Taqueria Chile Verde
San Francisco, CA
| Overall Score based on 3 reviews |
5.3 not recommended |
Editorial Reviews (1)
Dan's Score: 7.5 / 10 full review...
Taqueria Chile Verde is the Dominic DiMaggio of San Francisco taquerias, slinging salsa right around the corner from civic heavyweight Taqueria Cancun (he of the Joe. D - esque streak of eight straight "best burrito" awards from a much-derided-on-this-site alt-weekly). Chile Verde is on Sixth, a few doors down from Market, but manages to keep most of the dealers and mental patients on the street and away from the grill, which is a very good thing.
User Reviews (2)
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Score: 6.5 / 10 Reviewed by: primatepatio
Across picturesque 6th street from "Donut World, Hamburgers and Breakfast", Burrito El Chile Verde is a ray of flavorful burrito sunshine in a wasteland of inedibility. The interior is heartwarming: classicly narrow rectangular space with bright yellow formica tables, a confusing mirrored column in the middle of the room, and a long, clean-looking food preparation area to one side. Depending upon one's cullinary orientation, the smell inside is either disgusting or wonderful: that of meats grilling and stewing. The aroma reminded me of old style lunch places where they roast big turkeys. Given that it's on San Francisco's de-facto skid-row, the place is down-right homey. If you're in luck, you can get the seat farthest from the door and right next to the cutting board where you can observe clean looking vegetables and cuts of meat being chopped up (though ths seat has worse cover from gunfire than do others over on the side). This place has excellent kitchen transparency. Unless they have Mira Sorvino sized roaches chained up in the back, they're scoring high on the curve in terms of cleanliness.
Now, the burrito: pretty good. I really wanted it to be el superior, though I didn't have truly high expectations. I ordered the Pollo Asada Super, with whole beans and no sour cream. The business-like and taciturnly not-unfriendly counter guy gave me some chips and a little bowl of an oniony guacamole which looked a little thin, but upon sinking in a decent (though out of a bag) chip, I found to be quite fresh and tasty. The burrito itself came quickly, and was an excellent size. The place definitely has a first rate price/performance ratio. The chicken was pretty good -- not packing a great deal of flavor, but wasn't too dry, and had a nice sort of smoky taste. The beans and rice had some flavor, and they'd grill-toasted the tortilla so it had just that hint of browning. The fresh avacado was a good touch.
I had to resort to the Tapatio after a few bites, which, for me, is not a bad thing (I consider Tapatio on the tables to be a good sign). Just inches from my face, behind sneeze-proof glass was a succulent bowl of pickled jalapenos and onions. Perhaps next time, I request some in a cup for additional flavor.
The clientele was all solidly working-class folks on lunch, which is not a minor issue on that street. The ambiance improves as an inverse function of distance from the door and is better than at around-the-corner Cancun, even if the food is inferior. For that reason alone I would come back here. Avoiding having a hepetitis laden spare-changing junkie drip his snot into your salsa is not an issue to be trifled with. Overall, it was a satisfying lunch/burrito experience, and in the neighborhood a decent, second viable Mexican food option.
Score: 4 / 10 Reviewed by: Bailz
Decent quality, reasonably priced, but you just can't escape 6th St. If you eat here, get your food to go and go FAR, FAR away. Located on 6th near Market (otherwise known as the corner of Crack & Ho), Chile Verde does offer a nice green salsa (hence the name) and sweet pork filling for your burrito. The inside is about as clean as one can expect for 6th & Market, but it's impossible to eat inside without someone walking in and asking you for change WHILE YOU ARE EATING!! You also have to walk through a parade of assholes outside just to get in the door. That's not Chile Verde's fault, but location is everything. If you have a nice place to eat at your office nearby, it's worth getting to go, but eat inside at your own risk. With apologies to any of the staff at Chile Verde, I honestly want to give you a higher score, but your neighborhood just won't let me.
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