Dos Toros Taqueria

Before Ariel and I headed to a friend’s birthday party, we checked out Dos Toros Taqueria for a quick bite to eat. I just read about the restaurant on Serious Eats and thought the review warranted a visit, especially since I absolutely love tacos and burritos. The restaurant is located on 4th Avenue right by the Walgreens in Union Square:

The restaurant has very little seating (there were absolutely no seats when we got there but luckily we had to wait in line so we figured by the time we got our food, there would be a free seat). There’s no restroom in the restaurant (since there are less than 19 seats), which was a little annoying since I wanted to wash my hands before eating a burrito with my hands that were just touching subway poles. The restaurant only serves a couple of items, including burritos, quesadillas, and tacos (you buy those individually):

Dos Toros was opened by two brothers that wanted to re-create Mission style burritos. I’ve only had burritos in San Francisco once or twice, but they were so delicious and flavorful that I can still remember the spices and the juicy pulled pork in my burrito that was overflowing with beans, rice, and guacamole. I went with the carnitas burrito with guacamole:

They use sliced cheese in the burrito and they heat it up so the cheese melts (unlike Chipotle), but everything was a little plain; the pork wasn’t flavorful (or salty) enough, the guacamole tasted like pureed avocados, and the rice was too plain.

Ariel ordered two tacos:

Ariel liked his tacos, but they were quite small and didn’t contain a lot of meat (however, they cost about $3.60 per taco). Ariel ended up having to get in line again to order a third taco so he could fill up.

I’m not sure Dos Toros is worth another visit; I’m still a bigger fan of Chipotle (or even Calexico Cart!). However, the place had really cute guys working behind the counter, so I might be convinced to eat there again if I’m in the neighborhood.