Decider says so, citing “the food’s palpable made-by-mom freshness and the warm, non-institutional tone of its presentation.” Link.
21 Responses to “El Metate the Best Taqueria in the Mission?”
Allan Hough (7858)
Brittany Janis & Katie Cruz (104)
Authors
Better than Taqueria Cancun? Them’s fightin’ words.
um, no. nothing tops el farolito. now stop asking. & cancun sucks.
Just had lunch at La Palma on 24th for the first time, not too shabby. Plus the “TACO SUAVE” price stickers are fun to put on your laptop…
i don’t go in for this ranking thing, but el metate is pretty wonderful.
Best Mexican?
Are you trying to start a fight on this blog? Its like asking a chicagite about the best deep dish or a NYorker about the best place for a bagel.
But since you asked, it depends on what you want.
Taco – La Taqueria
Quesadilla Suiza – Farolito
Burrito – Cancun
The Decider can go suck a bag of limes.
i’m with Mark. el metate is my jam.
I think El Metate has the best nachos in the Mission as of this date.
Quesadilla Suiza con Camarones at Farolito is da bomba.
i eat tacos from cancun because it’s close to home. i have to say, they taste good. that said, for me la taq are the best.
la palma though, that’s a whole other thing. that place is awesome. my friend grew up working there, his family owns the place….and if there’s a mom-made-it place in the hood, that’s it.
i like to buy a couple lbs of carnitas and take em home for experimenting.
latest joint: carnita & nopales pop tarts with black pepper frosting. yeah, that’s tasty.
Ha, El Metate is okay. That’s it, just okay.
El Tonayense (the actual establishment on 24th) is obviously the best, followed pretty closely by Farolito.
There’s a few items they do there that are unbeatable in the city, their burritos arent one of those things though, and thats a big deal to many.
Their guacamole is whats good, I sometimes just go and buy a 1/2 pint and they give you as many bags of chips as you ask for. Id like to try any other place’s guac to see if its better, because I couldnt imagine it is.
At least from the vegan perspective, El Metate is indeed hands down the best. The revolutionary notion of vegetables in a veggie burrito, plus fresher, tastier beans and rice than the competition, kinda makes it a no-brainer.
El Metate is brilliant. If it had opened while I still lived at Alabama and 22nd, I don’t think I’d ever have moved.
It’s bright, festive, and has outside seating along a pretty interesting stretch of Bryant. The food is good, but to me it’s the location that’s nice.
Um, the tacos at Vallarta’s? Anyone? Y’all missin’ out!
Um, Frederick, are you psychic? I literally just posted a picture of the Vallarta sign I took last week. Talk about spooky at a distance.
When I first had El Metate, I didn’t like the vegetables in it at all; however it’s really close to my boyfriend’s old place so I had to give it another chance, and now they’re one of my favorites. Definitely better than Farolito, especially as the Metate dudes have never put cheese in my no-cheese burrito.
However! When you ask for guacamole in your burrito, it’s not mashed avocado so much as thin watery green sauce. Why?
My boyfriend, who is Jewish, had an El Metate burrito on Christmas day one year. That is some service.
SF Decider writes up El Metate (via MenuPagesSF)
“These burritos aren’t cruise missiles; they’re long, lean, and notable for the rich fillings—not their sheer gut-stretching mass, which is the principle selling point of too many of El Metate’s peers.”
tacos at Vallarta (carne asada) and El Tonayense (al pastor) and La Taq (carnitas) as the best IMO in the Mission.
I had enchiladas once at El Metate and like Papalote I just don’t get it. Maybe I will give it another try.
Is El Metate sort of a place for the white person vegi burrito thing? When I went there I wasn’t busy so it was hard to tell. Food was bland
el tonayense is always empty, if you want to get stuffed or your drunk at around 2:00 am el farolito, nice and afordable el metate,but yeah its usually el farolito or la altena for me