[PDX] Cha, cha, cha taqueria...

A taqueria that I haven't been to before (there are few). Prices on tacos range from $1.25 (pollo, carnitas, etc) to $1.75 (fish). They had plenty of other items as well like giant burritos, quesadillas, tostadas, nachos and so on.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meat and salsas. A step up from the average, though not as good as the top 5 or so in the metro area (imo, Tortilleria y Tienda de Leleon's, Iguana Feliz, Salvador's, Uruapan, Ochoa, and La Bonita). Definitely a good option in the Lloyd area or Pearl.

We had the asada, carnitas, fish, and cha tacos. The cha is like a ground beef picadillo with raisins, almonds, and other bits. The fish is breaded and fried. They have two table salsas, a red dried chile based salsa that's very firey and a green avocado and tomatillo based salsa that is milder. Each are better than what you would get at most taco trucks or the average taqueria. Same with the meats.

I'm a big fan of Cha Cha Cha. However, I only like the one on NW Glisan. The one near PSU and the new Broadway location seem to have less talented cooks or something... The fish in the fish tacos is very bland and sometimes cold and hard, and meat tacos always come very soggy, drenched in juice from pico de gallo.

Is it common for different locations to have such different levels of quality?

Also, does Taqueria Urupan have decent vegetarian/fish options? It's within walking distance of my house, so I really should try it...

Thanks for the excellent review of cha cha cha...
Does anyone have any favorite taquerias for burritos as opposed to tacos? Any place that makes a really good dark mole' sauce like they serve in Austin, TX?

By the way, Trader Joe's line of organic flour and corn tortillas are quite good, IMHO.

try the barbacoa at tres hermanos on division, savory, red, delicious. (and again, the tripitas, if you're adventuruous.)

tyt de leon's was a drive for me, but well worth it! thanks! my spanish is limited, but the steak burrito i had ("not asada" they told me) was the best i've had. the meat was sliced into big circles, not chopped, and flavored with lovely salsas. stellar. i'm gonna buy some of their homemade to go sauces next time.

stick with tacos at iguana feliz! had a burrito with carnitas (braised, no frying??); but it was topped with a tinny tomato sauce and bright orange cheddar cheese. ugh. since burritos are won or lost on the quality of the rice and beans as well as the meat and sauce, i'm sad to report the rice here let me down with a poor quality canned tomato flavor.

also, tres jalapenos on 84th and division. can't go wrong with any of their burritos.

love all your thoughts!

I don't get burritos often anymore, but even when I am with friends who normally get burritos, the more a place aims towards Mexicans the more I urge them *not* to buy burritos. For a lot of the taquerias, burritos are just gringo food and those that make it don't eat them, didn't grow up on them, and don't care about them.

call me a gringo if you must, but burritos can be delicious. eat them if you want to! i'm glad the taquerias around town recognize their tastiness, and offer us a yummy evolution in culinaria. (and no, burritos are not on all those taqueria menus just for the northeners.) who cares if food is authentic as long as it's tasty? we certainly must pay heed to history, and know, e.g., that burritos are new inventions in order to create new food that is both reasonable and scrumptious.

but don't dismiss food on the ground that it's not authentic! this is a great issue for us foodies. we want to preserve culture and history, cherish the classics, elevate the great cuisines. it's noble (and maybe a hair elitist) but misguided and static.

consider the pizza. when italian emigrants brought it to the u.s., it hardly remained unchanged. all manner of toppings arose, doughs became thicker, oven temperatures fluctuated, mistakes of all sort emerged, but--so did triumphs. neither the new york slice nor the pineapple/canadian bacon ever set foot in napoli.

food evolves with time and over space, and our judging of the new stuff should rest squarely on how tasty it is, not on how 'real' it is.

so, please, let us all eat the good burritos and let the bad ones fade away secure in the knowledge that the pleasures of food are eternal.

[The Chowhound Team]

Very interesting topic and well-discussed, too, but please consider that the more this sort of discussion propogates, the less focused this board will be as a resource for those looking for delicious local chow.

Next time you're inspired to consider a deeper issue, please start a new thread on General Topics (if it's very chowhound-related) or Not About Food (if it's tangential), and post a "heads up" note to the thread, inviting your respondents to join in over there.

That way we won't lose the good conversation, MANY more hounds can read and reply to your thoughts, and the Pacific NW board can remain a concentrated chowcentric resouce.

