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Monday

The State of Carnitas in Austin Texas. Part 5: La Mexicana

Post a Comment July 19, 2010 – 3:29 pm | Share and Save | Permalink |  Print This Post |

Day 5: La Mexicana has been a 24/7 food source in South Austin for over a decade. Long enough for it to have had a heyday which is now sadly passed.

Walking through the electric sliding front door a Mexican wonderland just sort of appears out of nowhere. Big glass cases filled with every sort of Mexican baked goods run the width of the restaurant with a small taqueria/dining area off to the side. I place my order for a carnitas taco on corn and a couple minutes later I’m on the business end of one bad taco.

The pork is old, stringy and chewy. Clearly they haven’t been selling very much carnita cause this taco’s eligible for AARP. It’s sad because they offer two very good salsas on their tiny salsa bar. Both are bright red with one being a tomato base and the other one being a re-hydrated chile seca style with a million tiny seeds.

The doubled up, warm corn tortillas are non-descript but it’s no matter. This taco is d.o.a

0 * Mediocre

1924 South 1st Street
Austin, TX 78704-4254
(512) 443-6369

About the Stars:

4 ****  Extraordinary, life changing

3 ***   Excellent

2 *     Very good

1 *     Good

0 *     Mediocre to Acceptable

Quality, price, service and ambiance are all taken into account when rating.