Mission Mission

La Oaxaqueña, a 17th and Mission late-night Mexican spot that I have sung praises about before, is known for their adventurous offering of grasshopper tacos. Sadly, it looks like the party’s over for bug-eaters, according to SF Appeal:

…despite Persaud’s permit to import them, the DOH takes issue with where the grasshoppers come from.

“They want us to get grasshoppers from here, United States,” Persaud told ABC7.

If I were a right wing commentator, I’d be inclined to say:

*Cue national anthem* I for one couldn’t agree more. This is America, folks. These goddamn im’grants need to learn that here in the U.S. of A., there’s only one kind of bug: AMERICAN BUGS, the best goddamned bugs in the world. Our bugs have the crunchiest exoskeletons and the juciest thoraxes around. And if you don’t like it, you can go home to Mexico. *Fade out national anthem*

But I’m not.

[via SF Appeal, photo by elise_fleming]

Have you found yourself munching on stale chips and too-hot green salsa at Taqueria Cancun 3 times in a week due to lack of a better late night Mission food option?

Next time, check out La Oaxaqueña, the easy-to-miss small bakery on Clarion and Mission. They are open until 2 am (!), it’s rarely crowded, and the food is amazing. The selection is a lot more exotic than what you’ll find at Cancun or Farolito, with papusas, tamales, mole, and even grasshopper.

The banana leaf mole tamale is less than 4 bucks and it’s probably the best tamale I’ve ever had. It’s not just the awesome mole and the well seasoned chicken that does it. The masa (that corn stuff that makes up 70% of a tamale) is so tasty that I find myself scraping all the little bits of it off the folds of the leaf so I don’t waste any.

This is old news to a lot of you, but since eating there at 12:30am Tuesday, I really can’t stop thinking about how thankful I am that they are there.

[photo by angefasu]