Needless to say, if anyone wants to reply with concrete examples of superior local burritos (etc.), that's info we'd want to keep right here!

whoops, felt called to defend the nobility of the burrito. will head to general topics.

can't wait to drive west for further adventures. . .

I appreciate your comments (and encouragement), whippy.
The place I've found decent burritos so far is Mayas Tazqueria (downtown) and it's two sister tacquerias.

I totally agree. Sorry, didn't mean to demean burritos. I just meant that they're Mexican-American not Mexican, so I wouldn't trust them as much at places like Iguana Feliz, Salvador's, Ochoa, etc. I'd probably go to a place like Taco del Mar before those for a burrito. My personal preference is tacos because they focus on the meat and I like corn tortillas. I'm just saying go where the expertise is. I also think the quesadillas, my wife's preference, isn't as good at my favorite taquerias like Iguana Feliz, Ochoa, and Salvador's. I don't think they get ordered that often. It's not that the ingredients aren't good there, they just don't understand the concept I think. Get something like a pozole or menudo at these places, though, or even just beans and they'll be great. But for quesadillas I prefer even a Chevy's.

I hope that brought it a little more on topic.

the explosion in taco houses in pdx is one of the greatest developments in recent years (give me a great taco over an overpriced wine flight anyday). remember 5 years ago? there were hardly any. . .

now, the task at hand is cataloguing and examining in depth the dozens of them. if i had the time. . .

however, my two cents: TRES HERMANOS on like 34th and division is one of the original classics; if you've been afraid of tripe in the past, now is the time to get over that! their 'tripitas' is grilled and becomes crunchy, rich and chewy all at once, not rubbery or slippery at all. get it to go if you're afraid, eat alone so you can pick fearfully, but you'll be back for another. i enjoyed brains there, too.

LA PARILLA on 59th and glisan has gotten a lot of attention from the mercury. nuff said. stay away.

EL PATO FELIZ on 92nd and foster has a terrific ceviche for 2 bucks. (okay, it's been cooked with heat first; but guess what? it tastes like fresh fish delicately perfumed with citrus, not rubber soaked in too much lime.) pastor is way overspiced, but other meats very good. free chips!

TRES JALAPENOS on 84th and division has marvelous salsas and is clean as can be.

T Y T DE LEON'S is on 163rd and glisan.

IGUANA FELIZ is on like 108th or so and sandy.

where's OCHOA and SALVADOR'S?

et.al., san felipe, king burrito, el burrito loco, la sirenita, any opinions?

Ochoa's is out in Hillsboro, 2 locations. One location is pretty clean. The carnitas here aren't like what I'm used to (crispy). Good choice of salsas.
I've been munching on the sopes lately. Tortas are huge.

Are you saying that they aren't crispy which is what you're used to or are crispy and that's not what you're used to? I've been to the Ochoa that's across from Su Casa Imports several times now. I believe it's the newer and nicer of the locations. Every time I'm out that way I make it a point to stop there now (I always try at least one other Mexican place, too, while I'm out there and Ochoa has so far been easilly the best). The crispy style is Michoacan style. I thought they did do the carnitas Michoacan style at Ochoa. I think I've had carnitas there only once or twice because I get carnitas a lot and they have so many other options usually. But I remember them being crispy. Michoacan style carnitas shouldn't be crispy all the way through. That would be dried. Rather crispy on the edges and like the most tender pot roast or duck confit on the inside. Salvador's does them this style as well, I believe. More flavor that way, I think. Iguana Feliz doesn't do them this way, but their carnitas are very juicy and flavorful and so are excellent just in a different way.

Ochoa is very good, but there are plenty of mediocre items there. Ochoa is so great, though, because of its variety, including my favorite Mexican street and fonda food the huarache.

I prefer them crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. You'd think they were merely roast pork, but you know better and otherwise.
I grew up eating the carnitas at LaPalma in SF, and I have also spent some time chowing on E 14th in Oakland.
I haven't found carnitas up here in PDX to match what I have had down there. Then again, the haze of time and nostalgia can affect one's taste buds.

I'll have to try Urupan again. I went to the one on 52nd and Powell, just after it had opened for the day. I got a cold lump of pork. Not my idea of carnitas.

BTW, I concur on La Iguana Feliz. Unfortunately it's way on the other side of town from me.

I was just in SF and did have some excellent Mexican. I remember reading a thing while I was down there about the huge population of Michoacans. That may have some effect. I don't know what the Mexican populations here are like. The high end Mexican places, Taqueria Nueve, La Calaca Comelona, and Cafe Azul, all focus on southern Mexican it seems to me, moles and the like.

