Mission Mission

La Vallarta tacos just got a 17% price increase. That means 25 cents, non-math-dude. Up to $1.75 from $1.50.

The title of best tacos in town, in my humble opinion, goes to Taqueria la Vallarta. I have sung praises about these tacos and even admired their surrealist psychedelic mural here before. But last week I walked up to the register with a trio of meat-topped, lard-dipped tortillas and the total came to $5.25. All seven stages of grief occurred in a flash:

1. Shock – WTF? The five dollar bill in my hand can’t cover this!

2. Pain – Is this the end of an era? Has the economy finally caught up with the Mission’s last cheap meal? Is California, indeed, a failed state?

3. Anger & Bargaining – Señor, I assure you this is the first I have heard of this. This is unfair. You should have a sign up, or something. How about I skip the grilled onion, take one less radish and lime wedge, give you $5, and we call it even.

5. Depression, Reflection, Loneliness – Will this be my last taco? Maybe I need to eat more healthy. Say, I haven’t been on a date in a while. I think I have an overbearing mother.

6. The Upward Turn – Hey, looks like I have an extra quarter in my pocket that I was saving for my laundry change jar.

7. Acceptance & Hope – You know what? You guys deserve it. I have dreams about these tacos. I hope my humble contribution brings you riches, sir. ¡Viva la Vallarta!

Seriously, though. They deserve it. But, bummer.

[photo by mioi]

You need a spot with a good view, some close friends, and of course, Muni.

Ah, San Francisco.

Also, I might have made a Human Centipede joke if 30 Rock hadn’t just!

[Photo by Steven Miller]

(Thanks Dwight!)

Congrats, again, Stu!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvpOaEBCo7s

Guerrero Gallery rules!

New sign now up. Just in case you hadn’t seen it yet.

Pirate Rolls Royce.

The answer is: both! See you at the park this weekend!

Reader C.K. Chew thinks someone found a way:

Drunk, high, or sober, this statement rings true (with varying degrees of spelling errors)

I’m sure the Mr. Pickle’s staff was appropriately tickled this morning.

SFist reports:

Prolific Bay Area tagger and muralist Girafa (née Steven Free) pled guilty to two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of vandalism in a Santa Clara Superior Court earlier this week. The 32-year-old Free, a San Francisco resident, was arrested back in October of 2009 on 10 felony vandalism cases in San Jose where the cops didn’t seem to be so appreciative of Girafa’s playful wall cartoons and personal branding efforts. According to Bay City News, eight of those felony charges were dropped, but the remaining counts have landed Free three years of probation and 38 grand worth of fines to the City of San Jose and various property owners.

Read on.

Erika spotted this dude a couple weeks back, but he wasn’t offering up any advice, just blocking a doorway.

Today, he speaks:

[Photo by Chris Gross]