vegansaurus!
Posts tagged "mexican"
05/18/2010
I’ve been not totally head-over-heels for Gracias Madre in the past but three things redeem it for me:
1) This cauliflower and cheese dish with the breadcrumbs on the top. sometimes they have it with Brussels sprouts too. either way, it’s cheesy, spicy, and amazing. order it.
2) GET THE FLAN. It’s FLAN. But without eggs. IT’S EGGLESS FLAN. It’s perfect and delicious and I want to bathe in a pool of it with you OMG this just got hot all of a sudden.
3) Sweet happy hour deals with cheap beer, mojitos, and sangria. I think it goes from 5 to 7 p.m. and they’re all $3. This helps make up for the fact that you’re about to pay $13 for some rice and beans. I KNOW, I KNOW, it’s all organic and fair trade and that shit is important and I’m willing to pay for it (I’m lucky I can afford to do that and so are you!) but yeah, it’s expensive for Mexican food in the Mission. You can hate all you want but I said what I said and I never go back on what I say 50 percent of the time, OK!?
Definitely worth a visit, and you’d be wise to heed my recommendations. NAMASTE, BITCHES!
Photo posted at 10:33 by mrpenguino 
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05/17/2010
Los Jarritos!
In San Diego there is this phenomenon known as the “Potato Rolled Taco” [Ed. Generally, a “rolled taco” is a taquito if it’s made from a corn tortilla, and a flauta if it’s made from a wheat tortilla]. Jonas is from SD and practically never shuts up about the magicallity of the PRT at Pokez. Having never been to Pokez I can neither confirm nor deny that they are magical but I can say that my boyfriend knows what’s up when it comes to food. He is skinny but he is fierce. In a related note, god bless a skinny person who can throw down when it comes to food. I am bigoted to assume that skinnies can’t bring it when it comes to the dinner table but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a few in my day. In fact, I know a girl in NYC who is built like a brick house but regularly eats five sandwiches for first dinner. FIRST DINNER. I don’t even want to tell you about second dinner because that shit is not fit for prime time. Needless to say, I curtsy to you, madam.
ANYWAY, the point is, if Jonas said the PRT is the bomb, it probably is. AND I WANT IT. But also, when the hell am I in San Diego? I’m not Republican, I don’t surf, and I can get all the (LEGAL PRESCRIPTION) drugs I need without hopping over the border so really, there is no need. That’s where Los Jarritos comes in. Los Jarritos is a family-owned sit down Mexican food joint at South Van Ness Avenue and 20th Street in the Mission. You walk in, sit down at a table with menus, order potato flautas and a Jamaica and eat chips and salsa for five minutes until your meal arrives. SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD NOTE:
1) The agua frescas are the size of toddlers. Delicious hibiscus-flavored toddlers. LOOK AT IT NEXT TO THAT CHIP, it’s 50 times its size! Amazing!
2) POTATO ROLLED TACOS ARE THE POTATO ROLLED BOMB. Eat them always. Also, the lovely waitress knew what vegan meant and that just put me at ease. Jonas got the sopes and I can report that they were also the bomb. The veg ones are made with nopales (that’s cactus, gringo) and they are deeeelicious!
3) This place is EL CHEAPO. All you can eat chips, a giant agua fresca, and two HUGE meals set us back 20 bucks! Cha-ching!
Over all, 50 million stars, will be back for more, more, more, more, more I LOVE YOU, LOS JARRITOS.
Posted at 08:03 by mrpenguino
05/10/2010
![From the vegetarian artislovely comes this recipe for Mexican Fiesta Soup, which looks delicious and seems totally appropriate for a blustery spring day.
Ingredients4 tomatillos, peeled and rinsed2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed, rinsed well2 garlic cloves minced2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice1 small white onion, diced1 jalapeno, diced, plus more sliced for garnish (optional)1 teaspoon ground cuminOne 28 1/2-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (about 8 tomatoes), drained and crushed3 ears corn, quartered4 cups vegetable stock1/2 ripe avocado, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slicesNonstick cooking sprayFreshly ground pepper
Directions1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place tomatillos on a small rimmed baking sheet. Roast in oven, turning once midway through, until they are softened and slightly charred, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool slightly. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor; add cilantro, one garlic clove, and lime juice. Process until smooth and combined; set aside.
2. Lightly coat bottom of a large nonstick saucepan with cooking spray. Add onion, remaining garlic clove, and diced jalapeno; cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Add cumin, tomatoes, corn, and chicken vegetable stock. Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat; stir in 3 tablespoons reserved tomatillo mixture, and season with pepper. Add sliced avocado. Ladle into serving bowls; garnish with jalapeno slices, if desired. Serve with remaining tomatillo pesto
Your Vegansaurus knows that some of you have issues with cilantro, so for you we recommend substituting some tarragon, a pinch of rosemary, maybe a pinch of thyme—all fresh!—and a couple extra garlic cloves. Try it and see!
