| Woodland Taco Shootout
So, what can you eat in Woodland? I was looking around, and I noticed all of the places where you could get tacos- lots of different places. But, I wondered "which one is the best?" Here are my findings. These are in no particular order- please read the taco ratings for each restaurant!
UPDATE: Cuatro Milpas has changed hands, and changed their tacos. I have eaten there since the change (sometime in early 2004) but it just isn't the same. Maybe 2005 will bring us another Taco Shootout.
Cuatro Milpas is one of the few 'full service' restaurants on the list. They have a fairly complete menu, including breakfasts and seafood. They have all of the 'regular' combination type meals, as well as tacos ala cart. I got 3 tacos- pastor, asada, and sausage (chorizo?) because they did not have carnitas. Each taco was $1.75 which is on the higher end of the scale. The restaurant is pretty interesting. First of all, you'll notice the snow-cone service they have out in front. That's been there for quite a while now, and has always interested me. You can also tell by the picture that the outside is very colorful. The inside also has some nice pictures painted on the walls. The day we went, it was fairly hot inside, but not too bad. The tacos were excellent. #1- best I have had in the city. The al pastor taco was especially fantastic. It seemed to have just the perfect amount of the pastor flavoring, it was spicy, but not too bad. It had a lot of flavor without being overwhelming. It was positively the best taco I have had in Woodland. The other two tacos (asada and chorizo) were also quite good- maybe 8.5 on a scale of 1 to ten- but the pastor was a solid 10. Also, the service was very good. We arrived on a Thursday at about 5:50- not knowing that they close at 6:00. Our waitress was very nice, and very helpful. She must have something to do with the ownership, and it shows.
My fellow reviewers were also happy with Cuatro Milpas. One had tacos, and she was very happy. The other reviewer had a combination plate- she was actually 'converted' to liking Mexican food, after years of swearing that she hated it. Her previous bad experiences were all at Dos Coyotes in Davis, so you be the judge.
La Finca is by far the largest of the restaurants I've gone to looking for tacos. I'm sure that's because it also is a night-club at other times. The place is huge, with pool tables, a foosball table, a place for a band, room for dancing, and plenty of tables. While I was there, they didn't have a band, but a jukebox was going, playing some good music. I also liked the cool leather chairs, with 'La Finca' burned into them. I made sure I sat in that section, because the chairs looked comfortable. (They were) Also, I have finally found out where the guys who go around town in white hats eat- it's La Finca. They have a decent sized menu, but not huge. Remember, this is also a nightclub. Of course, most importantly, they do have tacos. They serve 4 different kinds of meat: Asada, Carne de Res, Al Pastor and Chicken. Their tacos are $1.75 each. I ended up ordering two pastor, and one asada. They were out of the carne de res (shredded beef). The tacos were good. Very, very good. First of all, each of them had a lot of flavor- the pastor were coated in 'pastor sauce' (whatever that is called) and salsa. Their asada was actually one of the most flavorful I have found. It was a good combination of salsa, onions, and cilantro. The pastor of course were still my favorite. Also, as a bonus, they are the only place that I have noticed that has their tortillas cooked a little differently. Some places steam them, but La Finca does something else, to give them a nice cooked flavor and texture. These were also very large tacos- 3 of them made me completely full.
The other reviewers said: My burrito eating reviewer said: "Awesome burrito. It was about 9 inches long, and 3.5 inches wide, tall too. Perfect mix of rice, beans, cheese and meat. I also like the atmosphere." The taco eating reviewer said: "Excellent tacos. Slightly larger than Cuatro Milpas. Al pastor spicy, but good."
Tacos El Jalisciense makes the ordering part pretty easy. They only have 3 items. Tacos, burritos and tortas. Since we were just looking for tacos, we're in business. On the menu they have 6 or 7 different types of tacos listed, depending on whether you speak English or Spanish. Asada, Pastor, Chicken, Brains, Head, Tongue and Tripas (spanish only- maybe 'intestines' didn't look good on the menu). Notably missing is Carnitas. They also have simplified the paying process. Tacos are $1 each, including tax. I ordered 3 tacos- asada, pastor and chicken. When they were ready, the woman at the counter just yelled "Ready!" I didn't have an order number or anything, but the system worked, I knew when it was my order. The tacos were fairly small, actually fairly typical in size for 'traditional' tacos. In fact, I ended up having to go back for one more taco to make a full meal. But, it was still only $4, and in the end I was very full. The tacos were good. Each came with onions and cilantro. Salsa, 2 kinds, was served on the side- the salsa was good, not 'fresh' type, just flavorful. The best taco of the three was the asada, then pastor, then chicken. Each was a fairly good representation of the typical taco, but none stood out above the crowd.
