded by Hollywood celebrities. But we will get to that in due time.
As we were told that the Cochinita Pibil was the thing to try here, we asked the waitress if this is what she would recommend and she acquiesced that it was their best item on the menu. Noyen and I both ordered that and checked the place out. The interior is bright and colorful. The walls have been refinished so that they almost look like adobe. The interior might even be higher quality than The Mayan or Denver’s original Casa Bonita. OK, so it’s not up to that high calibre, but we did enjoy and appreciate it.

My Cochinita Pibil. I used more tortillas than the 3 depicted here.
The horchata was delicious, although it was probably from a simple mix. The chips were delicious and hot and the salsa was pretty good. Finally we both got our Cochinita Pibil and dove right in. The meat was extremely tender and melted in your mouth. This is usually the case with pibil, but to get this result does require some acidic citrus. The citrus flavor was much stronger than other pibils that I am used to. So much so that it was hard to eat with a fork on its own. I had to eat it in tortillas and beans to help balance it out. The taste was great, but the citrus was just too strong. The rice and beans were standard fare. I would say they compare to a typical restaurant like Chubby’s or La Hacienda.
So while my Pibil was good, it was not as good as others I have had before. I would say that the pibil at Red Iguana is far and away more enjoyable. I even think that the Rico’s Cochinita Pibil that you can find in your local supermarket might be a better option but I haven’t had one of those in a long time. I’ll have to snag one again soon to compare. So on the whole, the food at El Habanero was average. Middle of the road. However, what we didn’t expect to see were signed photos of celebrities who love El Habanero which included :

A photo and signing expressing Mr. Danny Glover's enthousiasm for El Habanero
I would like to try El Habanero again, but I should try something besides the Pibil. Do you have any thoughts or comments on this restaurant? Something I should try next time?
In parting, I leave you with a few scenes from the career of Mr. Glover. First is the unforgettable moment of Danny sharing his first taco with the Predator. Thansk to taco enthousiast Collette for this one :

Tacos. Friends. Intergalactic borders are melted.
And here is a wonderful re-enactment of the scene in Lethal Weapon where Mr. Glover hands his hilarious aussie sidekick a taco. Big thanks to OVENMIT for providing this photo.

"" ..riggs, im getting too old for these grande chorizo breakfast burritos!"