[photo from Whole Living via artislovely]](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l27zqsSJQI1qzzfdlo1_400.jpg)
From the vegetarian artislovely comes this recipe for Mexican Fiesta Soup, which looks delicious and seems totally appropriate for a blustery spring day.
Ingredients
4 tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed, rinsed well
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 small white onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced, plus more sliced for garnish (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
One 28 1/2-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (about 8 tomatoes), drained and crushed
3 ears corn, quartered
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 ripe avocado, pitted, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Nonstick cooking spray
Freshly ground pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place tomatillos on a small rimmed baking sheet. Roast in oven, turning once midway through, until they are softened and slightly charred, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool slightly. Transfer to the bowl of a food processor; add cilantro, one garlic clove, and lime juice. Process until smooth and combined; set aside.
2. Lightly coat bottom of a large nonstick saucepan with cooking spray. Add onion, remaining garlic clove, and diced jalapeno; cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Add cumin, tomatoes, corn, and chicken vegetable stock. Bring liquid to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat; stir in 3 tablespoons reserved tomatillo mixture, and season with pepper. Add sliced avocado. Ladle into serving bowls; garnish with jalapeno slices, if desired. Serve with remaining tomatillo pesto
Your Vegansaurus knows that some of you have issues with cilantro, so for you we recommend substituting some tarragon, a pinch of rosemary, maybe a pinch of thyme—all fresh!—and a couple extra garlic cloves. Try it and see!
[photo from Whole Living via artislovely]
Photo posted at 15:15 by meaverly 
04/13/2010
Flacos Restaurant Opens!
It’s been a good few months for vegan Mexican food! It’s everywhere. Well, in two places. Gracias Madre is considerably better than when it opened. Or maybe I’m just less of a bitch today. PEOPLE CHANGE. Not me, but I’ve heard that some do. Like, in movies about people changing. Anyway, I highly recommend the cheesy cauliflower and patatas bravas because they are both the tastiest. But we aren’t here to talk about that cult restaurant, we’re here to get down on some delicious East Bay Mexican food from Flacos. Yes we’ve reviewed them before, but now they have a stand-alone restaurant and it’s bare bones. You probably shouldn’t go with a group larger than four and you won’t all be sitting together. The food is worth it though, with the tamales and taquitos being the stand-out stars of the menu. Skip the pozole unless you’re a fan of things that are flavored like “red.”
I guess I really have nothing else to say. AND STILL I RISE. I guess I just wanted to tell you that Flacos is open in Berkeley and y’all should go so their asses stay in business and continue to be awesome so that I might get as delightfully fat as possible. Oh and they’re open from 12-9 Tuesday thru Saturday. And are cash only. FOR THE TIME BEING. I think they’re working on getting a credit card machine and to that I say: WORK FASTER! I joke but really, fuck you, Cha Ya.
Posted at 08:00 by mrpenguino
01/29/2010
Taco Happy Hour oppression!
Chances are if you live in San Francisco and are an unemployed bum (“freelancer”), you’ve heard of El Toro’s and Pancho Villa’s Taco Happy Hours. Between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m., both venerable taquerias offer $1 tacos and $2 beers. While in the past I’ve had no troubles getting tofu tacos for the $1 advertised price, yesterday when my friend and I hit up the Panch, we were told that the only vegetarian taco eligible for the deal was the plain rice/beans/salsa deal…BUT I could get a meat taco for the happy hour price!
What the shit? The basic meat taco is $3, while the rice/beans/salsa model is $1.50. That means that you get a $2 discount per taco if you eat meat, and a $0.50 discount per taco if you don’t. What’s more is the tofu tacos COST LESS THAN THE PLAIN MEAT TACOS! THEY ARE $2.25!!! WHY, PANCHO VILLA/EL TORO, WHY?
Now, I love me some El Toro and I love me some Pancho Villa (more El Toro, because they have pico de gallo in their salsa bar, and I am like a fiend for that stuff), but I am not so in love with this veg discrimination, so I say let us rise up, vegans, and fight for our $1 tofu tacos! Contact El Toro and Pancho Villa and (politely and pragmatically) let them know that we’re on to them. End veggie discrimination now!
Posted at 08:00 by jordanpattern 
01/25/2010
Gracias Madre opening party TONIGHT! FREE DRINKS!
Really, all you should care about there is: TONIGHT and FREE DRINKS. It’s from 5 to 7 p.m. Also, FULL DISCLOSURE, we have no confirmation on this and I’m not calling anyone. It’s near the end of the month and minutes are a valuable commodity that I’m sure as hell not wasting on your asses. Now, anyone in an office care to call and confirm? THANK YOU AHEAD OF TIME!
Here’s our initial observations about Gracias Madre. I’ll also add that you should skip pretty much everything except the cheesy cauliflower thing (it’s AMAZING) and OK, here’s the plan. Get to GM at like 5 p.m. Have a cheesy cauliflower dish and several free drinks. Wander down the street to El Farolito (or ANYWHERE BUT GRACIAS MADRE) and get a big-ass burrito for $5. Head on over to my place and LET’S PARTY (read: I’ll never tell you where I live EVER!!).