My fellow tasters had a few things to say: They agreed with me that the asada taco was the best of the three. The other taster opted for a burrito (also asada). The burrito was huge, and included rice and beans (but no cheese). She thought it was good that they put a whole combo plate into one easy to hold wrapper. The burrito at $3.50 is an excellent value.
Taqueria Guadalajara is a fairly popular place. The restaurant is usually busy, and fairly decent. The menu is pretty large, including all of the typical Mexican dishes, combination plates, etc. They have tables inside, and a small patio in the front. The variety of meat they have covers the typical range: asada, pastor, carnitas, chicken, head, sausage, brain, tripe, hog maw and tongue. They've got a good range of tacos- soft-shell, and hardshell. They also have a 'super' or 'giant' taco. I ordered 3 regular soft-shell tacos for $1.49 each. I got carnitas, asada and pastor. The tacos were large, and the plate was garnished with radishes. The carnitas taco was served with salsa, while the asada and pastor were topped with cilantro and onions. Of the 3 tacos, the carnitas was my favorite- excellent texture, very good flavor. The al pastor had a really good flavor, but was not spicy enough, or just not enough flavor on it- not bad, just not enough. The asada was decent, but I felt it was un-inspired. This could be changed with one of the 5 or 6 salsas from the salsa bar.
My fellow reviewers thought: One thought the tacos were good, but she got a HUGE piece of gristle, or some other meat product in one. She thought they were plain, without adding salsa. The other reviewer got an enchilada/taco combo plate. She said "Absolutely fabulous, I never knew that people made food this good."
Location - Next to Hollywood Video On a very hot day, Los Gallos had at least one thing going for it- a cool breeze was blowing through the place, and they had plenty of ceiling fans stirring things up. It's a good thing the place was cool- because the food was hot! The woman working there was also very nice, and very friendly- great service for a taqueria. I ordered the usual 3 tacos - asada, pastor, and carnitas. Each of the tacos was the usual small size- at Los Gallos they call them 'regular' (they have other sizes)- they are $1.25 each. The tacos all had a very good texture, and were very generous with the cilantro and salsa. The carnitas taco had a pico de gallo type salsa, while the other two had more of a red chile. The carnitas was very good, the salsa was spicy, but tasty. The other two tacos (asada and pastor) were actually a little bit too spicy for me. Not that they were too hot to eat, but it seemed like the salsa had just a little too much 'burn' for me to really enjoy it. The pastor did not seem to have enough of the 'bbq' flavor, and too much salsa. Their tacos were good, but the fact that they were too spicy, and the al pastor was very similar to the asada knocks them down a little bit.
Ratings
My fellow reviewer had a bean and cheese burrito. She said "Best burrito I've ever had...even better than school. The rice was good too. The seems like a good place to pick up on some of the Woodland 'locals'."
