Hi, it’s me and it’s been awhile. Not because I stopped eating at restaurants or anything, but because I ate at a string of average restaurants which are much harder to review, and I’m now procrastinating the day of their reckoning.
Great news though, I’ve found some excellent al pastor tacos. It’s called Holy Taco, and it was literally a spiritual experience.
Holy Taco has gone the route of In-N-Out*, meaning they do one thing and they do that one thing really well. So well in fact, that if you go too late in the day chances are they’ll be out of pork. I ordered the al pastor tacos (delicious), Jared ordered the tacos con queso (which I ended up eating,) and he also ordered the gringa (which was enormous). The al pastor tacos are seasoned pork, white onion, cilantro, and pineapple in a handmade corn tortilla.
Every item on their menu uses the same meat: shawarma style vertical spit roasted marinated pork shoulder. It is unbelievably good. Savory and salty, but still moist and tender – an excellent demonstration of the style. I read an article a while back about how smart pigs are, and as an unhappy side effect of gaining that knowledge I often feel a little guilty thinking of the life I snuffed out while I’m eating pork, but not at Holy Taco. I turned into a complete sociopath, and not once did I think of what that pig could have accomplished had its life not been cut tragically short so that I could eat tacos. Aside from the psychosis inducing pork, what makes the al pastor a street taco masterpiece is the pineapple. You get the spicy seasoning with the meat, a sharp bite of flavor with the onion, but it’s the juicy sweet and tart taste of the pineapple that brings it all together.
If you want to level up, get the tacos con queso. It’s the same recipe for excellence, but with a smattering of fried cheese on the tortilla which takes the taco from delicious to truly heavenly (cf. the top levels of the top heaven). The gringa is essentially an al pastor quesadilla on a larger flour tortilla, and while it’s obviously still good, the pork/cheese/topping/tortilla ratios aren’t as balanced as the taco con queso. They do provide a couple salsas, but I just don’t think you need them. They’re only mildly spicy, and largely distract from the flavor and seasoning of the pork.
I give Holy Taco five out of five forks and $. Each taco is about $2, and you shouldn’t really be ordering anything else, which will get you out the door for $10.
*Do not argue with me about In-N-Out, it won’t be a good experience for either of us.
