Ortiz Taco Time - Ventura

Ortiz Taco Time is a well known place on Ventura Avenue that I've heard much about. Truth be told, I wasn't planning on going there for this post ( I was going to go to Taqueria Tepatitlan across the street) but its been on my radar now for some time so I just couldn't resist.

I know there's some history here with the building and the owner plus this place has many fans but I'm not going to delve into all that because its time to get down to brass tacks, are their tacos superior or not?

Well, as I walked in through the front door I was quite surprised how nice the interior of Ortiz Taco Time was. Plenty of seating and very clean in appearance plus this bad boy painted on one of the walls:

Anyway- At the counter ordering my tacos: 1 asada, 1 carnitas, 2 al pastor when the lady taking my order yelled in Spanish to the cook in the back: "Dos tacos adobados por favor!" ............and there you have it folks, mystery solved. Josh and I have been validated (well, at least one time) with our belief that most of the "al pastor" we've been eating is not really the traditional version of the recipe.

 Its not a big deal whatsoever, its just that it should be advertised on the menu a little differently. I mean, the pork is being cooked adobado style ( simply put, slow cooked with onions, garlic and dark chilies or adobado sauce/paste) as opposed to roasting it on the trompo ( Roasted on a rotisserie, pineapple involved, juice from said pineapple tenderizes the pork) then again, its also a regional issue. Who fucking cares Rob! were the tacos any good??

Right- The tacos, one more thing before I get to that, before the tacos even reached my table, I was served complimentary chips and salsa with the salsa also serving as the eventual topping for my tacos. I found the salsa (which was still pretty warm from just being cooked) to be smokey, with a slow building heat, very nice little number. Not gonna make you sweat or snap in your mouth with spiciness but it was very flavorful none the less.

Okay! Carnitas: nice crispness, shredded and moist, that chicharroness type flavor coming to the forefront and just delicious through and through. It had a very clean flavor as opposed to say, greasy like the one I had at Taqueria Potrillos in Camarillo. Definitely deep fried but still clean and not weighed down as carnitas can sometimes get after the deep fry treatment.

Carne asada was also really good. Great flavor, solid cut of steak, tender and juicy with slight char. Very nice, not the best, but really good and enjoyable to eat.

Al pastor/pork adobado tacos: After understanding what it was that I was eating, I set my mind to the flavors that I was expecting. This pork adobado taco was really, really good. absolutely delicious. Tender and spicy, totally melted in my mouth I was so glad I ordered 2 of them. Great execution of this style.

Other things: All of the tacos were quite hearty; the tortillas were filled to the brim with meat. Speaking of the tortillas, they were perfectly oiled and pliable, absolutely added to the overall flavor of the tacos. At the price of $1.25 each, these tacos are a serious deal.

There's still alot for me to get to just in Ventura city but yeah, I really enjoyed my tacos at Ortiz Taco Time; they are the real deal. I know that may not be news to the locals, and I'm sure there are also plenty of detractors, nevertheless- Ortiz Taco Time is one of the stand outs in the Ventura County. Trust me, I've been around, and in that medium sample size I think this place is great in comparison. 4.5/5 stars.

PS: On the way home I saw Don Gaby's van and lunch truck parked off the freeway in Oxnard. Please forgive me, Don.

Ortiz Taco Time
339 North Ventura Avenue
Ventura, Ca 93001

El Chilito #2 - Oxnard

Well, when I see an advertisement in the VC Reporter that reads like this:

It definitely perks my interest, which is why I'm at El Chilito in Oxnard for this post.

In any case, my co-worker buddy, Martin, came with me to check this place out. For some reason, through all of my other taco adventures in Oxnard I've missed this joint. Which is weird since I drive right past it all the time on Oxnard boulevard.

One of the interesting things about El Chilito is that they claim to have a "taquero" outside the premises in the parking lot on Fridays and on the weekends who dishes up fresh tacos right off a mobile plancha and al pastor tacos off a Trompo.

I think that only occurs at night though since I didn't see anything set up out on the parking lot when I got there at noon, oh well.