Posted at 11:38 by mrpenguino
12/26/2009
At Gracias Madre! It’s open!
First impressions: they spent a shitload of money on this place. It’s like being in a fancy spa (in Mexico?). The super-white host greets you with a “Buenas dias.” Hehe. As expected, they ask you a question of the day (shoot me) and there is communal seating (shoot me) (although fairly empty right now so we’re relatively safe). Pretty much the entire menu is available (except a few of the desserts).
That’s our report from the front lines! We’ll be back with more in a little! Over and out!
Photo posted at 12:45 by mumblingmynah 
10/27/2009
Preview Gracias Madre! Right now!
OK, more like “pre-taste,” but the prefix is the key here because oh boy: They’re serving Gracias Madre tamales at Café Gratitude right now! Oh I cannot wait for this place to open, one of everything to stay, please.
The tamales are described as follows:”Stoneground heirloom masa steamed in the husk filled with seasonal vegetables. Served with pumpkin seed salsa and black beans. Rajas – roasted poblano chile strips sautéed with onion. Calabaza – roasted butternut squash.” ¡Muy delicioso!
[thanks for the tip, Grub Street San Francisco!]
10/22/2009
» Tell Chipotle we want vegan burritos everywhere! Please & thank you!
Chipotle is test-marketing a vegan burrito in its D.C. location and we need to let them that we want it in all 837 of their restaurants! I know walking into a Chipotle in San Francisco is basically like going on a 12-state killing spree (but less understandable I MEAN WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?) but you know, sometimes we travel. And think of the poor vegans in Boise JUST THINK OF THEM FOR ONCE YOU ARE SO SELFISH.
Email the company and post on their Facebook wall and let them know, we want all up in that piece. The good people over at Fuck Yeah, Animal Rights tried the burrito in question yesterday and report that it’s delicious and the same price as a regular beans-and-rice burrito. We’ll take it!!
Link posted at 11:59 by mrpenguino
08/27/2009
Road Trip: Aguas frescas in Mexico City!
¡Buenas tardes! Welcome to a vegan’s guide to eating in Mexico City—with no Spanish!
First thing to learn, you are the only one who calls Mexico City “Mexico City;” everyone else calls it D.F., which is pronounced “day-effay” and stands for distrito federal, or, federal district. In order to get you used to this, so that when you go you too can be mistaken for some other nationality (or at least sound like you know a thing), henceforth we shall also be using this abbreviation.
D.F. street food, while generally delicious-looking and -smelling, can be a tricky business if you don’t speak Spanish—like me! The control you have to give up when you’re speaking through a translator, for people who are using to asking about every ingredient in every “vegetarian” dish in a new restaurant, it’s dismaying. Do not despair; not everything is scary and foreign and dangerous and GOD TAKE ME HOME NOW. Some things are vegan by default!
I love vegan-by-default foods; they’re usually noncontroversial, meaning you can suggest them to, say, your uncle who refuses on principle (I know) to eat tofu without ever saying the word “vegan,” and everyone can partake and enjoy, and there’s no SURPRISE IT’S VEGAN at the end, which apparently some people don’t like. Look, there are people in the world who hate fun, you can’t change them.
In D.F., one of these vegan-by-default items is the agua fresca, which is essentially like drinking fruit; no, not like juice, exactly. You choose one or more fruits that you would like to drink, and the person throws them into a blender with some cold water, blends until everything is evenly textured, pours it into a Styrofoam cup the size of your (my) (read: enormous) head, and there you are, the best fruit drink you’ve ever had. Yes, you can get them here in the city, but do they make them fresh? NO, they ladle them out of plastic tubs, and you don’t get to choose from a multitude of fruits that won’t even be cut until you ask for them. Oh Mexico, your fruit is outrageous.
My introduction to a proper agua fresca was strawberry-lime; first the man blended the strawberries with water, and while the blender was still moving, he threw an entire lime in as well. Entire, as in, skin and seeds and pulp and pith and all, the whole little round green thing, he popped it right in and covered the blender again. When it reached the proper texture—maybe 90 seconds—he poured the entire contents of the blender through a metal strainer and into one of the aforementioned gigantic cups, and gave it to me. I don’t think it cost more than 20 pesos, i.e., less 
than $2, and it tasted like heaven. Light and tart and fruity and so, so good; if only I had a larger stomach, that I could’ve finished it before it got warm; it took me a whole hour to drink. Good hydration is especially important in D.F., where the elevation makes the atmosphere thin and in combination with the pollution can turn your mouth and eyes into individual deserts. Don’t let this happen; drink aguas frescas. Drink them with cantalope, with pineapple, with mango or papaya (if you can taste it properly); drink them as often as you need. You can’t drink the tap water so you’ll have to buy something whenever you’re thirsty, so you might as well get a drink that is both unique to your location and a magical taste bud wonderland.
For reference, here is a list of Spanish words for fruits. Remember, the accent indicates the stressed syllable!
