Su Casa Taqueria Cart

Elite '08

72

208

Don B.

Portland, OR

Su Casa esta bueno, per no es el mejor...

On my never ending quest to find the best damn burrito that Portland has to offer, I sampled a carne asada burrito from Su Casa this morning, and I was not disappointed.  This is the little Mexican cart/truck/roach-coach sandwiched in between the super-ghetto Safeway and the run down Meineke on 82nd near Burnside.  As with most carts, it has no address.  

These ladies have gotten creative with the cart, and have constructed a small, covered dining area adjacent to the rear of the cart with an astro-turf floor and picnic tables.  So, while this place technically is a food cart, it's really an upgraded one (or a downgraded restaurant).  Either way, its a nice touch. As carts go, this one looked really clean. That had me doubting the true quality of food from the outset.

The menu is surprisingly limited for a cart: Chicken, beef, pastor, carne asada, cabeza, and maybe one or 2 more items. [edited - they DO have carnitas, how did I miss that?!?!].  You can get either tacos or burritos, and the burritos come in either the standard (meat rice and beans) or "combo" (meat, rice, beans, onions and cilantro).  

I have a special way of ordering burritos that was blessed upon me by a burrito enthusiast associate: carne asada con solomente salsa fresca y guacamole, sin arroz, sin frijoles (meat, salsa, and guac only, no beans, no rice).  Ever since he got me to start ordering them this way, I have never looked back. It's refreshing to not have heavy, pasty beans and rice inside the burrito... especially when you are eating one for lunch.  Therefore, I benchmark all carts to this standard - it allows me to actually taste the meat and other ingredients without covering them up with beans.

Today I sampled the carne asada. For being a burrito full of meat, it was pretty decent sized. The meat was nicely flavored - much more so than the asada at other carts.  They added onions and cilantro instead of the requested pico (salsa fresca), but that made it even better. It was a delicious combo. They forgot to add my guacamole, but I was so engrossed in enjoying my burrito that I totally forgot about the guac until afterwards. The beef was a tad greasy, which is a bit of a downer - most other places seem to be able to avoid getting lots of grease inside the tortilla wrapper.  The beef was decently high quality, with a fresh taste and very little gristle. Nothing worse than a burrito full of cheap, gamy gristle. Yuk.

As a nice touch, they gave me both salsa verde and salsa roja on the side, and they gave me a little saran wrapper with some spicy pickled carrots, jalapenos, and onions (a standard at authentic mex places), along with some radish slices and a lime wedge.  I had to take my order to go, so it was nice to find this little addition upon arrival at my destination.  It seems like they pickle their own carrots, because these were definitely not the canned ones that are ever-present at most taquerias.

So, what was the price tag for all this goodness? $4.50.  In fact, everything was around the $5 mark (except the tacos).  Nice touch, Su Casa. The burrito was about average size, but all meat and no filler. That, to me, is a pretty good deal.

I will definitely be returning to sample the chicken, the pastor, and the other beef option. Maybe some time I will sit and enjoy my food in the little covered shelter like the locals do!

This is nowhere near the best asada in town, but its way tastier than many of the asada options at other carts!!

[edited to add - I tried the carnitas. Good, but not great, and greasy too. I have the feeling that's gonna be a common theme in the burritos from this place. Not amazing flavor on the meat, but moist, juicy, and quality meat. I'll stick with the carne asada from this place]

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