I drove the 20 minutes here to try the food after reading a number of glowing reviews - 4.6 Yelp…read morerating over 77 reviews! It is a small place with less than a dozens tables, and a fairly broad menu. It has been operating for about 10 years now.
I was particularly interested in the California Burrito with Steak and the tacos with shredded beef, the Birria tacos, the Guadalajara Dog, and the street corn. We tried them all!
The California Burrito is an interesting version - filled with pickled jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, onion, avocado, Mexican cheese, sour cream, your choice of protein, and topped with Chili Con Queso once filled. The menu description does not mention FFs which is very much traditional. In fact, the replacement of rice and beans with crispy FFs was what made the California Burrito unique!
This is a large burrito, shorter and thicker than the vast majority you'll see. The filling I chose was carne asada and the burrito was topped with what the menu termed "chili con queso". The result was a different looking burrito, but an excellent burrito - and no, I couldn't finish it.
The Birria Tacos are only available of Fridays. You get four tacos, sliced radish, Lime wedges, and the house red and green hot sauces. These tacos were well filled with meat and cheese, but there was no consommé, which is very traditional, also no chopped white onion or cilantro - disappointing, would not order again!
The street tacos with shredded beef were good, not great - well filled, and well topped with chopped white onion and cilantro. I went all the way which added lettuce, tomato, and Mexican white crumbling cheese, either cotija or queso fresco. Frankly I did not find that the all the way approach worked for me! 3 tacos were $8.99, and all the way added $1.99. These are a bit pricey, most Tex-Mex spots in Winston serve up 4 for just under $13!
I wanted to try the Guadalajara Dog more out of curiosity than anything else - I have been in Guadalajara a number of times and experienced some interesting food items, such as Birria (the stew), Pozole, Carne En Su Jugo, BBQ Young Goat, and the Guadalajara Hot Dog ( a wildly popular street food)!
The weiner is wrapped in bacon and then deep fried, causing the skin to develop rips. Once in the bun, it is sauced and topped with fresh avocado, chopped onion, ancestry you can add more. This was a good version, but not an item I order often.
The street corn consisted of corn kernels, cheese, hot sauce, lime, and a Mayo based sauce. This is a busy item, and I found I prefer the simpler, customary corn on the cob with crumpled cheese.
This is an interesting place, one that has a different take on Tax-Mex dishes. Those takes and moves away from tradition are not something for me.