I never even intended to review Jody's, but one day my original target (Super Burrito) was closed, and I figured I might as well go to Jody's, and do a quickie review. I really wish I hadn't done it, because it was my intention to avoid giving anyone a negative review- but I stepped in, ate and paid- so I'll tell you about it. The first thing you notice at Jody's, is that most of the customers are white. At a Mexican restaurant in Woodland, that is a bad sign. Now let's say I was reviewing German restaurants, this wouldn't be a problem, but in this case it is a bad deal. So- item #1- only white people. Item #2- a lot of white people tell me it is their favorite restaurant in Woodland. This also should raise some red flags (as opposed to red, white, and green). I sat down and looked at the menu. I know they don't have the regular tacos that I have been reviewing, but I figured I could stretch it a little bit, and do some hard-shelled tacos this time. I ended up having to get a combination plate, and their only two choices were 'beef' and 'chicken'. The waitress promised the (shredded) beef was pretty good, so I got two of those, and one chicken. The combo also came with rice, beans, and soup. First, we were brought some chips- the chips were okay- very greasy, but in a good way. The salsa tasted like parts of it were from a jar, but I could have been mistaken- it was okay. Next, they brought us the soup. The soup was like a potato vegetable, and it was very, very good. Very salty, but very good. I thoroughly enjoyed the soup. Next, they brought out our plates- my 3 tacos looked nice, but that was the end anything positive that happened here. On top of the tacos was a finely grated cheese. Now I may not know the name for this cheese, but I would not be one bit surprised if it was Kraft Parmesan- you know, the stuff in the green can. The next ingredient I noticed was some sort of sauce. I don't know what it really was, but I was fairly convinced that it was italian dressing- yes, like on a salad or something. So my tacos tasted like they had parmesan cheese and italian dressing. This I want to tell you, was absolutely gross. This was a meal I came away from being totally disappointed. I spent over $20 (for two people) and I felt like they owed me $40 back. There are many other things I didn't even mention here, but this was about the most disappointed I have ever been in a restaurant. Ratings
Please don't even ask what my assistant reviewer has to say- lets just forget about the whole thing right now. Super Burrito Super Burrito may suffer a little bit in my review because I really wasn't hungry when I ate there. But, I had been by three different times before, and it was never open- so when I saw that it was open, I jumped at the chance. One of the things I like about Super Burrito is the name. I also like the sign, I also like the window painting. I ALSO like the pictures of all the food on the menu. (Although the carnitas plate and asada plate look pretty similar- maybe we didn't need a picture of both of them.) Also, this was the only place I was in where the television was actually a bonus, rather than a distraction- I don't know, maybe they just had the right volume or something. I also like the lady who took my order, and the lady/girl (she was in the middle somewhere) who gave me my plate of food. So, I liked a lot about the restaurant- what about the tacos? Super Burrito has a '4-mini tacos' plate, which seemed about perfect for me. I really didn't want to annoy the people too much, so I ordered 2 asada, and 2 pastor- skipping the carnitas. The 4 tacos came out all nicely arranged on a plate. Each one was very full of meat, and had a good amount of onions and cilantro on it. The asada and pastor both had the same stuff on top. Also, they have a fairly complete salsa bar- with jalapenos, onions, etc. And, some sort of dried herb that looked like oregano, but I'm sure wasn't. The al pastor tacos were good- nearly excellent. I can't say anything bad about them at all. The asada tacos were good- of course they were a little plain, so I added some salsa. Everything about these tacos was pretty good. I even ended up with a ton of extra meat on the plate, because the tacos were so full. I wish I had been a little bit hungrier, but I enjoyed everything anyway. Ratings
This was a solo trip- no co-reviewers. Super Burrito was pretty good, but unfortunately I was full, and didn't even bring my camera. I may need to make a second trip.
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People
complain al the time that there are no good restaurants in Woodland. Actually,
I have been one of those people. Sure, we have a smattering of places
to eat, but not enough to make this town really interesting.
La
Finca
So,
the tacos were great. The chips were also good- fairly light and crispy,
while still having a little bit of grease. We're not looking for baked
Doritos here- I want some decent chips. La Finca has them. The service
was excellent, the one waitress was all over the place, and extremely
friendly. The restaurant was cool, because of the layout, and the size.
Believe it or not, I even liked the bathroom (mens). All in all, La Finca
did very well in my testing.
The
restaurant itself was nothing special- definitely not pretty, just the
kind of place where you would expect to buy tacos for $1.00. The location,
between 7-11 and a laundromat (lavamatica?) is one of the worst on the
list. Still, I would say that I was not disappointed by anything, except
the omission of carnitas on the menu. No chips.
After
eating the 3 tacos, I was very full. They also have free chips and salsa-
this is a 'get your own' chips/salsa bar. The chips are very thick, very
crunchy. The salsa variety was good- I ended up mixing the pico de gallo
with something a little more spicy. 
Los
Gallos Taqueria
The
chips were good - they were kept warm in some little machine type thing.
They also had burritos, and tortas on the menu. They may have had combination
plates on the menu, I don't remember.
Jody's
Mexican Restaurant
to InsideWoodland. Free and easy!