Cactus Taqeria and Gordo's

Cactus Taqueria - We each had burritos mejor. Lady Steed had a pollo con mole rojo and Theric had a pollo can mole verde, substituting cilantro rice for Mexican rice. We both had black beans. Theric substituted the hotter salsa, but no difference was detected. Lady Steed's decidedly tasted red and Theric's green. Just like they looked. We also had nachos with added guacamole. The guacamole and the salsa had excellent flavor. The nachos were good but a bit soggy--possibly because we did takeout. The food was good. Lady Steed gives CT 3¾ stars out of five. The meat (shredded chicken) she particularly liked--she calls it excellent, particularly good. Given the option, she would have been satisfied with just a big plate of that. And a bowl of the guac. The burrito's filling overall had a good flavor. Compared to Gordo's? Gordo's is more authentically Mexican and this more Americanized. She could not really detect a "chocolately" sense, but the mole was good. The ingredients were tops as promised--everything tasted newly made from veggies on down. We would eat there again and the search for the best burrito continues--but overall Gordo's wins this burrito battle. However, we must return to CT to try the agua fresca and the caramel-filled Peruvian shortbread, both of which looked delicious.

Gordo's - We had super burritos, but this was a few weeks before we began this listing. Both meats were good, Lady Steed's was better--she believes it was carnitas. Theric's was likely carne asada, but again, we are unsure. The flavors seemed more authentically Mexican and the atmosphere was more hole-in-the-wall, which is a plus with a burrito place, that mom-and-pop feel. The burritos were decidedly more greasy. But that's a good thing, right?

We hit both restaurants at night--both on Friday?--and both had lines nearly out the door and are obviously quite popular. Both seem to be run by Mexican families, but more Spanish is spoken at Gordo's if you're in to that sort of thing.

Another Gordo's Post

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Lady Steed says: Just get the pork. Nothing else. But considering our goal is to eat all of Solano and we've been here before, it's clear what's our favorite.

Theric says: This time we had a carnitas and a beef super burrito. Both had the yummies well distributed. But now that Lady Steed is a master of shredded pork herself (to say nothing of our mastery of salsa and sauces), I'm not sure there's much point in going to Gordo's anymore. Was it good? Yes. Was it excitingly massive? Yes. Was it worth it? I'm not so sure.

(previous Gordo's posts)

Gordo's revisited

. Actually, we revisit Gordo's all the time. What we never do however is get anything other than burritos. UNTIL YESTERDAY. Yesterday we tried tacos. And man oh man have we been missing out. The two chicken options are okay and the beef is pretty good but the chile verde is AMAZING. We'll have to try carnitas next time, our established favorite meat for burritos. One reason the beef and chile verde had an advantage is because we ordered them "crispy" rather than "soft" which means they were deep-fried with cheese. You can see how that gave them an advantage. Anyway. I'm getting tacos next time. And maybe for some time there after. And I can't wait to have a burrito again after this upcoming sabbatical....

Gordo's (part ii)

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We returned to Gordo's tonight for a couple super burritos, takeout. The chile verde was excellent, the carnitas pretty good. If you pay for the tomato salsa, you might want to consider the mild--the other had almost as many peppers as tomatoes (and not enough cilantro) and was muy violent on the mouth. I also learned that you can ask for their green hot sauce and they'll give you little containers for free. It's the same sauce they put on the burritos.

The Hot Shop

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I don't know any other Afghan/Mexican-fusion burrito shops, but we quite enjoyed our first visit to Albany's popular Hot Shop, just a smidge around the corner from Solano on San Pablo.

Lady Steed got the artichoke-lamb; I got the garlic-lime-chicken. I liked mine better, but hers was great. About what you'd suspect, I imagine. The on-table sauces were sweet and spicy. Much to like her. No, it won't replace Gordo's for us (visited most recently last Saturday), but it may well be a place we revisit.

Places Eaten in brief review 2013

Gordo's : Still the best burrito.
Zachary's: Great pizza. Two X-large Zachary's were far more than our family needed. One had flat crust the other deep dish. We liked both.
Suzette:  Had savory crepes, which were fine but the dessert crepes were fantastic. If we go again we will skip the savory crepes and just get the dessert crepes.
Everest Cafe: Best service of anyone on Solano, they are so nice there! But the food was just ok.

Gordo's

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So I had a chicken super burrito. I was ill at the time, so this review may be suspect, but it was good but not as great as the carne asada.