El Charrito Taco Truck, 201 Richmond Hill Ave., Stamford CT (In front of Beemer’s

Having lived in Northern California for 11 years, its hard for me to express how comforting it is to see a taco truck. In Santa Rosa, there were at least 6 of them, as well as couple dozen taquerias and a half-dozen upscale Mexican restaurants.

Out there, Mexican is *the* ‘fast food’ -  I would venture to guess most Northern Californians eat Mexican at least twice a week, and most more than that. Its cheap, ubiquitous, and very delicious.

Our favorite place was right near our house – Jalisco’s Taqueria. As far as my wife and I are concerned, they are the best burritto on the planet, and make the best carnitas as well. Everytime we go back, we look forward to a Jalisco’s Carnitas Burritto – mmmmm.

Since moving to Fairfield County, we have been very pessimistic about our options for Mexican. We really don’t have much interest in the upscale Mexican restaurants like Boxcar Cantina and Avenida - they lack ‘down-hominess’ and are overpriced. El Tio in Port Chester is probably the closest we’ve come to what we’re looking for.

So when a comment on Stamford Talk recommended the El Charrito taco truck on Richmond Hill Ave, I had to check it out – the next day! I was really excited, as the comments on Chow were very good as well.

When I arrived on this glorious Friday at around 1, there were probably a dozen hispanic laborers waiting in line – a good sign. There was also a businessman at the end of the line named Chris, who had never tried the place before either, and we discussed what we were going to order.

I noted that the huarache was highly recommended on Chow, but that I had to try their Carnitas Burrito. Chris opted for some tacos. Chris pointed out to me that the truck was set up directly across the street from Beemer’s strip club, which I hadnt noticed.

Wow – what a great Friday lunch location – that’s a swell one-two punch, I thought.

We then kidded that the Taco truck also served as an excellent alibi for Beemer’s fans: “Oh, my husband loves that taco truck! I see him parked next to it every day!”

When I finally got my turn I was served by the lovely Alexandra, whom someone on Chow said was a stateside-born Puerto Rican. Alexandra is a very nice and friendly person, as is her husband, Carlos, who makes the food.

I ordered a carne asada huarache and a carnitas super burrito. (In Santa Rosa, ’super’ is the code word that you want sour cream and guacamole in the burrito – unfortunately neither is available on an El Charrito burrito).

When I got my order, I was very excited to try it out – I would say ‘cautiously optimistic’. Although it would have been nice to sit in the park and eat, I wanted to get home and be dead serious about my burrito.

This is the part of the review I have kind of been dreading, because I *really* like Alexandra and Carlos, and I *really* wanted to like their food. I even considered just not writing the review, but decided just to be specific about what I didn’t like, and point out that a LOT of people LOVE El Charrito – so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

First, there was some things about the burrito I didn’t like just because it wasn’t my style. The tortilla had a deliberate char on it, they used black beans instead of pinto, and the beans came with some excess water. This is mostly a matter of preference.

However, the carnitas was an issue for me. The seasoning was solid, but the pork was VERY fatty, and kind of ‘cubed’ (some have complained about the ‘cubiness’ – a ‘processed’ look to their chicken on a quesadilla as well). By the time I had gotten to the end of my first half of the burrito, it seemed I was eating more fat than meat, and it was not a pleasurable experience.

I will admit that I have never had a huarache before, but its standard Mexican food. I enjoyed it more than the Burrito, although I felt the beef was subpar as well. It wasn’t bad though – although I am not a big fan of the huarache now, it was solid taco truck fare.

On a final note -a  lot of people like to argue about ‘authenticity’ – I roll my eyes thinking about the lecture the waiter at Avenidas gave me when I tried to order a soft taco. I don’t really care about authenticity, I care about having Santa Rosa-style taqueria food. I really couldn’t care less what degree of authenticity is there – how does it taste? My only real gripe with the food at El Charrito is that it isn’t the ’style’ I prefer, and I do have legitimate issues with the quality of the carnitas.

However, because it does have so much good word I urge people try it for themselves, and meet Alexandra and Carlos – because, as I said, they are really nice people, everyone should get their tacos from a truck at least once, and who knows – maybe something they make is just right for you!