Columbia’s Mexican food: the recommendations

There was a time when Columbia’s Mexican food options were pretty slim. In our conversation on BXR this morning, Simon recalled the 80s, when Los Banditos was about it. El Maguey expanded our options later on, but not by much. Then something – perhaps a critical mass in the Latinization of the United States – happened and Columbia got taquerias. Carlito’s started serving excellent Mexican-style tacos on Business Loop 70. A bit later came Taqueria El Rodeo, which remains one of my favorites. More recently, La Terraza and Taqueria Guadalajara have joined the scene. As any native of Texas will (stridently) inform you, each place has its shortcomings. Truly great tortillas remain elusive; the beans and rice bland and pointless. None are going to replace your favorite place in San Antonio or Austin or Dallas or Corpus Christi. Nor should it. But each also represents a step forward, another really good option if you can look beyond the enchiladas and burritos. Here’s what I like:

Columbia Taco Throwdown

Kate at CapturingCoMo was kind enough to have Mrs. SMEs and I over for a blind taste-test of a few Columbia tacos last night. The takeaway is that I think Taqueria Guadalajara may be the real deal. And that Kate makes excellent salsa.

(Also, my erroneous guess was actually that Carlito’s tacos were from El Rancho, but everyone involved deserves a break…beers were involved.)

Tasting notes:

La Siesta: Pork carnitas taco nicely pulls off the crusty/tender thing well, but were very salty. Their asada taco tasted like something from Captain D’s…that weird fryer taste/smell. Odd.

Taqueria Guadalajara: Very nice tortillas, both meats were good. Asada a bit limey, but that may have been our fault.

Carlito’s: Pork taco tasted of chemicals, crunchy beef taco of not much at all. I do still like their regular asada tacos, but we didn’t taste those.

Taqueria Guadalajara Opens

According to Inside Columbia’s CoMoEATS e-newsletter, we have a new Mexican addition to town:

Taqueria Guadalajara Opens
A new Mexican restaurant has taken up residence in the former Dino’s Steakhouse building. Taqueria Guadalajara, located at 1802 Paris Road near Jack’s Gourmet, offers an extensive menu including a variety of fajitas, burritos, chicken dishes and more. They’re still working on those margaritas, though — the restaurant hopes to acquire its liquor license soon so its patrons can sip delicious drinks with dinner.