Before going into my first review, I wanted to touch on a few things with regards to “authentic” tacos. I’m not going be too militant about how authentic the tacos need to be but let me point out a few things that I do not want to see on my taco.
Second, there should not be any shredded cheese on my taco. Same thing applies as I mentioned for the lettuce thing, minus 2 stars for sure. Massive amounts of cheese in Mexican cuisine is something that really originates from the California/North American influence on the fare over the last 50 years or so. Yes- there are Mexican cheeses like: Cotija, Queso Blanco, Queso Feresco, Panela and others but the traditional taco does not usually have those cheeses or any other on top of it. Much less shredded American cheese. No cheese!
One more thing, I’m not going to make too much commentary on the quality of the service I get at one place or another. I just want to eat good tacos and that’s my main focus.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, the first place that I went to on my quest for excellent tacos (solely in the Ventura County) is a place called Taqueria El Tapatio, and is located in Camarillo.
El Tapatio is located off Arneill Road in a shopping center that includes a Smart and Final. It’s a small place yet has many tables to sit at. One of the things that I really like is the traditional music blaring from the juke box, it’s the kinda music one would expect playing at a taqueria. Not to mention the stuffed dead roosters mounted to the walls, that definitely makes me happy.
In any case, after ordering, I went to the salsa bar (which was pretty sparse) and helped myself to some chips and salsa. Now a salsa bar is not necessarily something that is mandatory at a taqueria but it is nice. Not sure you will find many salsa bars in taco shops located in Mexico but as Americans we’ve definitely grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle (as my wife would say). And I think all of us here in California are used to seeing them. So with that, I sat down and dug into my chips and salsa.
There were a few different options that I could have gone with but I chose their smokey dark red salsa and the salsa fresco which is pretty much like a Pico De Gallo. Both were what I would expect, very solid with the smokey red salsa standing out. It was spicy but nothing that hit you to hard, very nice. The salsas that were available were not very creative but props to them for having fresh radishes plus a variety of pickled veggies like potatoes (which I have never seen) carrots and jalapenos. Those were all especially good. The chips were okay, they were thin but tasted like they came out of a bag then put under a heating lamp.
I ordered 3 tacos (Carne Asada, Al Pastor and Carnitas) so basically steak, pork and pork. If you are not familiar with these offerings Carne Asada is a flank steak or skirt steak that has been marinated, Al Pastor is pork cooked with chilies (and traditionally cooked with pineapple too which makes the meat very tender) and Carnitas is pork cooked in a lot of lard and simmered for a while, then cooked until the outside is crispy.
My Carne Asada was great, had a nice red sauce on top that really complemented the meat but the carne asada just sold itself like it should. Al Pastor was solid with some good flavor but not as much as it could have been. The sauce on it was good but the taco itself was just adequate. The Carnitas were nice and crispy the way they are supposed to be and again, a very nice sauce on top. I do want to point out that the carnitas were not shredded, they came in cubed pieces which is fine but I do like it shredded. Keeping it cubed probably helps with getting them crispy much easier than if they were shredded. In the end, this was also a great taco.
The tortillas were warm and soft and got softer still with the warm filling inside. All the tacos came with cilantro and onions as part of the filling which to me is mandatory. All in all a nice meal.
El Tapatio has other locations in Oxnard and in Los Angeles too. It’s not the best place to get a taco in Ventura County but it’s definitely a solid choice. I would say it’s the best in Camarillo though; I will definitely go there again and again. 3/5 stars
Taqueria El Tapatio
345 Arneill Road
Camarillo, CA 93010
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