Another thing that I did not know before hand was the fact that its more of a restaurant/sit down type of place with one of the ladies behind the counter taking our order at the table rather than ordering at the counter. They even served us a complementary bowl of chips and dipping salsa.

So, I order 4 tacos: 2 al pastor, 1 cabeza, 1 carnitas and I think that Martin (also ordered 4) had carne asada, carnitas and 2 al pastor.

Starting with the carnitas taco: I thought it was really bland and dry. It was of the shredded variety but it just lacked flavor in a big way. Not much else to write on this other than it was a big disappointment.

The al pastor tacos were nice; tender and cooked adobado/Ventura County style with hints of pineapple through out. Nothing to amazing here just an adequate to solid taco.

The cabeza was definitely the standout; very moist and tender with loads of flavor and absolutely no tangy taste. Again, it was pretty good and I highly recommend this taco to anyone who is a big fan of cabeza.

Martin didn't have much to report from his end other than to say roughly the same things about all of his tacos as I did: nothing exciting at all but he thought the al pastor was very good.

Speaking of al pastor, I obviously couldn't tell if they were carved off of a trompo or not since the kitchen area was totally hidden from sight. The pic on the advertisement had me hoping that I was gonna hit pay dirt with some delicious al pastor. But alas, that was not the case. Also, I'm not saying that having pork roasting on a rotisserie will yield sweet tasting al pastor but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

A few more notes: tortillas sucked, salsa roja on the tacos was not spicy and didn't "add" anything and I completely missed out on a nice looking salsa bar. On a totally positive note, they threw some grilled onions on my plate that were pretty tasty when I topped a few of my tacos with them. And, the tacos are $1.00 each.

Okay, so I really feel like El Chilito is a place that I need to re-try down the road. I'd like to be here when the taquero is outside wheeling and dealing tacos. I'd also like to take their salsa bar home with me. 2.5/5 stars

El Chilito #2

733 South Oxnard Boulevard

Oxnard, Ca 93030

Taqueria Potrillos - Camarillo

Hey there! I haven't had time to blog about any taquerias since the bloody aftermath of Christmas/New Years so I thought it was definitely time to get back on the horse and spit out the first set of reviews for 2011.

Taqueria Potrillos is located in Camarillo across the street from one of my favorite places to go for a taco, Establos Meat Market, on Ventura Boulevard.

Anyhow, tiny hole in the wall type of place that you would expect- Now that's neither here nor there but what is, is the complementary chips, salsa, pickled veggies and other goodies that I helped myself too.

I ordered 4 tacos at the counter: carne asada, al pastor, carnitas and cabeza ( meat off the head of a cow) and had a seat at one of the few remaining tables.

Starting with the cabeza: as you can imagine, the meat was a bit gamy so it had that distinct tangy flavor. They had a very nice salsa verde loaded up on this taco which seemed to complement the meat, which was very tender and falling apart by the way. The tamatillo flavor of the salsa chilled out the tangy taste of the cabeza and somehow it all worked to make a decent taco.

Al pastor was nice, albeit pretty greasy. If that bugs you then this is not the al pastor for you. I felt that this pastor, no where near an authentic execution nor in the Ventura style either, was tasty. The pork was tender but with a noticeable charred crispness on the outside. Had a very flavorful adobado taste. Totally delicious, I'd come back just for another one of these.

Carne Asada was finely chopped, greasy, tender and with a crisp charred texture through out. Can't complain to much on this one either. Solid.

Carnitas was not shredded but cut into small cubes that tasted deep fried, almost like chicharrones. They were very crispy and greasy. Catching the overall theme here? They're not shy about the copious amounts of lard used in their cooking.

So, the verdict? Well Taqueria Potrillos is definitely a greasy spoon taqueria through and through. I don't mind that to much but some folks may. In any case, its my blog and I liked the place so 3 stars for them. Am I just totally high from the ridiculous lard intake ala Super Size Me? YES. Will I regret this decision later? Probably.  3/5 stars

Taqueria Potrillos
2650 Ventura Boulevard
Camarillo, CA 93011

taco wire - Ventura County Tacos, Tacos Guisados in DF, Soho Taco

taco wire - Ventura County Tacos, Tacos Guisados in DF, Soho Taco