Tacos and hippies and Alli, oh my!

I love Mexican food. I could eat it every single day and be happy (and fat). Growing up on the West Coast, there was no shortage of amazing choices, but here in New York City, it is harder to find (not impossible, by any means). So when I read an article on Serious Eats, I told my sister (Alli) right away "we're going here." "Ok, cool," she said "the food is good, but the portions are small." This did not deter me - in fact, I thought - great, built in restraint so that I don't overindulge on tacos. And off we went to Por Que No? Taqueria.


It had a nice funky interior that my dad (who had previously been to this place) called "hippie Mexican." I thought that was pretty apt.


We started with some freshly made guacamole and chips.


They had several kinds of house-made salsa, ranging from mild to spicy. I thought the spicy had a nice kick, but my mom and sister made faces and loud exclamations to the contrary (wimps).

My sister, a vegetarian since birth, ordered the rice and beans bowl. It was more interesting than the name let on.


Mexican rice, pinto beans, salsa, cheese and guacamole all mixed together and were served with 3 fresh tortillas. Yum!

I had tacos - one pescado (fish - which I never dare to order on the East Coast, but here in Oregon seemed like the fish would be good) and carnitas (shredded pork - always one of my favorites).


They were a little fancy for my taste (I tend to like my tacos unadorned), but all the flavors worked well together. I especially liked the pineapple with the fish.

Overall, it was a happy experience. Look at my sister smile!


She's so adorable. I want to visit her again and eat more tacos.

More Portland soon!

Tacos in Astoria?

I read this post on Serious Eats: New York quite some time ago and always meant to wander over and try it out. Well, yesterday seemed to be as good a day as any, so I decided to see what kind of tacos one can find in Astoria.

If you don't live in New York, you may not know that good Mexican food is hard to find. It's there for sure, but it's not like California (or Texas, if that's where you're from) where you trip over good Mexican food with every other step. So when I read that there were good tacos to be had in my neighborhood, I figured I should check it out.


At first glance, this does not look like a place that serves tacos, much less good tacos. I went in, looked around and actually had to ask behind the counter, "you have tacos here?" The woman nodded, so I tried one chicken and one pork taco. The verdict?

They were good! Freshly chopped onions and cilantro topped tender meats over two warm corn tortillas, with a little plastic cup of hot sauce on the side. And an added bonus? Mexican Coca Cola (the kind with REAL sugar, not high fructose corn syrup) was in glass bottles in the back.

The one draw back? There are only two kinds of tacos to choose from. However, there are tamales that I didn't try....but that's another day.