Try Salvador's if you haven't. If I remember right, the last friend I took there got carnitas and chicharron by the pound because he was on Atkin's. He liked the chicharron a lot but was put off by the carnitas because they were too crispy on the outside. He prefers Iguana Feliz. Personally, I like either fine.

T y T de Leon's makes them the right way, but I've never noticed a crispiness. You can see the vat of lard they're boiling in behind the counter, though. It looks like they're cooking all the pieces, too. I'll start looking for Michoacan style carnitas and noting it, though. I gained an appreciation on my trip to Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta where there is a lot more of that style of food.

Salvardor's has several locations. I always go to the one in downtown Woodburn, on First. There's a great tortilleria down there, too, just a couple blocks away on a perpendicular street to first. I get my masa there. Best to go to Salvador's on the weekends when all the families are in there and they have the largest variety of meats. If you love Mexican food and haven't been to downtown Woodburn you are really missing out. It helps to know a little Espanol, but they've usually got a couple people who know enough English to help you out. They have a very good selection to pan dulces, too. Filled churros, yum. Great little salsa bar. Nice little tienda, too. They're one of the few places that makes every tortilla ala minute. I've been to a couple of the other locations in Woodburn and the downtown one is the best. Haven't been to the Tigard location (review and directions in link). Maybe tomorrow. What the heck.

As for some of the others:

La Parilla: Been there a few times. Don't know what The Mercury has said about them. I think they're rather mediocre except their salsas are decent and they do give pickled carrots and roasted jalapenos which is nice. It's a useful location for decent enough tacos.

La Sirenita: Another decent, maybe above average taqueria. The main problem here is that it's just a couple doors away from La Bonita which is a step up, imo. Love the tamales at La Bonita.

El Burrito Loco: This and El Grillo are the most overrated, imo. They're good enough, but just rather mediocre. Not bad, at least (and there definitely are some bad places that I would not go back to). With El Grillo, at least, it's the best in the immediate walking area. None of the taco trucks a couple blocks east of there are as good.

King Burrito and Tres Jalapenos: Both have taco trucks in that area just south of Broadway (maybe 4th and a couple blocks south of Burnside -- can't remember right now). At least, I assume it's the same owners, though I could be wrong. Didn't really like either very well, though I can't be specific because I couldn't find my notes. I have notes on all the taco trucks there somewhere but my office is a disaster right now. There are a couple bad taco trucks in there with watery salsa and dry meats.

One more thing: I should note that I primarily go to taquerias for tacos, not for burritos or quesadillas, though when my wife is with me she will almost certainly get something other than a taco. Thus, primarily three things are important to me and in this order: 1) the quality of the meat, both technique in cooking them and the actual quality; 2) salsas -- variety, flavor, interest; 3) tortillas: they must be white corn and better than what you get from Diane's at Safeway.

Link: http://www.wweek.com/restaurants/rest...

Nick,
Can you supply the address?
I'll have to give it a try.
BTW, there's a taqueria on 66th and SE Powell. Although I tried it, I can't remember the name. Skimpy tacos. Salsas not worth writing about. When I get some time, I might post a review.

The Pearl location is at about 12th and NW Glisan, I believe. The Broadway/Hollywood/Lloyd location is probably about 25th and NE Broadway, but that's totally a guess. I haven't been to that location, just driven by many times as they were building it. I wouldn't go out of my way for Cha, Cha, Cha. The other six that I named are the best so far out of the 30 or so that I've tried. But if you're in the Pearl or in Hollywood or the Lloyd center, they're a good option.

66th and Powell...Not sure which one that is. Not too far from there is Uruapan, probably the best one I've tried in that area of town. Their meets at Uruapan are decent, but it's the salsas there that make it better than most. I just looked up Uruapan on wweek.com:

5703 SE 82nd Ave., 777-5896. Also located at 1473 NE Prescott St., 287-1955.
hours: 11 am-11 pm daily.

Still, though, if I'm anywhere near 205 I'm going to Iguana Feliz. Not the lengthy hours but probably the best all-around taqueria in town. Nothing is bad and their meats are nearly always perfect and their two main salsas, a basic red chile and green avocado are the best of their kind that I've had.

Uruapan has another place (Uruapan #2) on Foster just off of SE 52nd. P.S. It isn't open on Sun.