San Francisco Bites

Let me first admit that I’m new to the Mission taqueria scene. Unlike the loads of taqueria fanatics that write on Yelp, I have not yet sampled the Mission variety and selected my favorites.

Still, I like to think that I have a good grasp of what Mexican food should taste like, and I was exited to venture into the Mission in search of a burrito.

I started at Valencia and wandered down 24th street, toward Bryant. There were dozens of taquerias to choose from, but I kept waiting until I passed a name I recognized.

“El Tonayense,” on 24th and Shotwell sounded familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure why. Turns out, it’s because I’d read rave reviews about their taco truck on Harrison and 22nd.

Like all Taquerias, Tonayense is pretty bare bones: The menu is painted on the back wall, a cash register sits in the front, a smattering of plastic tables are in between, and the place is operated by one cook and one cashier. An old man gripping half a burrito told us that he’s lived in the Mission for over 30 years, and this place is “really good.”

“An auspicious sign,” I thought.

I was debating between a burrito (I could tell by the size of them that they’d be gut busters) or a tamale. I tried to ask the cashier for a recommendation, but she seemed to think everything was great.

Then, I looked over at the cook, and saw him grilling some unusual tortilla sandwich. I asked the woman what it was and she said, “quesadilla.” What? This was no quesadilla. This was a smushed burrito with grill marks.

I opted for a filling of “regular chicken,” which meant chicken in a ranchero sauce, and cheese.

I took my free chips over to the salsa bar and filled up plastic containers of spicy salsa roja and refreshing salsa verde. They were out of pico de gallo.

My quesadilla came with a meat to cheese ration of about 60:40. The cheese was oozing, and the meat was zesty, but man, I’m not used to eating such heavy food. I was begging for a side salad with pickled radishes and lemon vinaigrette.

I don’t know if I’d go back to Tonayense. It was tasty at the time, but I felt like I had a brick in my stomach the rest of the day.

Maybe I won’t turn into a Mission taqueria junkie after all.

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